Black Holes In General Relativity Research Articles

Resilience of DBI screened objects and their ladder symmetries

Scalar field theories with a shift symmetry come equipped with the K-mouflage (or kinetic screening) mechanism that suppresses the scalar interaction between massive objects below a certain distance, the screening radius. In this work, we study the linear response of the scalar field distribution around a screened (point-like) object subject to a long range external scalar field perturbation for the Dirac-Born-Infeld theory. We find that, for regular boundary conditions at the position of the particle, some multipoles have vanishing response for a lacunar series of the multipole order ℓ for any dimension. Some multipoles also exhibit a logarithmic running when the number of spatial dimensions is even. We construct a ladder operator structure, with its associated ladder symmetries, formed by two sets of ladders that are related to the properties of the linear response and the existence of conserved charges. Our results exhibit a remarkable resemblance with the Love numbers properties of black holes in General Relativity, although some intriguing differences subsist.

Scalar field solutions and energy bounds for modeling spatial oscillations in Schwarzschild black holes based on the Regge–Wheeler equation

This text discusses the behavior of solutions and the energy stability within Schwarzschild spacetimes, with a particular emphasis on the behavior of massless scalar fields under the influence of a non-rotating and spherically symmetric black hole. The stability of solutions in the proximity of the event horizon of black holes in general relativity remains an open question, especially given the difficulties introduced by minor perturbations that may resemble Kerr solutions. To address this, this work explores a simplified model, including massless scalar fields, to better understand perturbation behaviors around black holes under the Schwarzschild approach. We depart from Richard Price’s work in connection with how scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational fields behave. The tortoise coordinate transformation is considered to set the stage for numerical solutions to the wave equations. Afterward, we explore energy estimates, which are used to gauge stability and wave behavior over time. Our analysis reveals that the time evolution of the energy does not exceed twice its initial value. Further and under the assumption of initial conditions in L2−spaces, we obtain an exponential decreasing behavior in the energy time evolution. A question to continue exploring is how perturbations in L2 in the initial conditions that introduce Kerr solutions as a second-order effect in the linearized equations perturb this obtained exponential decay.

Axial gravitational quasi-normal modes of spherically symmetric black hole in f(R) gravity and its optical appearance

This paper investigates the axial gravitational perturbations originating from spherically symmetric black holes in f(R) gravity, along with the optical appearance of such a black hole. The aim is to search for evidence of the existence of these black holes in astrophysical observations and thereby test the correctness of the f(R) theory. In literature Kalita and Mukhopadhyay (Eur Phys J C 79:877, 2019), the spherically symmetric black hole metric in f(R) gravity is obtained. By comparing it with the metric for spherically symmetric black holes in general relativity, we find that the modification of gravity due to f(R) can be described in this black hole spacetime using a parameter Cf\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C_f$$\\end{document}. Next, we study axial gravitational perturbations in this spacetime and successfully derive a decoupled axial perturbation equation. We also discuss the impact of f(R) gravity on the quasi-normal mode frequencies. Additionally, we have also investigated the optical appearance of the black hole. We discuss the impact of the parameter Cf\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$C_f$$\\end{document} on the observable characteristics of the accretion disk. In principle, both of these effects can be observed using gravitational wave detectors and astronomical telescopes.

Quasinormal modes and their excitation beyond general relativity

The response of black holes to small perturbations is known to be partially described by a superposition of quasinormal modes. Despite their importance to enable strong-field tests of gravity, little to nothing is known about what overtones and quasinormal-mode amplitudes are like for black holes in extensions to general relativity. We take a first step in this direction and study what is arguably the simplest model that allows first-principle calculations to be made: a nonrotating black hole in an effective-field-theory extension of general relativity with cubic-in-curvature terms. Using a phase-amplitude scheme that uses analytical continuation and the Prüfer transformation, we numerically compute, for the first time, the quasinormal overtone frequencies (in this theory) and quasinormal-mode excitation factors (in any theory beyond general relativity). We find that the overtone quasinormal frequencies and their excitation factors are more sensitive than the fundamental mode to the length scale l introduced by the higher-derivative terms in the effective field theory. We argue that a description of all overtones cannot be made within the regime of validity of the effective field theory, and we conjecture that this is a general feature of any extension to general relativity that introduces a new length scale. We also find that a parametrization of the modifications to the general-relativistic quasinormal frequencies in terms of the ratio between l and the black hole’s mass is somewhat inadequate, and we propose a better alternative. As an application, we perform a preliminary study of the implications of the breakdown, in the effective field theory, of the equivalence between the quasinormal mode spectra associated to metric perturbations of polar and axial parity of the Schwarzschild black hole in general relativity. We also present a simple justification for the loss of isospectrality. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Ladder symmetries and Love numbers of Reissner-Nordström black holes

