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M. Ghasemi-Nodehi

Publications and source records attributed to M. Ghasemi-Nodehi.

15 recordsLinked to original sources

Sgr A* Shadow Study with KTN Space Time and Investigation of NUT Charge Existence

In this paper, I investigate the existence of the NUT charge through the KTN spacetime using shadow observations of Sgr A*. I report that the range of my constraint for the NUT charge is between $-$0.5 and 0.5 for Schwarzschild-like and very slowly rotating KTN black holes. This range extends to 1.5 for spins up to $-$2 and $-$1.5 for spins up to 2 based on Keck observations for both 40$^\circ$ and 10$^\circ$ viewing angles. For VLTI observations, Schwarzschild-like and very slowly rotating KTN black holes are excluded for a 40$^\circ$ viewing angle, and the NUT charge is constrained to a very narrow range for a 10$^\circ$ viewing angle. I report that the possibility of having KTN naked singularities in Sgr A* is small, considering the uncertainties in the shadow size.

gr-qc

Tests of the Kerr Hypothesis with MAXI J1803-298 Using Different RELXILL_NK Flavors

Iron line spectroscopy has been one of the leading methods not only for measuring the spins of accreting black holes but also for testing fundamental physics. Basing on such a method, we present an analysis of a dataset observed simultaneously by NuSTAR and NICER for the black hole binary candidate MAXI J1803-298, which shows prominent relativistic reflection features. Various relxill_nk flavors are utilized to test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. The results obtained from our analysis provide stringent constraints on Johannsen deformation parameter $α_{13}$ with the highest precise to date, namely $α_{13}=0.023^{+0.071}_{-0.038}$ from relxillD_nk and $α_{13}=0.006^{+0.045}_{-0.022}$ from relxillion_nk respectively in 3-$σ$ credible lever, where Johannsen metric reduces to Kerr metric when $α_{13}$ vanishes. Furthermore, we investigate the best model-fit results using Akaike Information Criterion and assess its systematic uncertainties.

astro-ph.HE

Evolution of thermal and nonthermal radio continuum emission on kpc scales--Predictions for SKA

Resolved maps of the thermal and nonthermal radio continuum (RC) emission of distant galaxies are a powerful tool for understanding the role of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the evolution of galaxies. We simulate the RC surface brightness of present-day star forming galaxies in the past at $0.15<z<3$ considering two cases of radio size evolution: (1)~no evolution, and (2)~same evolution as in the optical. We aim to investigate the a)~structure of the thermal and nonthermal emission on kpc scales, b)~evolution of the thermal fraction and synchrotron spectrum at mid-radio frequencies ($\simeq$1-10\,GHz), and c)~capability of the proposed SKA1-MID reference surveys in detecting the RC emitting structures. The synchrotron spectrum flattens with $z$ causing curvature in the observed mid-radio SEDs of galaxies at higher $z$. The spectral index reported in recent observational studies agrees better with the no size evolution scenario. In this case, the mean thermal fraction observed at 1.4\,GHz increases with redshift by more than 30\% from $z=0.15$ to $z=2$ because of the drop of the synchrotron emission at higher rest-frame~frequencies. More massive galaxies have lower thermal fractions and experience a faster flattening of the nonthermal spectrum. The proposed SKA1-MID band~2 reference survey, unveils the ISM in M51- and NGC6946-like galaxies (with ${\rm M_{\star}}\simeq10^{10}\,{\rm M}_{\odot}$) up to $z=3$. This survey detects lower-mass galaxies like M33 (${\rm M_{\star}}\simeq10^{9}\,{\rm M}_{\odot}$) only at low redshifts $z\lesssim 0.5$. For a proper separation of the RC emitting processes at the peak of star formation, it is vital to include band~1 into the SKA1-MID reference surveys.

