arXiv subjects

Cosimo Bambi

Publications and source records attributed to Cosimo Bambi.

At least 253 records · Page 14Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Constraining the spin and the deformation parameters from the black hole shadow

Within 5-10 years, very-long baseline interferometry (VLBI) facilities will be able to directly image the accretion flow around SgrA$^*$, the super-massive black hole candidate at the center of the Galaxy, and observe the black hole "shadow". In 4-dimensional general relativity, the no-hair theorem asserts that uncharged black holes are described by the Kerr solution and are completely specified by their mass $M$ and by their spin parameter $a$. In this paper, we explore the possibility of distinguishing Kerr and Bardeen black holes from their shadow. In Hioki & Maeda (2009), under the assumption that the background geometry is described by the Kerr solution, the authors proposed an algorithm to estimate the value of $a/M$ by measuring the distortion parameter $δ$, an observable quantity that characterizes the shape of the shadow. Here, we try to extend their approach. Since the Hioki-Maeda distortion parameter is degenerate with respect to the spin and possible deviations from the Kerr solution, one has to measure another quantity to test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. We study a few possibilities. We find that it is extremely difficult to distinguish Kerr and Bardeen black holes from the sole observation of the shadow, and out of reach for the near future. The combination of the measurement of the shadow with possible accurate radio observations of a pulsar in a compact orbit around SgrA$^*$ could be a more promising strategy to verify the Kerr black hole paradigm.

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arXiv2014

Singularity avoidance in classical gravity from four-fermion interaction

We derive the dynamics of the gravitational collapse of a homogeneous and spherically symmetric cloud in a classical set-up endowed with a topological sector of gravity and a non-minimal coupling to fermions. The effective theory consists of the Einstein-Hilbert action plus Dirac fermions interacting through a four-fermion vertex. At the classical level, we obtain the same picture that has been recently studied by some of us within a wide range of effective theories inspired by a super-renormalizable and asymptotically free theory of gravity. The classical singularity is replaced by a bounce, beyond which the cloud re-expands indefinitely. We thus show that, even at a classical level, if we allow for a non-minimal coupling of gravity to fermions, event horizons may never form for a suitable choice of some parameters of the theory.

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arXiv2014

Testing the nature of the supermassive black hole candidate in SgrA* with light curves and images of hot spots

General relativity makes clear predictions about the spacetime geometry around black holes. In the near future, new facilities will have the capability to explore the metric around SgrA$^*$, the supermassive black hole candidate at the Center of our Galaxy, and open a new window to test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. In this paper, we compute light curves and images associated with compact emission regions (hot spots) orbiting around Kerr and non-Kerr black holes. We study how the analysis of the properties of the radiation emitted by a hot spot can be used to test the Kerr nature of SgrA$^*$. We find that the sole observation of the hot spot light curve can at most constrain a combination of the black hole spin and of possible deviations from the Kerr solution. This happens because the same orbital frequency around a Kerr black hole can be found for a non-Kerr object with a different spin parameter. Second order corrections in the light curve due to the background geometry are typically too small to be identified. While the observation of the hot spot centroid track can potentially bound possible deviations from the Kerr solution, that is out of reach for the near future VLTI instrument GRAVITY. The Kerr black hole hypothesis could really be tested in the case of the discovery of a radio pulsar in a compact orbit around SgrA$^*$. Radio observations of such a pulsar would provide precise estimates of the mass and the spin of SgrA$^*$, and the combination of these measurements (probing the weak field) with the hot spot light curve information (probing the strong field) may constrain/find possible deviations from the Kerr solution with quite good precision.

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arXiv2014

Testing the nature of the black hole candidate in GRO J1655-40 with the relativistic precession model

Quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) are a common feature in the X-ray flux of stellar-mass black hole candidates, but their exact origin is not yet known. Recently, some authors have pointed out that data of GRO J1655-40 simultaneously show three QPOs that nicely fit in the relativistic precession model. However, they find an estimate of the spin parameter that disagrees with the measurement of the disk's thermal spectrum. In the present work, I explore the possibility of using the relativistic precession model to test the nature of the black hole candidate in GRO J1655-40. If properly understood, QPOs may become a quite powerful tool to probe the spacetime geometry around black hole candidates, especially if used in combination with other techniques. It turns out that the measurements of the relativistic precession model and of the disk's thermal spectrum may be consistent if we admit that the black hole candidate in GRO J1655-40 is not of the Kerr type.