It is well known that asymptotically flat black holes in general relativity have vanishing tidal Love numbers. In the case of Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes, this property has been shown to be a consequence of a hidden structure of ladder symmetries for the perturbations. In this work, we extend the ladder symmetries to non-rotating charged black holes in general relativity. As opposed to previous works in this context, we adopt a more general definition of Love numbers, including quadratic operators that mix gravitational and electromagnetic perturbations in the point-particle effective field theory. We show that the calculation of a subset of those couplings in full general relativity is affected by an ambiguity in the split between source and response, which we resolve through an analytic continuation. As a result, we derive a novel master equation that unifies scalar, electromagnetic and gravitational perturbations around Reissner-Nordström black holes. The equation is hypergeometric and can be obtained from previous formulations via nontrivial field redefinitions, which allow to systematically remove some of the singularities and make the presence of the ladder symmetries more manifest.

Infinitely degenerate slowly rotating solutions in f(R) gravity

This work tests the no-hair conjecture in f(R) gravity models. No-hair conjecture asserts that all black holes in general relativity coupled to any matter must be Kerr–Newman type. However, the conjecture fails in some cases with non-linear matter sources. Here, we address this by explicitly constructing multiple slow-rotating black hole solutions, up to second order in rotational parameter, for a class of f(R) models ( f(R)=(α0+α1R)p,p>1 ). Such an f(R) includes all higher-powers of R. We analytically show that multiple vacuum solutions satisfy the field equations up to the second order in the rotational parameter. In other words, we show that the multiple vacuum solutions depend on arbitrary constants, which depend on the coupling parameters of the model. Hence, our results indicate that the no-hair theorem for modified gravity theories merits extending to include the coupling constants. The uniqueness of our result stems from the fact that these are obtained directly from metric formalism without conformal transformation. We discuss the kinematical properties of these black hole solutions and compare them with slow-rotating Kerr. Specifically, we show that the circular orbits for the black holes in f(R) are smaller than that of Kerr. This implies that the inner-most stable circular orbit for black holes in f(R) is smaller than Kerr’s; hence, the shadow radius might also be smaller. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for future observations.

Precessing and periodic timelike orbits and their potential applications in Einsteinian cubic gravity

Einsteinian cubic gravity (ECG) is the most general theory up to cubic order in curvature, which has the same graviton spectrum as the Einstein theory. In this paper, we investigate the geodesic motions of timelike particles around the four dimensional asymptotically flat black holes in ECG, and discuss their potential applications when connecting them with recent observational results. We first explore the effects of the cubic couplings on the marginally bound orbits (MBO), innermost stable circular orbits (ISCO) and on the periodic orbits around the Einsteinian cubic black hole. We find that comparing to Schwarzschild black hole in general relativity, the cubic coupling enhances the energy as well as the angular momentum for all the bound orbits of the particles. Then, we derive the relativistic periastron precessions of the particles and give a preliminary bound on the cubic coupling employing the observational result of the S2 star’s pericenter precession in SgrA*. Finally, after calculating the periodic orbits’ configurations, we preliminarily evaluate the gravitational waveform radiated from several periodic orbits in one complete period of a test object which orbits a supermassive Einsteinian cubic black hole. Our studies could be helpful for us to better understand the gravitational structure of the theory with high curvatures.

Vanishing of nonlinear tidal Love numbers of Schwarzschild black holes

It is well known that asymptotically flat Schwarzschild black holes in general relativity in four spacetime dimensions have vanishing induced linear tidal response. We extend this result beyond linear order for the polar sector, by solving the static nonlinear Einstein equations for the perturbations of the Schwarzschild metric and computing the quadratic corrections to the electric-type tidal Love numbers. After explicitly performing the matching with the point-particle effective theory at leading order in the derivative expansion, we show that the Love number couplings remain zero at higher order in perturbation theory.

