Upper Bound on the Center-Of-Mass Energy of the Collisional Penrose

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Upper Bound on the Center-Of-Mass Energy of the Collisional Penrose Physics Letters B 759 (2016) 593–595 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Physics Letters B www.elsevier.com/locate/physletb Upper bound on the center-of-mass energy of the collisional Penrose process ∗ Shahar Hod a,b, a The Ruppin Academic Center, Emeq Hefer 40250, Israel b The Hadassah Institute, Jerusalem 91010, Israel a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: Following the interesting work of Bañados, Silk, and West (2009) [6], it is repeatedly stated in the physics Received 24 April 2016 literature that the center-of-mass energy, Ec.m, of two colliding particles in a maximally rotating black- Received in revised form 3 June 2016 hole spacetime can grow unboundedly. For this extreme scenario to happen, the particles have to collide Accepted 13 June 2016 at the black-hole horizon. In this paper we show that Thorne’s famous hoop conjecture precludes this Available online 16 June 2016 extreme scenario from occurring in realistic black-hole spacetimes. In particular, it is shown that a new Editor: M. Cveticˇ (and larger) horizon is formed before the infalling particles reach the horizon of the original black hole. As a consequence, the center-of-mass energy of the collisional Penrose process is bounded from above Emax ∝ 1/4 by the simple scaling relation c.m /2μ (M/μ) , where M and μ are respectively the mass of the central black hole and the proper mass of the colliding particles. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license 3 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP . 1. Introduction that the center-of-mass energy, Ec.m, of two colliding particles in a maximally rotating black-hole spacetime can grow unboundedly. It is worth emphasizing again that, for the center-of-mass en- The collisional Penrose process, a collision between two parti- ergy of the colliding particles to diverge, the particles have to cles which takes place within the ergosphere of a spinning Kerr collide exactly at the black-hole horizon. The main goal of the black hole, has attracted the attention of physicists ever since present paper is to reveal the fact that Thorne’s famous hoop the pioneering work of Piran, Shaham, and Katz more than four conjecture [9] precludes this extreme scenario from occurring in decades ago [1,2]. Interestingly, it was shown [1,2] that the colli- realistic black-hole spacetimes. In particular, below we shall show sion of two particles in the black-hole spacetime can produce two that a new (and larger) horizon is formed before the infalling parti- new particles, one of which may escape to infinity while carrying cles reach the horizon of the original black hole. As a consequence, with it some of the black-hole rotational energy [3–5]. the center-of-mass energy of the colliding particles in the black- The collisional Penrose process has recently gained renewed hole spacetime cannot grow unboundedly. interest when Bañados, Silk, and West [6] have revealed the in- teresting fact that the center-of-mass energy of the two colliding 2. The center-of-mass energy of two colliding particles in the particles may diverge if the collision takes place at the horizon of a black-hole spacetime maximally rotating (extremal) black hole. In particular, it was sug- gested [6] that these extremely energetic near-horizon collisions We shall explore the maximally allowed center-of-mass energy may provide a unique probe of the elusive Planck-scale physics associated with a collision of two particles that start falling from [7,8]. rest at infinity towards a maximally rotating (extremal [10]) Kerr The intriguing discovery of [6], according to which black holes 2 black hole of mass M and angular momentum J = M [6,8,11–13]. may serve as extremely energetic particle accelerators, has sparked The geodesic motions of the particles in the black-hole spacetime an enormous excitement in the physics community. In particu- are characterized by conserved energies lar, following [6] it is repeatedly stated in the physics literature E1 = E2 = μ (1) and conserved angular momenta * Correspondence to: The Ruppin Academic Center, Emeq Hefer 40250, Israel. E-mail address: [email protected]. L1 = l1 · Mμ ; L2 = l2 · Mμ . (2) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physletb.2016.06.028 0370-2693/© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Funded by SCOAP3. 