No Arabic abstract
We set out to bridge the gap between regular black-hole spacetimes and observations of a black-hole shadow by the Event Horizon Telescope. We explore modifications of spinning and non-spinning black-hole spacetimes inspired by asymptotically safe quantum gravity which features a scale dependence of the Newton coupling. As a consequence, the predictions of our model, such as the shadow shape and size, depend on one free parameter determining the curvature scale at which deviations from General Relativity set in. In more general new-physics settings, it can also depart substantially from the Planck scale. In this case, the free parameter is constrained by observations, since the corresponding curvature scale is significantly below the Planck-scale. The leading new-physics effect can be recast as a scale-dependent black-hole mass, resulting in distinct observational signatures of our model. As a concrete example, we show that two mass-measurements, extracted from the size of the shadow and from Keplerian orbital motion of stars, allow to distinguish the classical from the modified, regular black-hole spacetime, yielding a bound on the free parameter. For spinning black holes, we further find that the singularity-resolving new physics puts a characteristic dent in the shadow. Finally, we argue, based on the underlying physical mechanism, that the effects we derive could be generic consequences of a large class of quantum-gravity theories.
We discuss, without assuming asymptotic flatness, a gravitational lens for an observer and source that are within a finite distance from a lens object. The proposed lens equation is consistent with the deflection angle of light that is defined for nonasymptotic observer and source by Takizawa et al. [Phys. Rev. D 101, 104032 (2020)] based on the Gauss-Bonnet theorem with using the optical metric. This lens equation, though it is shown to be equivalent to the Bozza lens equation[Phys. Rev. D 78, 103005 (2008)], is linear in the deflection angle. Therefore, the proposed equation is more convenient for the purpose of doing an iterative analysis. As an explicit example of an asymptotically nonflat spacetime, we consider a static and spherically symmetric solution in Weyl conformal gravity, especially a case that $gamma$ parameter in the Weyl gravity model is of the order of the inverse of the present Hubble radius. For this case, we examine iterative solutions for the finite-distance lens equation up to the third order. The effect of the Weyl gravity on the lensed image position begins at the third order and it is linear in the impact parameter of light. The deviation of the lensed image position from the general relativistic one is $sim 10^{-2}$ microarcsecond for the lens and source with a separation angle of $sim 1$ arcminute, where we consider a cluster of galaxies with $10^{14} M_{odot}$ at $sim 1$ Gpc for instance. The deviation becomes $sim 10^{-1}$ microarcseconds, even if the separation angle is $sim 10$ arcminutes. Therefore, effects of the Weyl gravity model are negligible in current and near-future observations of gravitational lensing. On the other hand, the general relativistic corrections at the third order $sim 0.1$ milliarcseconds can be relevant with VLBI observations.
We consider a static, axially symmetric spacetime describing the superposition of a Schwarzschild black hole (BH) with a thin and heavy accretion disk. The BH-disk configuration is a solution of the Einstein field equations within the Weyl class. The disk is sourced by a distributional energy-momentum tensor and it is located at the equatorial plane. It can be interpreted as two streams of counter-rotating particles, yielding a total vanishing angular momentum. The phenomenology of the composed system depends on two parameters: the fraction of the total mass in the disk, $m$, and the location of the inner edge of the disk, $a$. We start by determining the sub-region of the space of parameters wherein the solution is physical, by requiring the velocity of the disk particles to be sub-luminal and real. Then, we study the null geodesic flow by performing backwards ray-tracing under two scenarios. In the first scenario the composed system is illuminated by the disk and in the second scenario the composed system is illuminated by a far-away celestial sphere. Both cases show that, as $m$ grows, the shadow becomes more prolate. Additionally, the first scenario makes clear that as $m$ grows, for fixed $a$, the geometrically thin disk appears optically enlarged, i.e., thicker, when observed from the equatorial plane. This is to due to light rays that are bent towards the disk, when backwards ray traced. In the second scenario, these light rays can cross the disk (which is assumed to be transparent) and may oscillate up to a few times before reaching the far away celestial sphere. Consequently, an almost equatorial observer sees different patches of the sky near the equatorial plane, as a chaotic mirage. As $mrightarrow 0$ one recovers the standard test, i.e., negligible mass, disk appearance.
We consider an inflationary model motivated by quantum effects of gravitational and matter fields near the Planck scale. Our Lagrangian is a re-summed version of the effective Lagrangian recently obtained by Demmel, Saueressig and Zanusso~cite{Demmel:2015oqa} in the context of gravity as an asymptotically safe theory. It represents a refined Starobinsky model, ${cal L}_{rm eff}=M_{rm P}^2 R/2 + (a/2)R^2/[1+bln(R/mu^2)]$, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar, $a$ and $b$ are constants and $mu$ is an energy scale. By implementing the COBE normalisation and the Planck constraint on the scalar spectrum, we show that increasing $b$ leads to an increased value of both the scalar spectral index $n_s$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$. Requiring $n_s$ to be consistent with the Planck collaboration upper limit, we find that $r$ can be as large as $rsimeq 0.01$, the value possibly measurable by Stage IV CMB ground experiments and certainly from future dedicated space missions. The predicted running of the scalar spectral index $alpha=d n_s/dln(k)$ is still of the order $-5times 10^{-4}$ (as in the Starobinsky model), about one order of magnitude smaller than the current observational bound.
In this paper, we examine the effect of dark matter to a Kerr black hole of mass $m$. The metric is derived using the Newman-Janis algorithm, where the seed metric originates from the Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by a spherical shell of dark matter with mass $M$ and thickness $Delta r_{s}$. The seed metric is also described in terms of a piecewise mass function with three different conditions. Specializing in the non-trivial case where the observer resides inside the dark matter shell, we analyzed how the effective mass of the black hole environment affects the basic black hole properties. A high concentration of dark matter near the rotating black hole is needed to have considerable deviations on the horizons, ergosphere, and photonsphere radius. The time-like geodesic, however, shows more sensitivity to deviation even at very low dark matter density. Further, the location of energy extraction via the Penrose process is also shown to remain unchanged. With how the dark matter distribution is described in the mass function, and the complexity of how the shadow radius is defined for a Kerr black hole, deriving an analytic expression for $Delta r_{s}$ as a condition for notable dark matter effects to occur remains inconvenient.
We obtain the shadow cast induced by the rotating black hole with an anisotropic matter. A Killing tensor representing the hidden symmetry is derived explicitly. The existence of separability structure implies a complete integrability of the geodesic motion. We analyze an effective potential around the unstable circular photon orbits to show that one side of the black hole is brighter than the other side. Further, it is shown that the inclusion of the anisotropic matter ($Kr^{2(1-w)}$) has an effect on the observables of the shadow cast. The shadow observables include approximate shadow radius $R_s$, distortion parameter $delta_s$, area of the shadow $A_s$, and oblateness $D_{os}$.