Probing a black hole in Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson gravity with thermodynamical analysis, effective force and gravitational weak lensing

In this work, we investigate the effects of plasma and the coupling parameter β>0, on the thermodynamic properties and weak gravitational lensing by the Schwarzschild-like black hole in the Starobinsky-Bel-Robinson gravity (SBRG). We observe that the horizon radius and the corrected entropy of the Schwarzschild-like black hole in the SBRG are not much sensitive to the parameter β. In contrast the energy emission rate of the Schwarzschild-like black hole in the SBRG is sensitive to the parameter β and decreases with an increase in the values of the parameter β. We see that the Schwarzschild-like black hole in the SBRG is stable as the thermodynamical temperature is positive for different values of the parameter β. Moreover we observe that the deflection angle of a photon beam by the black hole in uniform plasma, nonuniform self-interacting scalar plasma and non-singular isothermal gas sphere reduces with the parameter β, against the impact parameter b. We see that the deflection angle enhances with an increase in the concentration of the plasma fields for all the three types of plasma media. Further we find that the magnification of the image due to lensing increases in a higher concentration of the plasma field. It is interesting to notice that the image magnification in a uniform plasma is much higher as compared to the one in a nonuniform plasma field. We compare our results with those for the Schwarzschild black hole of General Relativity. Further, the effective force is also calculated for the Schwarzschild-like black hole in the SBRG.

Love numbers and Love symmetries for p-form and gravitational perturbations of higher-dimensional spherically symmetric black holes

The static Love numbers of four-dimensional asymptotically flat, isolated, general-relativistic black holes are known to be identically vanishing. The Love symmetry proposal suggests that such vanishings are addressed by selection rules following from the emergence of an enhanced \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathrm{SL }\\left(2,{\\mathbb{R}}\\right)$$\\end{document} (“Love”) symmetry in the near-zone region; more specifically, it is the fact that the black hole perturbations belong to a highest-weight representation of this near-zone \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathrm{SL }\\left(2,{\\mathbb{R}}\\right)$$\\end{document} symmetry, rather than the existence of the Love symmetry itself, that outputs the vanishings of the corresponding Love numbers. In higher spacetime dimensions, some towers of magic zeroes with regards to the black hole response problem have also been reported for scalar, electromagnetic and gravitational perturbations of the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole. Here, we extend these results by supplementing with p-form perturbations of the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole. We furthermore analytically extract the static Love numbers and the leading order dissipation numbers associated with spin-0 scalar and spin-2 tensor-type tidal perturbations of the higher-dimensional Reissner-Nordström black hole. We find that Love symmetries exist and that the vanishings of the static Love numbers are captured by representation theory arguments even for these higher spin perturbations of the higher-dimensional spherically symmetric black holes of General Relativity. Interestingly, these near-zone \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mathrm{SL }\\left(2,{\\mathbb{R}}\\right)$$\\end{document} structures acquire extensions to Witt algebras. Our setup allows to also study the p-form response problem of a static spherically symmetric black hole in a generic theory of gravity. We perform explicit computations for some black holes in the presence of string-theoretic corrections and investigate under what geometric conditions Love symmetries emerge in the near-zone.

Shadow of novel rotating black hole in GR coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics and constraints from EHT results

We study the optical properties of spacetime around a novel black hole in general relativity coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics, which is asymptotically flat. First, we study the angular velocity and Lyapunov exponent in unstable photon circular orbits in the novel spherically symmetric black hole spacetime. Later, we obtain the rotating black hole solution using the Newman–Janis algorithm and determine the event horizon properties of the black hole. We analyze the effective potential for the circular motion of photons in the spacetime of the novel rotating black hole. Also, we analyze the photon sphere around the novel black hole and its shadow using celestial coordinates. We obtain that an increase of the black hole spin and charge as well as nonlinear electrodynamics field nonlinearity parameters causes an increase in the distortion parameter of the black hole shadow, while, the area of the shadow and its oblateness decrease. Moreover, we also obtain the constraint values for the black hole charge and the nonlinearity parameters using Event Horizon Telescope data from shadow sizes of supermassive black holes Sgr A* and M87*. Finally, the emission rate of black hole evaporation through Hawking radiation is also studied.

