arXiv subjects

Volker Perlick

Publications and source records attributed to Volker Perlick.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Imprints of core/cusp dark matter distributions on black hole signatures in galaxies

In galactic environments, a host dark matter (DM) halo can imprint weak but coherent corrections on black hole (BH) strong-field observables. We construct an exact family of static and spherically symmetric BH spacetimes sourced by a generic core/cusp DM halo, described by an anisotropic stress-energy tensor with nonvanishing radial pressure. The resulting geometry is determined self-consistently from the Einstein equations for a broad $\{\alpha,\beta,\gamma\}$ density profile, including the NFW, Moore, Hernquist, Jaffe, and core/cusp Dehnen models as special cases. We discuss the asymptotic structure, horizon location, curvature scale, and energy conditions of the corresponding geometries, emphasizing that the inner logarithmic slope $\gamma$ controls the amount of DM probed by the relativistic region. We then obtain perturbative analytic estimates for the characteristic circular geodesics, demonstrating that the leading strong-field corrections are controlled by the dimensionless compactness $q_\gamma$, rather than by the total halo mass alone. To leading order in $q_\gamma$, we derive analytic expressions for the light ring radius, angular frequency, critical impact parameter, Lyapunov exponent, innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) radius, and ISCO frequency. For cuspy profiles, the light ring and ISCO are displaced outward, while the corresponding orbital frequencies are redshifted; for cored profiles, the light ring radius is unchanged at this order, although its frequency and capture impact parameter still carry finite environmental corrections. We also investigate the weak- and strong-deflection angles and their dependence on the halo's inner structure. We further discuss how these environmental corrections may affect ringdown physics, in particular through the perturbative imprint of the halo on quasinormal-mode redshifts and late-time wave propagation.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Gravitational lensing in a warm plasma

Analytical studies of light bending in a dispersive medium near compact objects, e.g., black holes or neutron stars, are most challenged by a suitable definition of the medium. The most realistic model would be a hot magnetized plasma. In such a medium, however, an analytical description of light rays is very difficult. Therefore, usually an isotropic dispersive medium is assumed in analytical calculations. While it is possible to formulate equations for a general refractive index, which some studies do, most attention in the literature is given to the particular case of a cold, non-magnetized electron-ion plasma. Whereas this model covers many astrophysically relevant situations, there are indications that in some cases the plasma temperature is so high that the approximation of a cold plasma is no longer valid. For this reason, we consider in this paper a warm, non-magnetized electron-ion plasma, where the temperature is not set equal to zero but assumed to be small enough, such that relevant equations can be linearized with respect to it. After discussing the general equations for light rays in such a medium on a general-relativistic spacetime, we specify to the axially symmetric and stationary case which includes the spherically symmetric and static case. In particular, we calculate the influence of a warm plasma on the bending angle. In the spherically symmetric and static case, we also calculate the shadow in a warm plasma. We illustrate the general results with a static (respectively corotating) and an infalling warm plasma on Schwarzschild and Kerr spacetimes.

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arXiv2025

Overlapping of photon rings in black hole imaging

In this paper, we investigate the overlapping of photon rings - higher-order images of a black hole's luminous environment, concentrated near the shadow boundary and expected to be resolved in future observations. We consider a broad class of static spherically symmetric spacetimes and geometrically thin equatorial accretion disk with a prescribed inner radius and infinite outer extent, viewed by a polar observer. Depending on the inner radius of the disk, the thickness of each photon ring varies, and the rings may or may not overlap. By overlapping, we mean that portions of images appear at the same angular position on the observer's sky. To characterize the overlapping, we introduce the radius of merging - the value of the disk's inner radius at which two photon rings of given orders begin to overlap. Since each radius of merging is labeled by two indices corresponding to the image orders, it becomes possible to arrange these radii in the form of an infinite-dimensional matrix where only the upper right-hand corner is filled. This matrix, which we call the "matrix of merging", is a signature of spacetime only, and, once known, it provides a qualitative understanding of the overlapping pattern for any chosen value of the inner radius of the disk. Remarkably, the matrix of merging exhibits several universal properties that hold for all spherically symmetric metrics and can be established even without explicit calculation of light trajectories. Based on these properties, we demonstrate that certain overlapping patterns are universally forbidden across all such spacetimes and for any inner radius of the disk. Examples for the Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes are provided. The main application of our study is constraining the spacetime metric and the accretion model using observed photon ring overlaps.

