Quasinormal Modes Of Black Holes Research Articles

Quasinormal modes of black holes in 5D Gauss–Bonnet gravity combined with non-linear electrodynamics

Quasinormal modes of black holes were previously calculated in a non-linear electrodynamics and in the Gauss–Bonnet gravity theory. Here we take into consideration both of the above factors and find quasinormal modes of a (massive) scalar field in the background of a black hole in the five-dimensional Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet gravity coupled to a non-linear electrodynamics having Maxwellian weak-field limit. For the non-linear electrodynamics we considered the high frequency (eikonal) regime of oscillations analytically, while for the lower multipoles the higher order WKB analysis with the help of Padé approximants and the time domain integration were used. We found that perturbations of a test scalar field violate the inequality between the damping rate of the least damped mode and the Hawking temperature, known as the Hod’s proposal. This does not exclude the situation in which gravitational spectrum may restore the Hod’s inequality, so that only the analysis of the full spectrum, including gravitational perturbations, will show if the quasinormal modes we found here for the scalar field can be a counterexample to the Hod’s conjecture or not. We also revealed that in such a system, which includes the higher curvature corrections and non-linear electrodynamics, for perturbations of a massive scalar field there exists the phenomenon of the arbitrary long lived quasinormal modes — quasiresonances.

Excitation of Kerr quasinormal modes in extreme-mass-ratio inspirals

If a small compact object orbits a black hole, it is known that it can excite the black hole's quasinormal modes (QNMs), leading to high-frequency oscillations ("wiggles") in the radiated field at $\mathcal{J}^+$, and in the radiation-reaction self-force acting on the object after its orbit passes through periapsis. Here we survey the phenomenology of these wiggles across a range of black hole spins and equatorial orbits. In both the scalar-field and gravitational cases we find that wiggles are a generic feature across a wide range of parameter space, and that they are observable in field perturbations at fixed spatial positions, in the self-force, and in radiated fields at $\mathcal{J}^+$. For a given charge or mass of the small body, the QNM excitations have the highest amplitudes for systems with a highly spinning central black hole, a prograde orbit with high eccentricity, and an orbital periapsis close to the light ring. The QNM amplitudes depend smoothly on the orbital parameters, with only very small amplitude changes when the orbit's (discrete) frequency spectrum is tuned to match QNM frequencies. The association of wiggles with QNM excitations suggest that they represent a situation where the \emph{nonlocal} nature of the self-force is particularly apparent, with the wiggles arising as result of QNM excitation by the compact object near periapsis, and then encountered later in the orbit. Astrophysically, the effects of wiggles at $\mathcal{J}^+$ might allow direct observation of Kerr QNMs in extreme-mass-ratio inspiral (EMRI) binary black hole systems, potentially enabling new tests of general relativity.

Eikonal black hole ringings in generalized energy-momentum squared gravity

In the scope of black hole spectroscopy, several attempts have been made in the past decades in order to test black holes or gravitational theories via black hole quasinormal modes. In the eikonal approximation, the quasinormal modes are generically associated with the photon ring of the black hole. This correspondence is valid for most cases in general relativity, but may not be true in other theories of gravity. In this paper, we consider the generalized energy-momentum squared gravity in which matter fields are non-minimally coupled to geometry. We investigate the axial perturbations of the charged black holes in this model, without assuming any explicit expression of the action functional. After obtaining the modified Klein-Gordon equation and the modified Maxwell equations, we perturb the gravitational equations and the modified Maxwell equations to derive the coupled master equations of the axial perturbations. In the presence of the non-minimal coupling between matter and geometry, the correspondence between the eikonal quasinormal modes and the photon ring is not satisfied in general. Also, the two coupled fields of the axial perturbations are found to propagate independently and they do not share the same quasinormal frequencies in the eikonal limit.

Eikonal quasinormal modes of black holes beyond general relativity. II. Generalized scalar-tensor perturbations

Black hole `spectroscopy', i.e. the identification of quasinormal mode frequencies via gravitational wave observations, is a powerful technique for testing the general relativistic nature of black holes. In theories of gravity beyond general relativity perturbed black holes are typically described by a set of coupled wave equations for the tensorial field and the extra scalar/vector degrees of freedom, thus leading to a theory-specific quasinormal mode spectrum. In this paper we use the eikonal/geometric optics approximation to obtain analytic formulae for the frequency and damping rate of the fundamental quasinormal mode of a generalised, theory-agnostic system of equations describing coupled scalar-tensor perturbations of spherically symmetric black holes. Representing an extension of our recent work, the present model includes a massive scalar field, couplings through the field derivatives and first-order frame dragging rotational corrections. Moving away from spherical symmetry, we consider the simple model of the scalar wave equation in a general stationary-axisymmetric spacetime and use the eikonal approximation to compute the quasinormal modes associated with equatorial and nonequatorial photon rings.