astro-ph.GA

Investigating the existence of gravitomagnetic monopole in M87*

We examine the possibility for the existence of gravitomagnetic monopole ($n_*$) in M87* by using the results obtained from its first Event Horizon Telescope image. By numerically deducing the shadow sizes in Kerr-Taub-NUT (KTN) spacetime, we show that the shadow size increases with increasing $|n_*|$ for a fixed Kerr parameter $|a_*|$ in case of the KTN black hole, whereas for a KTN naked singularity it increases with increasing $n_*$ for a fixed $a_* > 0$ if $n_* > -\cot 17^{\circ}$ . In general, the asymmetry of shadow shape increases if the central dark object in M87 is a KTN/Kerr naked singularity instead of a KTN/Kerr black hole. We find that a non-zero gravitomagnetic monopole is still compatible with the current EHT observations, in which case the upper limit of $n_*$ cannot be greater than $1.1$, i.e., $n_* \lesssim 1.1$ for the prograde rotation ($a_* > 0$), and the lower limit of $n_*$ cannot be less than $-1.1$, i.e., $ n_* \gtrsim -1.1$ for the retrograde rotation ($a_* < 0$). Moreover, if the circularity of the shadow can be measured on a precision of $\lesssim 1\%$, the Kerr and KTN naked singularities can be falsified for M87*.

astro-ph.HE

Testing Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi metric parameters with quasi-periodic oscillations

QPOs are seen as peak features in the X-ray power spectral density of stellar mass black holes and neutron stars, of which frequencies can be measured with high precision. These QPO frequencies are believed to be related to fundamental frequencies of test particles, which are mainly determined by the background metric. We consider the metric introduced in Ghasemi-Nodehi and Bambi (Eur Phys J C 76:290, 2016). The fundamental frequencies in this metric are sensitive to some of the metric parameters but insensitive to other parameters, which means, the differences in fundamental frequencies in this metric and those in the Kerr ones can be significant for small changes of some but not all parameters around the Kerr value. By comparing with the QPO observations of GRO J1655-40, we find that only one parameter of the Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi metric can be strongly constrained, but other parameters cannot. We also use nested algorithm to investigate whether better constraints on the Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi metric parameters can be obtained from QPO observations of multiple objects by simulations. We find that four parameters can be strongly constrained while other parameters cannot . Our results suggest that QPOs may be important tools for testing the Kerr metric.

gr-qc

Testing Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi spacetime with continuum-fitting method

The continuum-fitting method is the analysis of the thermal spectrum of the geometrically thin and optically thick accretion disk around stellar-mass black holes. A parametrization aiming to test the Kerr nature of astrophysical black holes was proposed in Ghasemi-Nodehi and Bambi in EPJC 76: 290, 2016. The metric contains 11 parameters in addition to the mass and spin parameters. One can recover the Kerr case by setting all parameters to one. In this paper, I study the continuum-fitting method in Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi background. I show the impact of each of the parameters on the spectra. I then employ \c{hi}2 studies and show that using the continuum-fitting method all parameters of Ghasemi-Nodehi- Bambi spacetime are degenerate. However, the parameter b9 can be constrained in the case of a high spin value and the Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi black hole as reference. This degeneracy means that the spectra of the Kerr case cannot be distinguished from spectra produced in Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bmabi spacetime. This is a problem as regards measuring the spin of astrophysical black holes and constrain possible deviations from the Kerr case of General Relativity.

gr-qc

Iron line reverberation mapping in Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi background

The reverberation associated with the iron line is the time lag between direct photons from the corona and the photons reflected from the disk. The resulting line spectrum is called the 2D transfer function. The shape of the 2D transfer function is determined by the geometry of spacetime and the properties of BH. In a paper (Ghasemi-Nodehi and Bambi in EPJC 76:290, 2016), the authors have proposed a parametrization. This parametrization is aimed to test the Kerr nature of astrophysical black hole candidates. In this paper, I provide a reverberation mapping of the Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi metric in order to constrain the parameter of spacetime. All parameters can be constrained with the exception of b11. The parameter b4 is harder to constrain too.

gr-qc

The Spin of the Supermassive Black Hole in MCG-05-23-16

We present the results of a multi-epoch and multi-instrument study of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy MCG-05-23-16 aiming at the determination of its spin. We have analyzed high quality X-ray data of MCG-05-23-16 from XMM-Newton, Suzaku, and NuSTAR obtained over a period of about 10~years. We have built a double-reflection spectral model that well describes the observed spectrum based on prior results suggesting that the iron K$α$ line includes both a broad component from the disk's reflection spectrum and a narrow component due to fluorescence and scattering off material by more distant matter. Our measurement of the black hole spin parameter is $a_* = 0.856\pm0.006$ (99\% confidence level).

