Horizonless Objects Research Articles

Extreme mass-ratio inspirals around a spinning horizonless compact object

Extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) detectable by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna are unique probes of the nature of supermassive compact objects. We compute the gravitational-wave signal emitted by a stellar-mass compact object in a circular equatorial orbit around a Kerr-like horizonless supermassive object defined by an effective radius and a reflectivity coefficient. The Teukolsky equations are solved consistently with suitable (frequency-dependent) boundary conditions, and the modified energy and angular-momentum fluxes are used to evolve the orbital parameters adiabatically. The gravitational fluxes have resonances corresponding to the low-frequency quasinormal modes of the central object, which can contribute significantly to the gravitational-wave phase. Overall, the absence of a classical event horizon in the central object can affect the gravitational-wave signal dramatically, with deviations even larger than those previously estimated by a model-independent analysis of the tidal heating. We estimate that EMRIs could potentially place the most stringent constraint on the reflectivity of supermassive compact objects at the remarkable level of $\mathcal{O}({10}^{\ensuremath{-}6})%$ and would allow one to constrain various models which are not ruled out by the ergoregion instability. In particular, an EMRI detection could allow one to rule out (or provide evidence for) signatures of quantum black-hole horizons with Boltzmann reflectivity. Our results provide motivation for performing rigorous parameter estimation to assess the detectability of these effects.

Multiple rings in the shadow of extremely compact objects

The Event Horizon Telescope’s image of the M87 black hole provides an exciting opportunity to study black hole physics. Since a black hole’s event horizon absorbs all electromagnetic waves, it is difficult to actively probe the horizon’s existence. However, with the help of a family of extremely compact, horizon-less objects, named “gravastars”, whose external spacetimes are nearly identical to those of black holes, one can test the absence of event horizons: absences of additional features that arise due to the existence of the gravastar, or its surface, can be used as quantitative evidence for black holes. We apply Gralla et al. approach of studying black hole images to study the images of two types of gravastars: transparent ones and reflective ones. In both cases, the transmission of rays through gravastars, or their reflections on their surfaces, leads to more rings in their images. For simple emission models, where the redshifted emissivity of the disk is peaked at a particular radius [Formula: see text], the position of a series of rings can be related in a simple manner to light ray propagation: a ring shows up around impact parameter [Formula: see text] whenever rays incident from infinity at [Formula: see text] intersects the disk at [Formula: see text]. We show that additional rings will appear in the images of transparent and reflective gravastars. In particular, one of the additional rings for the reflective gravastar is due to the prompt reflection of light on the gravastar surface, and appears to be well separated from the others. This can be an intuitive feature, which may be reliably used to constrain the reflectivity of the black hole’s horizon.

Using space-VLBI to probe gravity around Sgr A*

Context. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) will soon provide the first high-resolution images of the Galactic Centre supermassive black hole candidate Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), enabling us to probe gravity in the strong-field regime. In addition to studying the accretion process in extreme environments, the obtained data and reconstructed images could be used to investigate the underlying spacetime structure. In its current configuration, EHT is able to distinguish between a rotating Kerr black hole and a horizon-less object such as a boson star. Future developments can increase the ability of EHT to tell different spacetimes apart. Aims. We investigate the capability of an advanced EHT concept, including an orbiting space antenna, to image and distinguish different spacetimes around Sgr A*. Methods. We used general-relativistic magneto-hydrodynamical simulations of accreting compact objects (Kerr and dilaton black holes as well as boson stars) and computed their radiative signatures via general-relativistic radiative transfer. To facilitate a comparison with upcoming and future EHT observations, we produced realistic synthetic data including the source variability, diffractive, and refractive scattering while incorporating the observing array, including a space antenna. From the generated synthetic observations, we dynamically reconstructed black hole shadow images using regularised maximum entropy methods. We employed a genetic algorithm to optimise the orbit of the space antenna with respect to improved imaging capabilities and u − v-plane coverage of the combined array (ground array and space antenna) and developed a new method to probe the source variability in Fourier space. Results. The inclusion of an orbiting space antenna improves the capability of EHT to distinguish the spin of Kerr black holes and dilaton black holes based on reconstructed radio images and complex visibilities.