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arXiv2025

Lensing, Shadow and Photon Rings in a Magnetized Black Hole Spacetime

We analyze gravitational lensing, in particular the shadow and photon rings, in the Ernst spacetime, also known as the Schwarzschild-Melvin spacetime, which describes a Schwarzschild black hole immersed in a homogenous magnetic field. Although the geodesic equation in this spacetime is chaotic, there are some relevant features that can be determined analytically. Among other things, we give analytic formulas for the vertical diameter of the shadow for an observer at arbitrary inclination and for the horizontal diameter of the shadow for an observer in the equatorial plane. Moreover, we use the strong-deflection formalism for analytically calculating the so-called photon rings of order $\ge 2$ and we use the recently introduced gap parameter $\Delta _2$ for distinguishing lensing of an Ernst black hole from that of a Schwarzschild black hole.

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arXiv2025

Waves in Bopp-Land\'e-Thomas-Podolsky generalized electrodynamics

We investigate the feasibility of probing Bopp-Land\'e-Thomas-Podolsky generalized electrodynamics with traveling and standing wave experiments. We consider wave propagation in vacuum and in a cold and non-magnetized plasma. Dispersion relations are found for all possible transverse and longitudinal modes. Longitudinal traveling waves are found which exhibit negative group velocities.

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arXiv2025

Characterisation of circular light rays in a plasma

It is the purpose of this paper to give a characterisation of circular light rays in a plasma on an axially symmetric and stationary spacetime. We restrict to the case of an unmagnetised, pressure-free electron-ion plasma and we assume that the plasma shares the symmetry of the spacetime. As a main tool we use two potentials, one for prograde and one for retrograde light rays, whose critical points are exactly the circular light rays in the plasma. In the case that the plasma density vanishes, the corresponding equipotential surfaces reduce to the relativistic Von Zeipel cylinders which have been discussed in many papers since the 1970s. In a plasma, the gradients of the potentials give the centrifugal and the Coriolis forces experienced by a light ray, where the plasma has an influence only on the centrifugal force. The introduction of these potentials allows us to generalise topological methods that have been successfully used for proving the existence or non-existence of circular vacuum light rays to the plasma case. The general results are illustrated with examples on Minkowski, Schwarzschild, Kerr and NUT spacetimes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Constraining spherically symmetric metrics by the gap between photon rings

Gravitational lensing of luminous matter that surrounds a black hole or some other sufficiently compact object produces an infinite sequence of images. Besides the direct (or primary) image, it comprises demagnified and deformed replicas of the original known as photon rings which are progressively nearing the boundary of the socalled shadow. In the present paper, we present analytical approximation formulas for higher-order photon rings for an asymptotically flat, static, spherically symmetric spacetime that admits a photon sphere. We consider a geometrically thin disk of light sources in the equatorial plane and an observer at arbitrary inclination far away from the center. Fixing the emission radius and leveraging the strong deflection limit, which provides an analytical logarithmic approximation for the deflection angle, we find the deformed shape of higher-order photon rings in the form of a polar equation on the observer's screen. It has been suggested by other authors to use the relative size of photon rings for characterizing the underlying spacetime. In particular, the relative separation between two neighboring photon rings, which we call "gap parameter", was considered. We analytically calculate the gap parameter of higher-order photon rings for metrics of the considered class that may depend on multiple parameters. The advantage of using this quantity is in the fact that, to within the assumed approximations, it is independent of the mass of the central object (or of some other characteristic parameter if the mass is zero) and of the distance of the observer. Measurements of the gap parameter, which may become possible in the near future, will restrict the spacetime models that are in agreement with the observations. Even without knowing the inner and outer radii of the shining disk, it will conclusively rule out some metrics. Some examples are provided.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Light propagation in a plasma on Kerr spacetime. II. Plasma imprint on photon orbits

In this paper, light propagation in a pressure-free non-magnetized plasma on Kerr spacetime is considered, which is a continuation of our previous study [Phys. Rev. D 95, 104003 (2017)]. It is assumed throughout that the plasma density is of the form that allows for the separability of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for light rays, i.e., for the existence of a Carter constant. Here we focus on the analysis of different types of orbits and find several peculiar phenomena which do not exist in the vacuum case. We start with studying spherical orbits and conical orbits. In particular, it is revealed that in the ergoregion in the presence of a plasma there can exist two different spherical light rays propagating through the same point. Then we study circular orbits and demonstrate that, contrary to the vacuum case, circular orbits can exist off the equatorial plane in the domain of outer communication of a Kerr black hole. Necessary and sufficient conditions for that are formulated. We also find a compact equation for circular orbits in the equatorial plane of the Kerr metric, with several examples developed. Considering the light deflection in the equatorial plane, we derive a new exact formula for the deflection angle which has the advantage of being directly applicable to light rays both inside and outside of the ergoregion. Remarkably, the possibility of a non-monotonic behavior of the deflection angle as a function of the impact parameter is demonstrated in the presence of a non-homogeneous plasma. Furthermore, in order to separate the effects of the black-hole spin from the effects of the plasma, we investigate weak deflection gravitational lensing. We also add some further comments to our discussion of the black-hole shadow which was the main topic of our previous paper.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Potentials for general-relativistic geodesy