astro-ph.HE

Testing exterior spacetime of the neutron star via X-ray reflection spectroscopy

The exterior geometry of a neutron star can be approximated by relativistic multipole moments of a parametrized metric using Ernst potential formalism. This spacetime can be tested with electromagnetic wave observation of astrophysical black holes. In the present paper, I simulate X-ray reflection spectra of a thin accretion disk with future X-ray missions. The purpose of this work is to understand whether X-ray reflection spectroscopy can distinguish the neutron star from the Kerr solution of General Relativity. I found that for the higher value of spin and multipole moment parameters, there are small differences in the shape of neutron star iron lines. It is hard to distinguish neutron star iron lines from Kerr ones due to the small deviations. Also, electromagnetic wave observation of slow rotating neutron stars is marginally consistent with Kerr black holes of general relativity.

gr-qc

Constraining the Kerr parameters via X-ray reflection spectroscopy

In a recent paper [Ghasemi-Nodehi & Bambi, EPJC 76 (2016) 290], we have proposed a new parametrization for testing the Kerr nature of astrophysical black hole candidates. In the present work, we study the possibility of constraining the "Kerr parameters" of our proposal using X-ray reflection spectroscopy, the so-called iron line method. We simulate observations with the LAD instrument on board of the future eXTP mission assuming an exposure time of 200~ks. We fit the simulated data to see if the Kerr parameters can be constrained. If we have the correct astrophysical model, 200~ks observations with LAD/eXTP can constrain all the Kerr parameters with the exception of $b_{11}$, whose impact on the iron line profile is extremely weak and its measurement looks very challenging.

gr-qc

Note on a new parametrization for testing the Kerr metric

We propose a new parametrization for testing the Kerr nature of astrophysical black hole candidates. The common approaches focus on the attempt to constrain possible deviations from the Kerr solution described by new terms in the metric. Here we adopt a different perspective. The mass and the spin of a black hole make the spacetime curved and we want to check whether they do it with the strength predicted by general relativity. As an example, we apply our parametrization to the black hole shadow, an observation that may be possible in a not too distant future.

gr-qc

A parametrization to test black hole candidates with the spectrum of thin disks

We discuss a parametrization to describe possible deviations from the Kerr metric and test astrophysical black hole candidates with electromagnetic radiation. Our metric is a very simple generalization of the Kerr solution with two main properties: $i)$ the phenomenology is quite rich and, for example, it can describe black holes with high Novikov-Thorne radiative efficiency or black holes of very small size; $ii)$ it is suitable for the numerical calculations required to study the spectrum of thin disks. The latter point is our principal motivation to study such a kind of parametrization, because in the analysis of real data there are usually several parameters to fit and the problem with current non-Kerr metrics is that the calculation times are too long.

gr-qc

Modified gravity in three dimensional metric-affine scenarios

We consider metric-affine scenarios where a modified gravitational action is sourced by electrovacuum fields in a three dimensional space-time. Such scenarios are supported by the physics of crystalline structures with microscopic defects and, in particular, those that can be effectively treated as bi-dimensional (like graphene). We first study the case of $f(R)$ theories, finding deviations near the center as compared to the solutions of General Relativity. We then consider Born-Infeld gravity, which has raised a lot of interest in the last few years regarding its applications in astrophysics and cosmology, and show that new features always arise at a finite distance from the center. Several properties of the resulting space-times, in particular in presence of a cosmological constant term, are discussed.

gr-qc

Shadows of CPR black holes and tests of the Kerr metric

We study the shadow of the Cardoso-Pani-Rico (CPR) black hole for different values of the black hole spin $a_*$, the deformation parameters $ε_3^t$ and $ε_3^r$, and the viewing angle $i$. We find that the main impact of the deformation parameter $ε_3^t$ is the change of the size of the shadow, while the deformation parameter $ε_3^r$ affects the shape of its boundary. In general, it is impossible to test the Kerr metric, because the shadow of a Kerr black hole can be reproduced quite well by a black hole with non-vanishing $ε_3^t$ or $ε_3^r$. Deviations from the Kerr geometry could be constrained in the presence of high quality data and in the favorable case of a black hole with high values of $a_*$ and $i$. However, the shadows of some black holes with non-vanishing $ε_3^r$ present peculiar features and the possible detection of these shadows could unambiguously distinguish these objects from the standard Kerr black holes of general relativity.

gr-qc