594 S. Hod / Physics Letters B 759 (2016) 593–595 Geodesic trajectories that extend all the way from spatial infinity In the present study we shall use a weaker version of the hoop down to the black-hole horizon are characterized by angular mo- conjecture [21]. In particular, we conjecture that: A gravitating sys- menta in the bounded regime [14,6] tem of total mass M and total angular momentum J forms a black hole if its circumference radius rc is equal to (or smaller than) 2 2 −2(1 + 1 + J/M2) ≤ l ≤ 2(1 + 1 − J/M2). (3) the corresponding horizon radius rKerr = M + M − ( J/M) of the Kerr black-hole spacetime. That is, we conjecture that [22] In particular, it was shown in [6] that the center-of-mass energy of 2 2 the collision may diverge if one of the colliding particles (say 1) is rc ≤ M + M − ( J/M) =⇒ Black-hole horizon exists . (10) characterized by the critical angular momentum (for J/M2 = 1) In the context of the collisional Penrose process that we con- = l1 2 . (4) sider here, this version of the hoop conjecture implies that a new The test-particle approximation implies (and larger) horizon is formed if the energetic particles that fall to- wards the black hole reach the radial coordinate r = r , where μ hoop μ¯ ≡ 1 . (5) rhoop(E1, E2, L1, L2) is defined by the familiar functional relation of M the Kerr black-hole spacetime [see Eq. (10)] As shown in [6,8,11,12], the center-of-mass energy of the colli- r = M + E + E sion may diverge if the collision takes place at the horizon of the hoop 1 2 black hole. In particular, defining 2 2 + (M + E1 + E2) −[( J + L1 + L2)/(M + E1 + E2)] . rc − M xc ≡ (6) (11) M Taking cognizance of Eqs. (1), (2), (4), and (11), one finds as the dimensionless collision radius of the two particles, one finds 2 the leading-order divergent behavior [12] rhoop = M + 2(2 − l2)Mμ + 2μ + O (μ /M) (12) β±(2 − l ) for the radius of the new horizon. Assuming that the colliding par- E2 = 2 × 2 + c.m μ O (1) (7) ticles are not engulfed by an horizon, the relation (12) implies [see xc Eq. (6)] for the center-of-mass energy in the near-horizon xc 1region. min = − ¯ + ¯ As shown in [12], the dimensionless factor β± in (7) depends on xc 2(2 l2)μ 2μ (13) the sign of the radial momentum of the first (critical [15]) particle for the minimally allowed value of the dimensionless collision ra- + − ( for an outgoing particle and for an ingoing particle), on the dius [23]. value of the Carter constant Q 1 [16] which characterizes the polar Substituting (13) into (7) one finds that, in the collisional Pen- geodesic motion of that particle in the Kerr black-hole spacetime, rose process, the center-of-mass energy of the colliding particles is and on the polar angle θ which characterizes the collision point of bounded from above by the relation [24] the two particles in the black-hole spacetime [12]. Specifically, one finds [12] (2 − l2)β± Emax = μ × . (14) c.m − ¯ + ¯ + − ˜ 1/2 ˜ 1/2 2(2 l2)μ 2μ 2 2 (2 Q 1) 2(2 + Q 1) β+ = ; β− = , (8) − 1 + cos2 θ 1 + cos2 θ Assuming the strong inequality μ (2 l2)M [see Eq. (5) and Eq. (19) below], one can approximate (14) by where [12,17] − 1/4 max 2 l2 1/2 Q 1 E = μ × β± , (15) 0 ≤ Q˜ ≡ ≤ 2 . (9) c.m 2μ¯ 1 μ2 which yields the simple expression [25] Interestingly, as pointed out in [6,8,11,12], the center-of-mass Emax = · 1/4 3/4 energy (7) of the colliding particles diverges if the collision takes c.m 2γ M μ (16) → place at the horizon (xc 0) of the extremal black hole. for the maximally allowed center-of-mass energy of the colliding particles in the black-hole spacetime, where 3. The hoop conjecture and the upper bound on the ≡[ − 2 ]1/4 center-of-mass energy of the collisional Penrose process γ (2 l2)β±/32 . (17) What is the maximally allowed value of the dimensionless pre- In the previous section we have seen that the center-of-mass factor γ in (16)? Inspection of Eq. (8) reveals that the factor β± energy (7) of the colliding particles can diverge. As emphasized in is maximized if the collision takes place at the equatorial plane [6,8,11,12], this intriguing conclusion rests on the assumption that (θ = π/2) of the black hole while the first particle is on an out- ˜ the particles can collide exactly at the horizon of the extremal going trajectory with Q 1 = 0[see Eq. (9)], in which case one finds black hole. In the present section we shall show, however, that [see Eq.