Phase Structure and Quasinormal Modes of AdS Black Holes in Rastall Theory

We discuss the P−V criticality and phase transition in the extended phase space of anti-de Sitter(AdS) black holes in four-dimensional Rastall theory and recover the Van der Waals (VdW) analogy of small/large black hole (SBH/LBH) phase transition when the parameters ωs and ψ satisfy some certain conditions. Later, we further explore the quasinormal modes (QNMs) of massless scalar perturbations to probe the SBH/LBH phase transition. It is found that it can be detected near the critical point, where the slopes of the QNM frequencies change drastically in small and large black holes.

Quasinormal modes of black holes and Borel summation

We propose a simple and efficient way to compute quasinormal frequencies of spherically symmetric black holes. We revisit an old idea that relates them to bound state energies of anharmonic oscillators by an analytic continuation. This connection enables us to achieve remarkable high-order computations of WKB series by Rayleigh-Schr\"odinger perturbation theory. The known WKB results are easily reproduced. Our analysis shows that the perturbative WKB series of the quasinormal frequencies turn out to be Borel summable divergent series both for the Schwarzschild and for the Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes. Their Borel sums reproduce the correct numerical values.

Quasinormal modes of black holes. II. Padé summation of the higher-order WKB terms

In previous work [1] we proposed an improvement of the WKB-based semianalytic technique of Iyer and Will for calculation of the quasiormal modes of black holes by constructing the Pad\'e approximants of the formal series for $\omega^{2}.$ It has been demonstrated that (within the domain of applicability) the diagonal Pad\'e transforms $\mathcal{P}_{6}^{6}$ and $\mathcal{P}_{7}^{6}$ are always in a very good agreement with the numerical results. In this paper we present a further extension of the method. We show that it is possible to reproduce many known numerical results with a great accuracy (or even exactly) if the Pad\'e transforms are constructed from the perturbative series of a really high order. In our calculations the order depends on the problem but it never exceeds 700. For example, the frequencies of the gravitational mode $l=2,$ $n=0$ calculated with the aid of the Pad\'e approximants and within the framework of the continued fractions method agree to 24 decimal places. The use of such a large number of terms is necessary as the stabilization of the quasinormal frequencies can be slow. Our results reveal some unexpected features of the WKB-based approximations and may shed some fresh light on the problem of overtones.

Effective field theory of hairy black holes and their flat and de Sitter limits

Effective theory of fluctuations based on underlying symmetry plays a very important role in understanding the low energy phenomena. Using this powerful technique we study the fluctuation dynamics, keeping in mind the following central question: does the effective theory of black holes provide any information about the possible existence of hair? Assuming the symmetry of the hair is that of the underlying black hole space-time, we start by writing down the most general action for the background and the fluctuations in the effective field theory framework. Considering the Schwarzschild and Schwarzschild--de Sitter black hole background with spherically symmetric hair, we derive the most general equation of motion for the fluctuations. For a particular choice of theory parameters, quasinormal modes corresponding to those fluctuations appear to have distinct features compared to those of the usual black hole quasinormal modes. The background equations from the effective theory Lagrangian, on the other hand, seem to suggest that the underlying theory of the hair under consideration should be a higher derivative in nature. Therefore, as a concrete example, we construct a class of higher derivative scalar field theory which gives rise to spherically symmetric hair through the background cosmological constant. We also calculate the quasinormal modes whose behavior turns out to be similar to the one discussed from the effective theory.

Eikonal quasinormal modes of black holes beyond general relativity

Much of our physical intuition about black hole quasinormal modes in general relativity comes from the eikonal/geometric optics approximation. According to the well-established eikonal model, the fundamental quasinormal mode represents wavepackets orbiting in the vicinity of the black hole's geodesic photon ring, slowly peeling off towards the event horizon and infinity. Besides its strength as a "visualisation" tool, the eikonal approximation also provides a simple quantitative method for calculating the mode frequency, in close agreement with rigorous numerical results. In this paper we move away from Einstein's theory and its garden-variety black holes and go on to consider spherically symmetric black holes in modified theories of gravity through the lens of the eikonal approximation. The quasinormal modes of such black holes are typically described by a set of coupled wave equations for the various field degrees of freedom. Considering a general, theory-agnostic, system of two equations for two perturbed fields, we derive eikonal formulae for the complex fundamental quasinormal mode frequency. In addition we show that the eikonal modes can be related to the extremum of an effective potential and its associated "photon ring". As an application of our results we consider a specific example of a modified theory of gravity with known black hole quasinormal modes and find that these are well approximated by the eikonal formulae.