Dimensional transmutation in gravity and cosmology

We review (and extend) the analysis of general theories of all interactions (gravity included) where the mass scales are due to dimensional transmutation. Quantum consistency requires the presence of terms in the action with four derivatives of the metric. It is shown, nevertheless, how unitary is achieved and the classical Ostrogradsky instabilities can be avoided. The four-derivative terms also allow us to have a UV complete framework and a naturally small ratio between the Higgs mass and the Planck scale. Moreover, black holes of Einstein gravity with horizons smaller than a certain (microscopic) scale are replaced by horizonless ultracompact objects that are free from any singularity and have interesting phenomenological applications. We also discuss the predictions that can be compared with observations of the microwave background radiation anisotropies and find that this scenario is viable and can be tested with future data. Finally, how strong phase transitions can emerge in models of this type with approximate scale symmetry and how to test them with GW detectors is reviewed and explained.

Universal properties of the near-horizon geometry

We derive universal properties of the near-horizon geometry of spherically symmetric black holes that follow from the observability of a regular apparent horizon. Only two types of solutions are admissible. After reviewing their properties we show that only a special form of the solutions of the second type is consistent. We describe how these results extend to modified theories of gravity, including Einstein--Cartan theories. Then we describe the unique black hole formation scenario that necessarily involves both types of solutions. The generalized surface gravity is infinite at the apparent horizon. This feature and comparison of the required energy and timescales with the known semiclassical results suggest that the observed astrophysical black holes are horizonless ultra-compact objects, and the presence of a horizon is associated with currently unknown physics.

How loud are echoes from exotic compact objects?

The first direct observations of gravitational waves (GWs) by the LIGO collaboration have motivated different tests of General Relativity (GR), including the search for extra pulses following the GR waveform for the coalescence of compact objects. The motivation for these searches comes from the alternative proposal that the final compact object could differ from a black hole (BH) by the lack of an event horizon and a central singularity. Such objects are expected in theories that, motivated by quantum gravity modifications, predict horizonless objects as the final stage of gravitational collapse. In such a hypothetical case, this exotic compact object (ECO) will present a (partially) reflective surface at $r_{\rm ECO}=r_{+}(1+\epsilon)$, instead of an event horizon at $r_{+}$. For this class of objects, an in-falling wave will not be completely lost and will give rise to secondary pulses, to which recent literature refers as echoes. However, the largely unknown ECO reflectivity is determinant for the amplitude of the signal, and details also depend on the initial conditions of the progenitor compact binary. Here, for the first time, we obtain estimates for the detectability of the first echo, using a perturbative description for the inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform and a physically-motivated ECO reflectivity. Binaries with comparable masses will have a stronger first echo, improving the chances of detection. For a case like GW150914, the detection of the first echo will require a minimum ringdown signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the range $\sim 20-60$. The most optimistic scenario for echo detection could already be probed by LIGO in the next years. With the expected improvements in sensitivity we estimate one or two events per year to have the required SNR for the first echo detection during O4.

Damping of gravitational waves in 2-2-holes

A 2-2-hole is an explicit realization of a horizonless object that can still very closely resemble a BH. An ordinary relativistic gas can serve as the matter source for the 2-2-hole solution of quadratic gravity, and this leads to a calculable area-law entropy. Here we show that it also leads to an estimate of the damping of a gravitational wave as it travels to the center of the 2-2-hole and back out again. We identify two frequency dependent effects that greatly diminish the damping. Spinning 2-2-hole solutions are not known, but we are still able to consider some spin dependent effects. The frequency and spin dependence of the damping helps to determine the possible echo resonance signal from the rotating remnants of merger events. It also controls the fate of the ergoregion instability.

Traversable wormholes supported by non-exotic matter in general relativity

Natural horizonless object and its astrophysical signatures have been proposed in various aspects. In this paper, the traversable wormhole solutions are investigated for Einstein’s field equations with cosmological constant. Using redshift function Φ(r)and shape function b(r)as Φ(r)=−1r2and b(r)=r0log(r+1)log(r0+1)in the static and spherically symmetric metric of wormholes, the spherical regions are determined, where the energy conditions are satisfied for positive value of cosmological constant. Further, horizonless compact objects with light rings (or photon spheres) are becoming more popular in recent years for numerous motives. We observed that a horizonless object such as a traversable wormhole can have a photon sphere outside the throat. So, the photon spheres are detected due to the effect of strong gravitational lensing. Furthermore, the deflection angle is found to diverge for the impact parameter corresponding to the photon sphere.

How does a dark compact object ringdown?