Geodesy in a Newtonian framework is based on the Newtonian gravitational potential. The general-relativistic gravitational field, however, is not fully determined by a single potential. The vacuum field around a stationary source can be decomposed into two scalar potentials and a tensorial spatial metric, which together serve as the basis for general-relativistic geodesy. One of the scalar potentials is a generalization of the Newtonian potential while the second one describes the influence of the rotation of the source on the gravitational field for which no non-relativistic counterpart exists. In this paper the operational realizations of these two potentials, and also of the spatial metric, are discussed. For some analytically given spacetimes the two potentials are exemplified and their relevance for practical geodesy on Earth is outlined.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Gravitational lensing in Brill spacetimes

We consider the Brill metric which is an electrovacuum solution to Einstein's field equation. It depends on three parameters, a mass parameter $m$, a NUT parameter $l$ and a charge parameter $e$. If the charge parameter is small, the metric describes a black hole; if it is sufficiently big, it describes a wormhole. We determine the relevant lensing features both in the black-hole and in the wormhole case. In particular, we give formulas for the photon spheres, for the angular radius of the shadow and for the deflection angle. We illustrate the lensing features with the help of an effective potential and in terms of embedding diagrams. To that end we make use of the fact that each lightlike geodesic is contained in a (coordinate) cone and that it is a geodesic of a Riemannian optical metric on this cone. By the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, the sign of the Gaussian curvature of the optical metric determines the sign of the deflection angle. In the wormhole case the deflection angle may be negative which means that light rays are repelled from the center.

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arXiv2022

Light propagation in a plasma on an axially symmetric and stationary spacetime: Separability of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation and shadow

The properties of light rays around compact objects surrounded by a plasma are affected by both strong gravitational fields described by a general-relativistic spacetime and by a dispersive and refractive medium, characterized by the density distribution of the plasma. We study these effects employing the relativistic Hamiltonian formalism under the assumption of stationarity and axisymmetry. The necessary and sufficient conditions on the metric and on the plasma frequency are formulated, such that the rays can be analytically determined from a fully separated Hamilton-Jacobi equation. We demonstrate how these results allow to analytically calculate the photon region and the shadow, if they exist. Several specific examples are discussed in detail: the "hairy" Kerr black holes, the Hartle-Thorne spacetime metrics, the Melvin universe, and the Teo rotating traversable wormhole. In all of these cases a plasma medium is present as well.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Photon sphere and shadow of a time-dependent black hole described by a Vaidya metric

In this paper we derive exact analytical formulas for the evolution of the photon sphere and for the angular radius of the shadow in a special Vaidya spacetime. The Vaidya metric describes a spherically symmetric object that gains or loses mass, depending on a mass function $m(v)$ that can be freely chosen. Here we consider the case that $m(v)$ is a linearly increasing or decreasing function. The first case can serve as a simple model for an accreting black hole, the second case for a (Hawking) radiating black hole. With a linear mass function the Vaidya metric admits a conformal Killing vector field which, together with the spherical symmetry, gives us enough constants of motion for analytically calculating the light-like geodesics. Both in the accreting and in the radiating case, we first calculate the light-like geodesics, the photon sphere, the angular radius of the shadow, and the red-shift of light in coordinates in which the metric is manifestly conformally static, then we analyze the photon sphere and the shadow in the original Eddington-Finkelstein-like Vaidya coordinates.