Microscopic Origin of the Entropy of Black Holes in General Relativity

We construct an infinite family of microstates with geometric interiors for eternal black holes in general relativity with a negative cosmological constant in any dimension. Wormholes in the Euclidean path integral for gravity cause these states to have small, but nonzero, quantum mechanical overlaps that have a universal form. The overlaps have a dramatic consequence: The microstates span a Hilbert space of log dimension equal to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. The semiclassical microstates we construct contain Einstein-Rosen bridges of arbitrary size behind their horizons. Our results imply that all these bridges can be interpreted as quantum superpositions of wormholes of size at most exponential in the entropy. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Bifurcation diagrams for spacetime singularities and black holes

We reexamine the focusing effect crucial to the theorems that predict the emergence of spacetime singularities and various results in the general theory of black holes in general relativity. Our investigation incorporates the fully nonlinear and dispersive nature of the underlying equations. We introduce and thoroughly explore the concept of versal unfolding (topological normal form) within the framework of the Newman–Penrose–Raychaudhuri system, the convergence-vorticity equations (notably the first and third Sachs optical equations), and the Oppenheimer–Snyder equation governing exactly spherical collapse. The findings lead to a novel dynamical depiction of spacetime singularities and black holes, exposing their continuous transformations into new topological configurations guided by the bifurcation diagrams associated with these problems.

Gravitational lensing effects of black hole with conformally coupled scalar hair

In this paper, we investigate the gravitational lensing effects in the weak and strong field limits of a static black hole with conformally coupled scalar field. In the weak field limit, with the use of Gauss–Bonnet theorem we calculate the deflection angle of the light. It is found that comparing to Schwarzschild and Reissner–Nordstro¨\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\ddot{\ ext {o}}$$\\end{document}m (RN) black holes in general relativity, the weak deflection angle can be enhanced/suppressed by the scalar hair. In the strong field limit, we first compute the light deflection angle via calculating the lensing coefficients, all of which increase as the values of electric and scalar charges increase. Then we evaluate the lensing observables in strong field regime by supposing the hairy black hole as the candidate of M87* and SgrA* supermassive black holes, respectively. We find that the scalar hair has significant influences on various observables. In particular, the lensing observables of the charged black hole with positive scalar hair and RN black hole have degeneracy, which will be broken by the case with negative scalar hair. Our theoretical findings imply that it is feasible to employ the gravitational lensing effects as a probe of Einstein–Maxwell theory with negative scalar field differentiating from general relativity, once the future astrophysical observation is precise enough.

Dynamics and kinetics of phase transition for regular AdS black holes in general relativity coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics

We study the stochastic dynamics and kinetics of the phase transition of the regular black holes in Anti-de Sitter spacetime by employing the free energy landscape. Our investigation focuses on two important classes of regular black hole solutions, namely the Hayward and Bardeen, which can be obtained from coupling of non-linear electrodynamics. The dynamics of the phase transition is described by the Fokker–Planck equation, using which, we investigate the probabilistic evolution of regular AdS black holes. We solve this equation numerically by imposing both reflecting and absorbing boundary conditions and appropriate initial conditions. In this context, the on-shell Gibbs free energy is treated as a function of the event horizon radius, where the difference of the event horizon radii in different phases serves as the order parameter for the phase transition. The study allows us to probe the dynamic process of transitioning between coexisting small and large black hole phases due to thermal fluctuations, as quantified by the calculation of the first passage time. Furthermore, we explore the influence of temperature on this dynamic process. This research contributes to a deeper understanding of the microstructures of regular AdS black holes.

Toward General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamics Simulations in Stationary Nonvacuum Spacetimes

Accretion of magnetized gas on compact astrophysical objects such as black holes (BHs) has been successfully modeled using general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (GRMHD) simulations. These simulations have largely been performed in the Kerr metric, which describes the spacetime of a vacuum and stationary spinning BH in general relativity (GR). The simulations have revealed important clues to the physics of accretion flows and jets near the BH event horizon and have been used to interpret recent Event Horizon Telescope images of the supermassive BHs M87* and Sgr A*. The GRMHD simulations require the spacetime metric to be given in horizon-penetrating coordinates such that all metric coefficients are regular at the event horizon. Only a few metrics, notably the Kerr metric and its electrically charged spinning analog, the Kerr–Newman metric, are currently available in such coordinates. We report here horizon-penetrating forms of a large class of stationary, axisymmetric, spinning metrics. These can be used to carry out GRMHD simulations of accretion on spinning, nonvacuum BHs and non-BHs within GR, as well as accretion on spinning objects described by non-GR metric theories of gravity.