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arXiv2014

Constraining possible variations of the fine structure constant in strong gravitational fields with the K$α$ iron line

In extensions of general relativity and in theories aiming at unifying gravity with the forces of the Standard Model, the value of the "fundamental constants" is often determined by the vacuum expectation value of new fields, which may thus change in different backgrounds. Variations of fundamental constants with respect to the values measured today in laboratories on Earth are expected to be more evident on cosmological timescales and/or in strong gravitational fields. In this paper, I show that the analysis of the K$α$ iron line observed in the X-ray spectrum of black holes can potentially be used to probe the fine structure constant $α$ in gravitational potentials relative to Earth of $Δϕ\approx 0.1$. At present, systematic effects not fully under control prevent to get robust and stringent bounds on possible variations of the value of $α$ with this technique, but the fact that current data can be fitted with models based on standard physics already rules out variations of the fine structure constant larger than some percent.

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arXiv2014

Terminating black holes in asymptotically free quantum gravity

We study the homogeneous gravitational collapse of a spherical cloud of matter in a super-renormalizable and asymptotically free theory of gravity. We find a picture that differs substantially from the classical scenario. The central singularity appearing in classical general relativity is replaced by a bounce, after which the cloud re-expands indefinitely. We argue that a black hole, strictly speaking, never forms. The collapse only generates a temporary trapped surface, which can be interpreted as a black hole when the observational timescale is much shorter than the one of the collapse. However, it may also be possible that the gravitational collapse produces a black hole and that after the bounce the original cloud of matter evolves into a new universe.

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arXiv2014

Measuring the Kerr spin parameter of regular black holes from their shadow

In a previous paper, one of us has showed that, at least in some cases, the Kerr-nature of astrophysical black hole candidates is extremely difficult to test and current techniques, even in presence of excellent data not available today, cannot distinguish a Kerr black hole from a Bardeen one, despite the substantial difference of the two backgrounds. In this paper, we investigate if the detection of the "shadow" of nearby super-massive black hole candidates by near future mm/sub-mm very long baseline interferometry experiments can do the job. More specifically, we consider the measurement of the Kerr spin parameter of the Bardeen and Hayward regular black holes from their shadow, and we then compare the result with the estimate inferred from the K$α$ iron line and from the frequency of the innermost stable circular orbit. For non-rotating black holes, the shadow approach provides different values, and therefore the Kerr black hole hypothesis can potentially be tested. For near extremal objects, all the approaches give quite similar results, and therefore it is not possible to constrain deviations from the Kerr solution. The present work confirms that it is definitively challenging to test this kind of metrics, even with future facilities. However, the detection of a source that looks like a fast-rotating Kerr black hole can put meaningful constraints on the nature of the compact object.

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arXiv2014

Testing the Bardeen metric with the black hole candidate in Cygnus X-1

In general, it is very difficult to test the Kerr-nature of an astrophysical black hole candidate, because it is not possible to have independent measurements of both the spin parameter $a_*$ and possible deviations from the Kerr solution. Non-Kerr objects may indeed look like Kerr black holes with different spin. However, it is much more difficult to mimic an extremal Kerr black hole. The black hole candidate in Cygnus X-1 has the features of a near extremal Kerr black hole, and it is therefore a good object to test the Kerr black hole paradigm. The 3$σ$-bounds $a_* > 0.95$ and $a_* > 0.983$ reported in the literature and valid in the Kerr spacetime become, respectively, $a_* > 0.78$ and $|g/M| < 0.41$, and $a_* > 0.89$ and $|g/M| < 0.28$ in the Bardeen metric, where $g$ is the Bardeen charge of the black hole.

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arXiv2013

K$α$ iron line profile from accretion disks around regular and singular exotic compact objects

The nature of the super-massive black hole candidates in galactic nuclei can be tested by analyzing the profile of the K$α$ iron line observed in their X-ray spectrum. In this paper, we consider the possibility that the spacetime in the immediate vicinity of these objects may be described by some non vacuum exact solutions of Einstein's equations resulting as the end-state of gravitational collapse. The vacuum far away portion of the spacetime is described by the Schwarzschild metric, while the interior part may be either regular or have a naked singularity at the center. The iron line generated around this class of objects has specific features, which can be used to distinguish such objects from Kerr black holes. In particular, their iron line cannot have the characteristic low-energy tail of the line generated from accretion disks around fast-rotating Kerr black holes. We can thus conclude that the super-massive black hole candidates whose spin parameter has been estimated to be close to 1 assuming the Kerr background cannot be this kind of objects.

