Apparent shape of super-spinning black holes
Astrophysics
2009-02-06 v3 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Abstract
We consider the possibility that astrophysical Black Holes (BHs) can violate the Kerr bound; i.e., they can have angular momentum greater than BH mass, . We discuss implications on the BH apparent shape. Even if the bound is violated by a small amount, the shadow cast by the BH changes significantly (it is an order of magnitude smaller) from the case with and can be used as a clear observational signature in the search for super--spinning BHs. We discuss briefly recent observations in the mm range of the super--massive BH at the Center of the Galaxy, speculating on the possibility that it might violate the Kerr bound.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0812.1328,
title = {Apparent shape of super-spinning black holes},
author = {Cosimo Bambi and Katherine Freese},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0812.1328},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
7 pages, 3 figures. v3: refereed version