Effects of gravitational lensing by Kaluza-Klein black holes on neutrino oscillations

We study gravitational lensing of neutrinos in a Kaluza-Klein black hole spacetime and compare the oscillation probabilities of neutrinos with the case of lensing by black holes in General Relativity. We show that measuring neutrino oscillations in curved spacetimes may allow us to distinguish the two kinds of black holes even in the weak-field limit, as opposed to what happens for the weak lensing of photons. This promises to become an useful tool for future measurements of the properties of black hole candidates and possibly help to constrain the validity of alternative theories of gravity.

Spectral method for the gravitational perturbations of black holes: Schwarzschild background case

We develop a novel technique through spectral decompositions to study the gravitational perturbations of a black hole, without needing to decouple the linearized field equations into master equations and separate their radial and angular dependence. We first spectrally decompose the metric perturbation in a Legendre and Chebyshev basis for the angular and radial sectors respectively, using input from the asymptotic behavior of the perturbation at spatial infinity and at the black hole event horizon. This spectral decomposition allows us to then transform the linearized Einstein equations (a coupled set of partial differential equations) into a linear matrix equation. By solving the linear matrix equation for its generalized eigenvalues, we can estimate the complex quasinormal frequencies of the fundamental mode and various overtones of the gravitational perturbations simultaneously and to high accuracy. We apply this technique to perturbations of a nonspinning, Schwarzschild black hole in general relativity and find the complex quasinormal frequencies of two fundamental modes and their first two overtones. We demonstrate that the technique is robust and accurate, in the Schwarzschild case leading to relative fractional errors of $\leq 10^{-10} - 10^{-8}$ for the fundamental modes, $\leq 10^{-7} - 10^{-6}$ for their first overtones, $\leq 10^{-7} - 10^{-4}$ for their second overtones. This method can be applied to any black hole spacetime, irrespective of its Petrov type, making the numerical technique extremely powerful in the study of black hole ringdown in and outside general relativity.

Black hole photon rings beyond general relativity

We investigate whether photon ring observations in black hole imaging are able to distinguish between the Kerr black hole in general relativity and alternative black holes that deviate from Kerr. Certain aspects of photon rings have been argued to be robust observables in very-long-baseline interferometry black hole observations which carry imprints of the underlying spacetime. The photon ring shape, as well as its Lyapunov exponent (which encodes the narrowing of successive photon subrings), are detailed probes of the underlying geometry; measurements thereof have been argued to provide a strong null test of general relativity and the Kerr metric. However, a more complicated question is whether such observations of the photon ring properties can distinguish between Kerr and alternative black holes. We provide a first answer to this question by calculating photon rings of the Johannsen, Rasheed-Larsen, and Manko-Novikov black holes. We find that large deviations from Kerr and large observer inclinations are needed to obtain measurable differences in the photon ring shape. In other words, the Kerr photon ring shape appears to be the universal shape even for deviating black holes at low inclinations. On the other hand, the Lyapunov exponent shows more marked variations for deviations from the Kerr metric. Our analysis lays out the groundwork to determine deviations from the Kerr spacetime in photon rings that are potentially detectable by future observing missions.

Vanishing Love numbers of black holes in general relativity: From spacetime conformal symmetry of a two-dimensional reduced geometry

We study the underlying structure of the vanishing of the Love numbers of both Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes in terms of spacetime conformal symmetry in a unified manner for the static spin-$s$ fields. The perturbations can be reduced with the harmonic decomposition to a set of infinite static scalar fields in a two-dimensional anti--de Sitter spacetime $({\text{AdS}}_{2})$. In the reduced system, each scalar field is paired with another, implying that all multipole modes of the perturbation can be regarded as symmetric partners, which can be understood from the property of the supersymmetry algebra. The generator of the supersymmetric structure is constructed from a closed conformal Killing vector field of ${\text{AdS}}_{2}$. The associated conserved quantity allows one to show no static response, i.e., vanishing of the Love and dissipation numbers. We also discuss the vanishing Love numbers of the Kerr black hole with the nonzero dissipation numbers for the nonaxisymmetric perturbations in terms of a radial constant found in a parallel manner as the axisymmetric field case even though the interpretation for the structure is controversial. The symmetric structure corresponds to the ``ladder'' symmetry in [Hui et al., J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 01 (2022) 032] although the geometrical origin is different. Our ladder operator includes the generators of hidden symmetries in previous works.