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arXiv2013

Measuring the Kerr spin parameter of a non-Kerr compact object with the continuum-fitting and the iron line methods

Under the assumption that astrophysical black hole candidates are the Kerr black holes of general relativity, the continuum-fitting method and the analysis of the K$α$ iron line are today the only available techniques capable of providing a relatively reliable estimate of the spin parameter of these objects. If we relax the Kerr black hole hypothesis and we try to test the nature of black hole candidates, we find that there is a strong correlation between the measurement of the spin and possible deviations from the Kerr solution. The properties of the radiation emitted in a Kerr spacetime with spin parameter $a_*$ are indeed very similar, and practically indistinguishable, from the ones of the radiation emitted around a non-Kerr object with different spin. In this paper, I address the question whether measuring the Kerr spin with both the continuum-fitting method and the K$α$ iron line analysis of the same object can be used to claim the Kerr nature of the black hole candidate in the case of consistent results. In this work, I consider two non-Kerr metrics and it seems that the answer does depend on the specific background. The two techniques may either provide a very similar result (the case of the Bardeen metric) or show a discrepancy (Johannsen-Psaltis background).

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arXiv2013

Non-singular quantum-inspired gravitational collapse

We consider general relativistic homogeneous gravitational collapses for dust and radiation. We show that replacing the density profile with an effective density justified by some quantum gravity framework leads to the avoidance of the final singularity. The effective density acts on the collapsing cloud by introducing an isotropic pressure, which is negligible at the beginning of the collapse and becomes negative and dominant in the strong field regime. Event horizons never form and therefore the outcome of the collapse is not a black hole, in the sense that there are no regions causally disconnected from future null infinity. Apparent horizons form when the mass of the object exceeds a critical value, disappear when the matter density approaches an upper bound and gravity becomes very weak (asymptotic freedom regime), form again after the bounce as a consequence of the decrease in the matter density, and eventually disappear when the density becomes too low and the matter is radiated away. The possibility of detecting radiation coming from the high density region of a collapsing astrophysical object in which classically there would be the creation of a singularity could open a new window to experimentally test theories of quantum gravity.

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arXiv2013

Destroying the event horizon of regular black holes

Recently, several authors have studied the possibility of overspinning or overcharging an existing black hole to destroy its event horizon and make the central singularity naked. When all the effects are properly taken into account, any attempt to destroy the black hole seems to be doomed to fail, in agreement with the weak cosmic censorship conjecture. In this letter, we study the possibility of destroying the event horizon of regular black holes. These objects have no central singularity and therefore they are not protected by the cosmic censorship hypothesis. Our results strongly support the conclusion that regular black holes can be destroyed. If we believe that the central singularity in astrophysical black holes is solved by quantum gravity effects, we might have a chance to see the black hole's internal region and observe quantum gravity phenomena. As our finding implies the violation of the black hole's area theorem, the collision of two black holes may release an amount of energy exceeding the Hawking bound, which can be experimentally tested by gravitational wave detectors.

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arXiv2013

A note on the observational evidence for the existence of event horizons in astrophysical black hole candidates

Black holes have the peculiar and intriguing property of having an event horizon, a one-way membrane causally separating their internal region from the rest of the Universe. Today astrophysical observations provide some evidence for the existence of event horizons in astrophysical black hole candidates. In this short paper, I compare the constraint we can infer from the non-observation of electromagnetic radiation from the putative surface of these objects with the bound coming from the ergoregion instability, pointing out the respective assumptions and limitations.

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arXiv2013

Super-spinning compact objects generated by thick accretion disks

If astrophysical black hole candidates are the Kerr black holes predicted by General Relativity, the value of their spin parameter must be subject to the theoretical bound $|a_*| \le 1$. In this work, we consider the possibility that these objects are either non-Kerr black holes in an alternative theory of gravity or exotic compact objects in General Relativity. We study the accretion process when their accretion disk is geometrically thick with a simple version of the Polish doughnut model. The picture of the accretion process may be qualitatively different from the one around a Kerr black hole. The inner edge of the disk may not have the typical cusp on the equatorial plane any more, but there may be two cusps, respectively above and below the equatorial plane. We extend previous work on the evolution of the spin parameter and we estimate the maximum value of $a_*$ for the super-massive black hole candidates in galactic nuclei. Since measurements of the mean radiative efficiency of AGNs require $η> 0.15$, we infer the "observational" bound $|a_*| \lesssim 1.3$, which seems to be quite independent of the exact nature of these objects. Such a bound is only slightly weaker than $|a_*| \lesssim 1.2$ found in previous work for thin disks.