A generic feature of nearly out-of-equilibrium dissipative systems is that they resonate through a set of quasinormal modes. Black holes - the absorbing objects par excellence - are no exception. When formed in a merger, black holes vibrate in a process called "ringdown", which leaves the gravitational-wave footprint of the event horizon. In some models of quantum gravity which attempt to solve the information-loss paradox and the singularities of General Relativity, black holes are replaced by regular, horizonless objects with a tiny effective reflectivity. Motivated by these scenarios, here we develop a generic framework to the study of the ringdown of a compact object with various shades of darkness. By extending the black-hole membrane paradigm, we map the interior of any compact object in terms of the bulk and shear viscosities of a fictitious fluid located at the surface, with the black-hole limit being a single point in a three-dimensional parameter space. We unveil some remarkable features of the ringdown and some universal properties of the light ring in this framework. We also identify the region of the parameter space which can be probed by current and future gravitational-wave detectors. A general feature is the appearance of mode doublets which are degenerate only in the black-hole limit. We argue that the merger event GW150914 already imposes a strong lower bound on the compactness of the merger remnant of approximately 99% of the black-hole compactness. This places model-independent constraints on black-hole alternatives such as diffuse "fuzzballs" and nonlocal stars.

Stationary Black Holes and Light Rings.

The ringdown and shadow of the astrophysically significant Kerr black hole (BH) are both intimately connected to a special set of bound null orbits known as light rings (LRs). Does it hold that a generic equilibrium BH must possess such orbits? In this Letter we prove the following theorem. A stationary, axisymmetric, asymptotically flat black hole spacetime in 1+3 dimensions, with a nonextremal, topologically spherical, Killing horizon admits, at least, one standard LR outside the horizon for each rotation sense. The proof relies on a topological argument and assumes C^{2} smoothness and circularity, but makes no use of the field equations. The argument is also adapted to recover a previous theorem establishing that a horizonless ultracompact object must admit an even number of nondegenerate LRs, one of which is stable.

Erratum: Distinguishing black holes from horizonless objects through the excitation of resonances during inspiral [Phys. Rev. D 100 , 084046 (2019)

Received 8 March 2020Accepted 10 March 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.101.069902Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasAlternative gravity theoriesGeneral relativityGravitational wavesGravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Horizonless ultracompact objects and dark matter in quadratic gravity

We show that in quadratic gravity sufficiently light objects must be horizonless and construct explicit analytic examples of horizonless ultracompact objects (UCOs), which are more compact than Schwarzschild black holes. Due to the quadratic terms, gravity becomes soft and eventually vanishes in the high-energy limit leading to a “linearization mechanism”: light objects can be described by the linearized theory when their Schwarzschild radius is smaller than the Compton wavelength of the new gravitational degrees of freedom. As a result, we can analytically describe UCOs with a mass-to-radius ratio higher than for a Schwarzschild black hole. The corresponding spacetime is regular everywhere. We show that the Ostrogradsky instabilities can be avoided and discuss the relation with the Higgs vacuum metastability. Due to the lack of a horizon, light UCOs do not evaporate. Therefore, they may play the role of dark matter. We briefly discuss their phenomenology.

Anatomy of a thermal black hole mimicker

We are entering a new era to test the strong gravity regime around astrophysical black holes. The possibility that they are actually horizonless ultracompact objects and then free from the information loss paradox can be examined more closely with observational data. In this paper, we systematically develop a thermal gas model of the 2-2-hole in quadratic gravity, as one step further to look for more tractable models of black hole mimickers. Concrete predictions for departures from black holes are made all the way down to the high curvature interior. The simple form of matter further enables an explicit study of the relation between geometry and thermodynamics. Within this unified framework, we identify notably different behaviors at two limits. On one side is the astrophysically large 2-2-hole, as characterized by a minuscule deviation outside the would-be horizon and a highly squeezed interior along the radial direction. Anomalous features of black hole thermodynamics emerge from the ordinary gas. On the other side is the minimal 2-2-hole with an isotropic and shrinking interior, which behaves more like a normal thermodynamic system. This brings a new perspective to the related theoretical questions as well as phenomenological implications.

Distinguishing black holes from horizonless objects through the excitation of resonances during inspiral

How well is the vacuum Kerr geometry a good description of the dark, compact objects in our universe? Precision measurements of accreting matter in the deep infrared and gravitational-wave measurements of coalescing objects are finally providing answers to this question. Here, we study the possibility of resonant excitation of the modes of the central object -- taken to be very compact but horizonless -- during an extreme-mass-ratio inspiral. We show that for very compact objects resonances are indeed excited. However, the impact of such excitation on the phase of the gravitational-wave signal is negligible, since resonances are crossed very quickly during inspiral.