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arXiv2022

Calculating black hole shadows: Review of analytical studies

In this article, we provide a review of the current state of the research of the black hole shadow, focusing on analytical (as opposed to numerical and observational) studies. We start with particular attention to the definition of the shadow and its relation to the often used concepts of escape cone, critical impact parameter and particle cross-section. For methodological purposes, we present the derivation of the angular size of the shadow for an arbitrary spherically symmetric and static space-time, which allows one to calculate the shadow for an observer at arbitrary distance from the center. Then we discuss the calculation of the shadow of a Kerr black hole, for an observer anywhere outside of the black hole. For observers at large distances we present and compare two methods used in the literature. Special attention is given to calculating the shadow in space-times which are not asymptotically flat. Shadows of wormholes and other black-hole impostors are reviewed. Then we discuss the calculation of the black hole shadow in an expanding universe as seen by a comoving observer. The influence of a plasma on the shadow of a black hole is also considered.

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arXiv2021

A Morse-theoretical analysis of lensing in wormhole spacetimes

We consider a class of stationary and axisymmetric wormhole spacetimes that is closely related to, but not identical with, the class of Teo wormholes. We fix a point $p$ (observation event) and a timelike curve $γ$ (worldline of a light source), and we characterize the set of all past-oriented lightlike geodesics from $p$ to $γ$. As any such geodesic corresponds to an image of the light source on the observer's sky, this allows us to investigate the lensing properties of the wormhole. As a main result, we prove with the help of Morse theory that, under very mild conditions on $γ$, the observer always sees infinitely many images of $γ$. Moreover, we study some qualitative features of the lightlike geodesics with the help of two potentials that determine the sum of centrifugal and Coriolis forces of observers in circular motion for the case that the observers' velocity approaches the velocity of light. We exemplify the general results with two specific wormhole spacetimes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Geometrically thick tori around compact objects with a quadrupole moment

We study geometrically thick perfect-fluid tori with constant specific angular momentum, so-called "Polish doughnuts", orbiting deformed compact objects with a quadrupole moment. More specifically, we consider two different asymptotically flat, static and axisymmetric vacuum solutions to Einstein's field equation with a non-zero quadrupole moment, the q-metric and the Erez-Rosen spacetime. It is our main goal to find features of Polish doughnuts in these two spacetimes which qualitatively distinguish them from Polish doughnuts in the Schwarzschild spacetime. As a main result we find that, for both metrics, there is a range of positive (Geroch-Hansen) quadrupole moments which allows for the existence of double tori. If these double tori fill their Roche lobes completely, their meridional cross-section has the shape of a fish, with the body of the fish corresponding to the outer torus and the fish-tail corresponding to the inner torus. Such double tori do not exist in the Schwarzschild spacetime.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Lightlike Geodesics and Gravitational Lensing in the Spacetime of an Accelerating Black Hole

The C-metric is a solution to Einstein's vacuum field equation that describes an accelerating black hole. In this paper we discuss the propagation of light rays and the resulting lensing features in this metric. We first solve the lightlike geodesic equation using elliptic integrals and Jacobi elliptic functions. Then we fix a static observer in the region of outer communication of the C-metric and introduce an orthonormal tetrad to parameterise the directions of the light rays ending at the position of the observer using latitude-longitude coordinates on the observer's celestial sphere. In this parameterisation we rederive the angular radius of the shadow, we formulate a lens equation, and we derive the redshift and the travel time of light rays. We discuss the relevance of our theoretical results for detecting accelerating black holes described by the C-metric and for distinguishing them from non-accelerating black holes.

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arXiv2020

Application of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to lensing in the NUT metric

We show with the help of Fermat's principle that every lightlike geodesic in the NUT metric projects to a geodesic of a two-dimensional Riemannian metric which we call the optical metric. The optical metric is defined on a (coordinate) cone whose opening angle is determined by the impact parameter of the lightlike geodesic. We show that, surprisingly, the optical metrics on cones with different opening angles are locally (but not globally) isometric. With the help of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem we demonstrate that the deflection angle of a lightlike geodesic is determined by an area integral over the Gaussian curvature of the optical metric. A similar result is known to be true for static and spherically symmetric spacetimes. The generalisation to the NUT spacetime, which is neither static nor spherically symmetric (at least not in the usual sense), is rather non-trivial.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Standing wave solutions in Born-Infeld theory

We study standing-wave solutions of Born-Infeld electrodynamics, with nonzero electromagnetic field in a region between two parallel conducting plates. We consider the simplest case which occurs when the vector potential describing the electromagnetic field has only one nonzero component depending on time and on the coordinate perpendicular to the plates. The problem then reduces to solving the scalar Born-Infeld equation, a nonlinear partial differential equation in 1+1 dimensions. We apply two alternative methods to obtain standing-wave solutions to the Born-Infeld equation: an iterative method, and a ``minimal surface'' method. We also study standing wave solutions in a uniform constant magnetic field background.

math-ph↗