Related papers: Compact objects with spin parameter $a_* > 1$
We analyze stationary self-gravitating disks around spinning black holes that satisfy the recently found general-relativistic Keplerian rotation law. There is a numerical evidence that the angular velocity, circumferential radius and…
Kerr black holes with scalar hair are solutions of the Einstein-Klein-Gordon field equations describing regular (on and outside an event horizon), asymptotically flat black holes with scalar hair (arXiv:1403.2757). These black holes…
The analysis of the properties of the X-ray radiation emitted from geometrically thin accretion disks around black holes can be a powerful tool to test General Relativity in the strong field regime. This chapter reviews the state-of-the-art…
The Event Horizon Telescope, a global submillimeter wavelength very long baseline interferometry array, produced the first image of supermassive black hole M87* showing a ring of diameter $\theta_d= 42\pm 3\,\mu$as, inferred a black hole…
We report and comment upon the principal results of an investigation into the evolution of rotating black holes emitting massless scalar radiation via the Hawking process. It is demonstrated that a Kerr black hole evaporating by the…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a global submillimeter wavelength very long baseline interferometry array, unveiled event-horizon-scale images of the supermassive black hole M87* as an asymmetric bright emission ring with a diameter of $…
We describe recent numerical simulations of the merger of a class of equal mass, non-spinning, eccentric binary black hole systems in general relativity. We show that with appropriate fine-tuning of the initial conditions to a region of…
Four-dimensional black hole solutions generated by the low energy string effective action are investigated outside and inside the event horizon. A restriction for a minimal black hole size is obtained in the frame of the model discussed.…
In this paper, we continue our study of the motion of spinning test bodies orbiting Kerr black holes. Non-spinning test bodies follow geodesics of the spacetime in which they move. A test body's spin couples to the curvature of that…
The recently obtained hairy Kerr black holes, due to additional sources or surrounding fluid, like dark matter, with conserved energy-momentum tensor, have a deviation $\alpha$ and primary hair $l_0$, apart from rotation parameter $a$ and…
The ``cosmic censorship conjecture'' asserts that all singularities arising from gravitational collapse are hidden within black holes. We investigate this conjecture in a setup of interest for tests of General Relativity: black hole…
In this paper, the shadows cast by non-rotating and rotating modified gravity black holes are investigated. In addition to the black hole spin parameter $a$ and the inclination angle $\theta$ of observer, another parameter $\alpha$…
An outstanding prediction of general relativity is the fact that the angular momentum $S$ of an isolated black hole with mass $\mu$ is limited by the Kerr bound, $S\leq G\mu^2/c$. Testing this cornerstone is challenging due to the…
Ever since its discovery by Roy Kerr in 1963, the geometry around rotating, electrostatically-neutral black holes, otherwise known as Kerr black holes, has significantly contributed to theoretical developments in the fields of general…
We revisit the classic system of a spherically symmetric black hole in general relativity (i.e., a Schwarzschild black hole) surrounded by a geometrically thin accretion disk. Our purpose is to examine whether one can determine three…
In this essay I first discuss the physical relevance of the inequality $m\geq \sqrt{|J|}$ for axially symmetric (non-stationary) black holes, where m is the mass and J the angular momentum of the spacetime. Then, I present a proof of this…
We consider stationary, axially and equatorially symmetric systems consisting of a central rotating and charged degenerate black hole and surrounding matter. We show that $a^2+Q^2=M^2$ always holds provided that a continuous sequence of…
Based on a spectral analysis of the X-ray continuum that employs a fully relativistic accretion-disk model, we conclude that the compact primary of the binary X-ray source GRS 1915+105 is a rapidly-rotating Kerr black hole. We find a lower…
We discuss universal properties of axisymmetric and stationary configurations consisting of a central black hole and surrounding matter in Einstein-Maxwell theory. In particular, we find that certain physical equations and inequalities…
We have developed a methodology to test the age-old cosmic censorship hypothesis in Kerr geometry. We have shown that the Kerr black hole can be overspun by particles captured from the innermost stable circular orbit. However, it appears…