Related papers: Testing the Kerr black hole hypothesis
A long march of fifty years of successive theoretical progress and new physics discovered using observations of gamma-ray bursts, has finally led to the formulation of an efficient mechanism able to extract the rotational energy of a Kerr…
We present the first systematic study of the gravitational collapse of rotating and magnetised neutron stars to charged and rotating (Kerr-Newman) black holes. In particular, we consider the collapse of magnetised and rotating neutron stars…
Astronomers have discovered many candidate black holes in X-ray binaries and in the nuclei of galaxies. The candidate objects are too massive to be neutron stars, and for this reason they are considered to be black holes. While the evidence…
General relativity (GR) predicts the existence of black hole (BH). The rotating BH called as a Kerr Black hole and GR implies that there is an upper limit on the angular momentum per mass squared of black holes $\leq 1$, above which the…
The Kerr spacetime of spinning black holes is one of the most intriguing predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity. The special role this spacetime plays in the theory of gravity is encapsulated in the no-hair theorem, which…
Extreme Black holes are an important theoretical laboratory for exploring the nature of entropy. We suggest that this unusual nature of the extremal limit could explain the entropy of extremal Kerr black holes. The time-independence of the…
Black holes in General Relativity are very simple objects. This property, that goes under the name of "no-hair," has been refined in the last few decades and admits several versions. The simplicity of black holes makes them ideal testbeds…
We review some recent results obtained for black holes using effective field theory methods applied to quantum gravity, in particular the unique effective action. Black holes are complex thermodynamical objects that not only have a…
It is thought that the spacetime geometry around black hole candidates is described by the Kerr solution, but an observational confirmation is still missing. Today, the continuum-fitting method and the analysis of the iron K$\alpha$ line…
Recently, we showed that the possibility of an interstellar mission to the closest black hole, while highly speculative and extremely challenging, is not completely unrealistic within the next few decades. Since such a mission might last…
Do observations of black hole candidates rule out alternative theories of gravity without horizon formation? This depends on the existence, viability and reasonableness of alternative theories of gravity without black holes. Here a theory…
The existence of black holes and of spacetime singularities is a fundamental issue in science. Despite this, observations supporting their existence are scarce, and their interpretation unclear. We overview how strong a case for black holes…
It is well known that the three parameters that characterize the Kerr black hole (mass, angular momentum and horizon area) satisfy several important inequalities. Remarkably, some of these inequalities remain valid also for dynamical black…
Scattering of particles in the gravitational field of Kerr black holes is considered. It is shown that scattering energy of particles in the centre of mass system can obtain very large values not only for extremal black holes but also for…
This article reviews the current status of black hole astrophysics, focusing on topics of interest to a physics audience. Astronomers have discovered dozens of compact objects with masses greater than 3 solar masses, the likely maximum mass…
Proof that black holes exist will likely require confirmation of the existence of event horizons. The common assumption that the mere existence of large compact masses proves the case for black holes is an unwarranted extrapolation of…
Within the framework of general relativity, we explore the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole before complete collapse occurs, finding that the exterior is perfectly compatible with a source much more complex than a pointlike mass. We…
Quantum considerations have led many theorists to believe that classical black hole physics is modified not just deep inside black holes but at {\it horizon scales}, or even further outward. The near-horizon regime has just begun to be…
A brief, and certainly not exhaustive, survey is provided of some recent results and conjectures in four and higher spacetime dimensions, such as the Hoop Conjecture, relating the geometry of event horizons to dynamical quantities such as…
As a consequence of Birkhoff's theorem, the exterior gravitational field of a spherically symmetric star or black hole is always given by the Schwarzschild metric. In contrast, the exterior gravitational field of a rotating (axisymmetric)…