Higher order WKB formula for quasinormal modes and grey-body factors: recipes for quick and accurate calculations

The WKB approach for finding quasinormal modes of black holes, suggested in Schutz and Will (1985 Astrophys. J. Lett. 291 L33–6) by Schutz and Will at the first order and later developed to higher orders (Iyer and Will 1987 Phys. Rev. D 35 3621; Konoplya 2003 Phys. Rev. D 68 024018; Matyjasek and Opala 2017 Phys. Rev. D 96 024011), became popular during the past decades, because, unlike more sophisticated numerical approaches, it is automatic for different effective potentials and mostly provides sufficient accuracy. At the same time, the seeming simplicity of the WKB approach resulted in appearance of a big number of partially misleading papers, where the WKB formula was used beyond its scope of applicability. Here we review various situations in which the WKB formula can or cannot bring us to reliable conclusions. As the WKB series converges only asymptotically, there is no mathematically strict criterium for evaluation of an error. Therefore, here we are trying to introduce a number of practical recipes instead and summarize cases in which higher WKB orders improve accuracy. We show that averaging of the Padé approximations, suggested first by Matyjasek and Opala (2017 Phys. Rev. D 96 024011), leads to much higher accuracy of the WKB approach, estimate the error and present the automatic code (The Mathematica® package with the WKB formula of 13th order and Padé approximations ready for calculation of the quasinormal modes and grey-body factors, as well as examples of such calculations for the Schwarzschild black hole are publicly available to download from https://goo.gl/nykYGL) which computes quasinormal modes and grey-body factors.

Analytical quasinormal modes of spherically symmetric black holes in the eikonal regime

Quasinormal modes in the high frequency (eikonal) regime can be obtained analytically as the Mashhoon–Will–Schiutz WKB formula is exact in this case. This regime is interesting because of the correspondence between eikonal quasinormal modes and null geodesics, as well as due to existence of potential eikonal instabilities in some theories of gravity. At the same time in a number of studies devoted to quasinormal modes of spherically symmetric black holes this opportunity was omitted. Here we find analytical quasinormal modes of black holes in various alternative and extended theories of gravity in the form of the Schwarzschld eikonal quasinormal modes and added corrections due to deviations from Einstein theory. We also deduce a generic formula for analytical calculations of the eikonal quasinormal modes for the class of asymptotically flat metrics in terms of small deviations from the Schwarzschild geometry.

Quasinormal modes of black holes in a toy-model for cumulative quantum gravity

The idea that quantum gravity effects might “leak” outside the horizon of a black hole has recently been intensively considered. In this study, we calculate the quasinormal modes as a function of the location and amplitude of a generic metric perturbation distorting to the Schwarzschild spacetime. We conclude on the possible observability of quantum metric corrections by current and future gravitational wave experiments.

Melting of scalar mesons and black-hole quasinormal modes in a holographic QCD model

A holographic model for QCD is employed to investigate the effects of the gluon condensate on the spectrum and melting of scalar mesons. We find the evolution of the free energy density with the temperature, and the result shows that the temperature of the confinement/deconinement transition is sensitive to the gluon-condensate parameter. The spectral functions (SPFs) are also obtained and show a series of peaks in the low-temperature regime, indicating the presence of quasiparticle states associated to the mesons, while the number of peaks decreases with the increment of the temperature, characterizing the quasiparticle melting. In the dual gravitational description, the scalar mesons are identified with the black-hole quasinormal modes (QNMs). We obtain the spectrum of QNMs and the dispersion relations corresponding to the scalar-field perturbations of the gravitational background, and find their dependence with the gluon-condensate parameter.

Effective field theory of black hole quasinormal modes in scalar-tensor theories

The final ringdown phase in a coalescence process is a valuable laboratory to test General Relativity and potentially constrain additional degrees of freedom in the gravitational sector. We introduce here an effective description for perturbations around spherically symmetric spacetimes in the context of scalar-tensor theories, which we apply to study quasi-normal modes for black holes with scalar hair. We derive the equations of motion governing the dynamics of both the polar and the axial modes in terms of the coefficients of the effective theory. Assuming the deviation of the background from Schwarzschild is small, we use the WKB method to introduce the notion of “light ring expansion”. This approximation is analogous to the slow-roll expansion used for inflation, and it allows us to express the quasinormal mode spectrum in terms of a small number of parameters. This work is a first step in describing, in a model independent way, how the scalar hair can affect the ringdown stage and leave signatures on the emitted gravitational wave signal. Potential signatures include the shifting of the quasi-normal spectrum, the breaking of isospectrality between polar and axial modes, and the existence of scalar radiation.