Recommended publications
  • Higher-Dimensional Black Holes: Hidden Symmetries and Separation
    Alberta-Thy-02-08 Higher-Dimensional Black Holes: Hidden Symmetries and Separation of Variables Valeri P. Frolov and David Kubizˇn´ak1 1 Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G7 ∗ In this paper, we discuss hidden symmetries in rotating black hole spacetimes. We start with an extended introduction which mainly summarizes results on hid- den symmetries in four dimensions and introduces Killing and Killing–Yano tensors, objects responsible for hidden symmetries. We also demonstrate how starting with a principal CKY tensor (that is a closed non-degenerate conformal Killing–Yano 2-form) in 4D flat spacetime one can ‘generate’ 4D Kerr-NUT-(A)dS solution and its hidden symmetries. After this we consider higher-dimensional Kerr-NUT-(A)dS metrics and demonstrate that they possess a principal CKY tensor which allows one to generate the whole tower of Killing–Yano and Killing tensors. These symmetries imply complete integrability of geodesic equations and complete separation of vari- ables for the Hamilton–Jacobi, Klein–Gordon, and Dirac equations in the general Kerr-NUT-(A)dS metrics. PACS numbers: 04.50.Gh, 04.50.-h, 04.70.-s, 04.20.Jb arXiv:0802.0322v2 [hep-th] 27 Mar 2008 I. INTRODUCTION A. Symmetries In modern theoretical physics one can hardly overestimate the role of symmetries. They comprise the most fundamental laws of nature, they allow us to classify solutions, in their presence complicated physical problems become tractable. The value of symmetries is espe- cially high in nonlinear theories, such as general relativity. ∗Electronic address: [email protected], [email protected] 2 In curved spacetime continuous symmetries (isometries) are generated by Killing vector fields.
    [Show full text]
  • Non-Conservation of Carter in Black Hole Spacetimes
    Non-conservation of Carter in black hole spacetimes Alexander Granty, Eanna´ E.´ Flanagany y Department of Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Abstract. Freely falling point particles in the vicinity of Kerr black holes are subject to a conservation law, that of their Carter constant. We consider the conjecture that this conservation law is a special case of a more general conservation law, valid for arbitrary processes obeying local energy momentum conservation. Under some fairly general assumptions we prove that the conjecture is false: there is no conservation law for conserved stress-energy tensors on the Kerr background that reduces to conservation of Carter for a single point particle. arXiv:1503.05164v2 [gr-qc] 16 Jun 2015 Non-conservation of Carter in black hole spacetimes 2 The validity of conservation laws in physics can depend on the type of interactions being considered. For example, baryon number minus lepton number, B − L, is an exact conserved quantity in the Standard Model of particle physics. However, it is no longer conserved when one enlarges the set of interactions under consideration to include those of many grand unified theories [1], or those that occur in quantum gravity [2]. The subject of this note is the conserved Carter constant for freely falling point particles in black hole spacetimes [3]. As is well known, this quantity is not associated with a spacetime symmetry or with Noether's theorem. Instead it is obtained from a symmetric tensor Kab which obeys the Killing tensor equation r(aKbc) = 0 [4], via a b a K = Kabk k , where k is four-momentum.
    [Show full text]
  • Gravitational Redshift/Blueshift of Light Emitted by Geodesic
    Eur. Phys. J. C (2021) 81:147 https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-08911-5 Regular Article - Theoretical Physics Gravitational redshift/blueshift of light emitted by geodesic test particles, frame-dragging and pericentre-shift effects, in the Kerr–Newman–de Sitter and Kerr–Newman black hole geometries G. V. Kraniotisa Section of Theoretical Physics, Physics Department, University of Ioannina, 451 10 Ioannina, Greece Received: 22 January 2020 / Accepted: 22 January 2021 / Published online: 11 February 2021 © The Author(s) 2021 Abstract We investigate the redshift and blueshift of light 1 Introduction emitted by timelike geodesic particles in orbits around a Kerr–Newman–(anti) de Sitter (KN(a)dS) black hole. Specif- General relativity (GR) [1] has triumphed all experimental ically we compute the redshift and blueshift of photons that tests so far which cover a wide range of field strengths and are emitted by geodesic massive particles and travel along physical scales that include: those in large scale cosmology null geodesics towards a distant observer-located at a finite [2–4], the prediction of solar system effects like the perihe- distance from the KN(a)dS black hole. For this purpose lion precession of Mercury with a very high precision [1,5], we use the killing-vector formalism and the associated first the recent discovery of gravitational waves in Nature [6–10], integrals-constants of motion. We consider in detail stable as well as the observation of the shadow of the M87 black timelike equatorial circular orbits of stars and express their hole [11], see also [12]. corresponding redshift/blueshift in terms of the metric physi- The orbits of short period stars in the central arcsecond cal black hole parameters (angular momentum per unit mass, (S-stars) of the Milky Way Galaxy provide the best current mass, electric charge and the cosmological constant) and the evidence for the existence of supermassive black holes, in orbital radii of both the emitter star and the distant observer.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:Gr-Qc/0103018V2 1 Oct 2001