From micro to macro and back: probing near-horizon quantum structures with gravitational waves

Supermassive binaries detectable by the planned space gravitational-wave interferometer LISA might allow us to distinguish black holes from ultracompact horizonless objects, even for certain models motivated by quantum-gravity considerations. We show that a measurement of a very small tidal Love number with accuracy (as achievable by detecting ‘golden binaries’) may also allow us to distinguish between different models of these exotic compact objects, even when taking into account an intrinsic uncertainty in the object radius putatively due to quantum mechanics. We argue that there is no conceptual obstacle in performing these measurements, the main challenge remains the detectability of small tidal effects and an accurate waveform modelling.

No hair theorem for bound-state massless static scalar fields outside horizonless Neumann compact stars

We study no-hair theorem for horizonless objects, being subject to Neumann boundary conditions. For massive scalar fields, a no hair theorem for Neumann compact stars was proved by us in a previous paper, where the nonzero scalar field mass condition is essential in the proof. In the present work, for massless scalar fields, we prove a no hair theorem, which claims that bound-state massless static scalar fields cannot exist outside asymptotically flat horizonless neutral Neumann compact stars.

Analytical approach to strong gravitational lensing from ultracompact objects

Strong gravitational lensing from black holes results in the formation of relativistic images, in particular, relativistic Einstein rings. For objects with event horizons, the radius of the unstable light ring (photon sphere) is the lowest radius at which a relativistic image might be formed. For horizonless ultracompact objects, additional relativistic images and rings can form inside this radius. In this paper, we provide an analytical approach to deal with strong gravitational lensing from such ultracompact objects, which is substantially different from the black hole cases, first reported by Bozza. Here, our analysis indicates that the angular separations and magnifications of relativistic images inside the unstable light ring (photon sphere) might be several orders of magnitude higher compared to the ones outside it. This indicates fundamental differences in the nature of strong gravitational lensing from black holes and ultracompact objects.

Black holes with surrounding matter and rainbow scattering

The scattering of light by water droplets can produce one of the most beautiful phenomena in Nature: the rainbow. This optical phenomenon has analogues in molecular, atomic and nuclear physics. Recently, rainbow scattering has been shown to arise from the gravitational interaction of a scalar field with a compact horizonless object. We show that rainbow scattering can also occur in the background of a black hole with surrounding matter. We study the scattering of null geodesics and planar massless scalar waves by Schwarzschild black holes surrounded by a thin spherical shell of matter. We explore various configurations of this system, analyzing changes in mass fraction and radius of the shell. We show that the deflection function can present stationary points, what leads to rainbow scattering. We analyze the large-angle scattered amplitude as a function of the shell's parameters, showing that it presents a non-monotonic behavior.

Compact objects as the catalysts for vacuum decays

We discuss vacuum decays catalyzed by spherical and horizonless objects and show that an ultra compact object could catalyze a vacuum decay around it within the cosmological time. The catalytic effect of a horizonless compact object could be more efficient than that of a black hole since in this case there is no suppression of the decay rate due to the decrement of its Bekestein entropy. If there exists another minimum with AdS vacuum in the Higgs potential at a high energy scale, the abundance of compact objects such as monopoles, neutron stars, axion stars, oscillons, Q-balls, black hole remnants, gravastars and so on, could be severely constrained. We find that an efficient enhancement of nucleation rate occurs when the size of the compact object is comparable to its Schwarzschild radius and the bubble radius.

A novel gravitational lensing feature by wormholes

Horizonless compact objects with light rings (or photon spheres) are becoming increasingly popular in recent years for several reasons. In this paper, we show that a horizonless object such as a wormhole of Morris–Thorne type can have two photon spheres. In particular, we show that, in addition to the one present outside a wormhole throat, the throat can itself act as an effective photon sphere. Such wormholes exhibit two sets of relativistic Einstein ring systems formed due to strong gravitational lensing. We consider a previously obtained wormhole solution as a specific example. If such type of wormhole casts a shadow at all, then the inner set of the relativistic Einstein rings will form the outer bright edge of the shadow. Such a novel lensing feature might serve as a distinguishing feature between wormholes and other celestial objects as far as gravitational lensing is concerned.