The matrix method for black hole quasinormal modes * * Support by NNSFC (11805166), as well as Brazilian funding agencies Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

We provide a comprehensive survey of possible applications of the matrix method for black hole quasinormal modes. The proposed algorithm can generally be applied to various background metrics, and in particular, it accommodates both analytic and numerical forms of the tortoise coordinates, as well as black hole spacetimes. We give a detailed account of different types of black hole metrics, master equations, and the corresponding boundary conditions. Besides, we argue that the method can readily be applied to cases where the master equation is a system of coupled equations. By adjusting the number of interpolation points, the present method provides a desirable degree of precision, in reasonable balance with its efficiency. The method is flexible and can easily be adopted to various distinct physical scenarios.

Quasinormal modes of static and spherically symmetric black holes with the derivative coupling

We investigate the quasinormal modes of a class of static and spherically symmetric black holes with the derivative coupling. The derivative coupling has rarely been paid attention to the study of black hole quasinormal modes. Specifically, we study the effect of derivative coupling on the quasinormal modes for four kinds of black holes. They are Reissner–Nordström black holes, Bardeen black holes, noncommunicative geometry inspired black holes and dilaton black holes. These black holes are not the solutions of vacuum Einstein equations which guarantees the effect of derivative coupling is not trivial. We find the influence of derivative coupling on the quasinormal modes roughly mimics the overtone numbers. In other words, there is a qualitative similarity in the trend of quasinormal modes frequencies due to increasing either the coupling constant and the overtone number.

Hyperboloidal slicing approach to quasinormal mode expansions: The Reissner-Nordström case

We study quasi-normal modes of black holes, with a focus on resonant (or quasi-normal mode) expansions, in a geometric frame based on the use of conformal compactifications together with hyperboloidal foliations of spacetime. Specifically, this work extends the previous study of Schwarzschild in this geometric approach to spherically symmetric asymptotically flat black hole spacetimes, in particular Reissner-Nordstr\"om. The discussion involves, first, the non-trivial technical developments needed to address the choice of appropriate hyperboloidal slices in the extended setting as well as the generalization of the algorithm determining the coefficients in the expansion of the solution in terms of the quasi-normal modes. In a second stage, we discuss how the adopted framework provides a geometric insight into the origin of regularization factors needed in Leaver's Cauchy based foliations, as well as into the discussion of quasi-normal modes in the extremal black hole limit.

How does relativistic kinetic theory remember about initial conditions?

Understanding hydrodynamization in microscopic models of heavy-ion collisions has been an important topic in current research. Many lessons obtained within the strongly-coupled (holographic) models originate from the properties of transient excitations of equilibrium encapsulated by short-lived quasinormal modes of black holes. This paper aims to develop similar intuition for expanding plasma systems described by a simple model from the weakly-coupled domain, the Boltzmann equation in the relaxation time approximation. We show that in this kinetic theory setup there are infinitely many transient modes carrying information about the initial distribution function. They all have the same exponential damping set by the relaxation time but are distinguished by different power-law suppressions and different frequencies of oscillations, logarithmic in proper time. We also analyze the resurgent interplay between the hydrodynamics and transients in this setup.

WKB approximation for a deformed Schrodinger-like equation and its applications to quasinormal modes of black holes and quantum cosmology

In this paper, we use the WKB approximation method to approximately solve a deformed Schrodinger-like differential equation: [−ħ2∂ξ2g2(−iħα∂ξ)−p2(ξ)]ψ(ξ)=0, which are frequently dealt with in various effective models of quantum gravity, where the parameter α characterizes effects of quantum gravity. For an arbitrary function g(x) satisfying several properties proposed in the paper, we find the WKB solutions, the WKB connection formulas through a turning point, the deformed Bohr–Sommerfeld quantization rule, and the deformed tunneling rate formula through a potential barrier. Several examples of applying the WKB approximation to the deformed quantum mechanics are investigated. In particular, we calculate the bound states of the Pöschl–Teller potential and estimate the effects of quantum gravity on the quasinormal modes of a Schwarzschild black hole. Moreover, the area quantum of the black hole is considered via Bohr's correspondence principle. Finally, the WKB solutions of the deformed Wheeler–DeWitt equation for a closed Friedmann universe with a scalar field are obtained, and the effects of quantum gravity on the probability of sufficient inflation is discussed in the context of the tunneling proposal.

Short-lived modes from hydrodynamic dispersion relations

We consider the dispersion relation of the shear-diffusion mode in relativistic hydrodynamics, which we generate to high order as a series in spatial momentum q for a holographic model. We demonstrate that the hydrodynamic series can be summed in a way that extends through branch cuts present in the complex q plane, resulting in the accurate description of multiple sheets. Each additional sheet corresponds to the dispersion relation of a different non-hydrodynamic mode. As an example we extract the frequencies of a pair of oscillatory non-hydrodynamic black hole quasinormal modes from the hydrodynamic series. The analytic structure of this model points to the possibility that the complete spectrum of gravitational quasinormal modes may be accessible from the hydrodynamic derivative expansion.