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arXiv2013

Can the supermassive objects at the centers of galaxies be traversable wormholes? The first test of strong gravity for mm/sub-mm VLBI facilities

The near future mm/sub-mm VLBI experiments are ambitious projects aiming at imaging the "shadow" of the supermassive black hole candidate at the center of the Milky Way and of the ones in nearby galaxies. An accurate observation of the shape of the shadow can potentially test the nature of these objects and verify if they are Kerr black holes, as predicted by general relativity. However, previous work on the subject has shown that the shadows produced in other spacetimes are very similar to the one of the Kerr background, suggesting that tests of strong gravity are not really possible with these facilities in the near future. In this work, I instead point out that it will be relatively easy to distinguish black holes from wormholes, topologically non-trivial structures of the spacetime that might have been formed in the early Universe and might connect our Universe with other universes.

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arXiv2013

Testing the existence of regions of stable orbits at small radii around black hole candidates

Black hole candidates in X-ray binary systems and at the centers of galaxies are expected to be the Kerr black holes of General Relativity, but the actual nature of these objects has yet to be verified. In this paper, we consider the possibility that they are exotic compact objects and we describe their exterior gravitational field with a subclass of the Manko-Novikov metrics, which are exact solutions of the vacuum Einstein's equations and can describe the spacetime geometry around bodies with arbitrary mass-multipole moments. We point out that around a Manko-Novikov object there may exist many disconnected non-plunging regions at small radii, with no counterpart in the Kerr background, and that their existence may be tested. For instance, in the presence of an accretion disk, they may be filled by the accreting gas, forming a ring structure that might remind the rings of Saturn. We suggest that the existence of these regions may have a clear observational signature in the waveform of the gravitational radiation emitted by an EMRI: in the last stage of the inspiral, the waveform would be the combination of "regular chirps", produced when the small object orbits in one of the non-plunging regions, and "bursts", released when the small object jumps from a non-plunging region to another one at smaller radii. Our conclusions are supported by some numerical calculations of trajectories in the geodesic approximation, in which a particle plunges from the ISCO and then seems to get trapped in the potential well at smaller radii.

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arXiv2013

Broad K$α$ iron line from accretion disks around traversable wormholes

It has been proposed that the supermassive black hole candidates at the centers of galaxies might be wormholes formed in the early Universe and connecting our Universe with other sister Universes. The analysis of the profile of the relativistic K$α$ iron line is currently the only available approach to probe the spacetime geometry around these objects. In this paper, I compute the expected K$α$ iron line in some wormhole spacetimes and I compare the results with the line produced around Kerr black holes. The line produced in accretion disks around non-rotating or very slow-rotating wormholes is relatively similar to the one expected around Kerr black holes with mid or high value of spin parameter and current observations are still marginally compatible with the possibility that the supermassive black hole candidates in galactic nuclei are these objects. For wormholes with spin parameter $a_* \gtrsim 0.02$, the associated K$α$ iron line is instead quite different from the one produced around Kerr black holes, and their existence may already be excluded.

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arXiv2013

Rotating regular black holes

The formation of spacetime singularities is a quite common phenomenon in General Relativity and it is regulated by specific theorems. It is widely believed that spacetime singularities do not exist in Nature, but that they represent a limitation of the classical theory. While we do not yet have any solid theory of quantum gravity, toy models of black hole solutions without singularities have been proposed. So far, there are only non-rotating regular black holes in the literature. These metrics can be hardly tested by astrophysical observations, as the black hole spin plays a fundamental role in any astrophysical process. In this letter, we apply the Newman-Janis algorithm to the Hayward and to the Bardeen black hole metrics. In both cases, we obtain a family of rotating solutions. Every solution corresponds to a different matter configuration. Each family has one solution with special properties, which can be written in Kerr-like form in Boyer-Lindquist coordinates. These special solutions are of Petrov type D, they are singularity free, but they violate the weak energy condition for a non-vanishing spin and their curvature invariants have different values at $r=0$ depending on the way one approaches the origin. We propose a natural prescription to have rotating solutions with a minimal violation of the weak energy condition and without the questionable property of the curvature invariants at the origin.

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