    Coalescence of Two Spinning Black Holes: An Effective One-Body Approach Thibault Damour Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, 91440 Bures-sur-Yvette, France (Sept 18, 2001) We generalize to the case of spinning black holes a recently introduced “effective one-body” approach to the general relativistic dynamics of binary systems. We show how to approximately map the conservative part of the third post-Newtonian (3 PN) dynamics of two spinning black holes of masses m1, m2 and spins S1, S2 onto the dynamics of a non-spinning particle of mass eff λ µ m1 m2/(m1 + m2) in a certain effective metric g (x ; M,ν, a) which can be viewed either as ≡ µν a spin-deformation (with deformation parameter a Seff /M) of the recently constructed 3 PN eff λ ≡ effective metric gµν (x ; M,ν), or as a ν-deformation (with comparable-mass deformation parameter 2 ν m1 m2/(m1 + m2) ) of a Kerr metric of mass M m1 + m2 and (effective) spin Seff ≡ ≡ ≡ (1+3 m2/(4 m1)) S1 +(1+3 m1/(4 m2)) S2. The combination of the effective one-body approach, and of a Pad´edefinition of the crucial effective radial functions, is shown to define a dynamics with much improved post-Newtonian convergence properties, even for black hole separations of the order of 6 GM/c2. The complete (conservative) phase-space evolution equations of binary spinning black hole systems are written down and their exact and approximate first integrals are discussed. This leads to the approximate existence of a two-parameter family of “spherical orbits” (with constant radius), and of a corresponding one-parameter family of “last stable spherical orbits” (LSSO).
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 22 Geodesic Motion in Kerr Spacetime
    Chapter 22 Geodesic motion in Kerr spacetime Let us consider a geodesic with affine parameter λ and tangent vector dxµ uµ = x˙ µ. (22.1) dλ ⌘ In this section we shall use Boyer-Lindquist’s coordinates, and the dot will indicate di↵eren- tiation with respect to λ.Thetangentvectoruµ is solution of the geodesic equations µ ⌫ u u ;µ =0, (22.2) which, as shown in Chapter 11, is equivalent to the Euler-Lagrange equations d @ @ L = L (22.3) dλ @x˙ ↵ @x↵ associated to the Lagrangian 1 (xµ, x˙ µ)= g x˙ µx˙ ⌫ . (22.4) L 2 µ⌫ By defining the conjugate momentum pµ as @ p L = g x˙ ⌫ , (22.5) µ ⌘ @x˙ µ µ⌫ the Euler-Lagrange equations become d @ p = L . (22.6) dλ µ @xµ Note that, if the metric does not depend on a given coordinate xµ,theconjugatemomentum pµ is a constant of motion and coincides with the constant of motion associated to the Killing vector tangent to the corresponding coordinate lines. The Kerr metric in Boyer-Lindquist coordinates is indepentent of t and φ,therefore p =˙x u = const and p =˙x u = const;(22.7) t t ⌘ t φ φ ⌘ φ these quantities coincide with the constant of motion associated to the Killing vectors kµ = µ µ µ (1, 0, 0, 0) and m =(0, 0, 0, 1), i.e. k uµ = ut and m uµ = uφ. 316 CHAPTER 22. GEODESIC MOTION IN KERR SPACETIME 317 Therefore, geodesic motion in Kerr geometry is characterized by two constants of motion, which we indicate as: E kµu = u = p constant along geodesics ⌘ µ − t − t (22.8) L mµu = u = p constant along geodesics .
    [Show full text]
  • Ergosphere, Photon Region Structure, and the Shadow of a Rotating Charged Weyl Black Hole
    galaxies Article Ergosphere, Photon Region Structure, and the Shadow of a Rotating Charged Weyl Black Hole Mohsen Fathi 1,* , Marco Olivares 2 and José R. Villanueva 1 1 Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso, Avenida Gran Bretaña 1111, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile; [email protected] 2 Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Diego Portales, Avenida Ejército Libertador 441, Casilla 298-V, Santiago 8370109, Chile; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: In this paper, we explore the photon region and the shadow of the rotating counterpart of a static charged Weyl black hole, which has been previously discussed according to null and time-like geodesics. The rotating black hole shows strong sensitivity to the electric charge and the spin parameter, and its shadow changes from being oblate to being sharp by increasing in the spin parameter. Comparing the calculated vertical angular diameter of the shadow with that of M87*, we found that the latter may possess about 1036 protons as its source of electric charge, if it is a rotating charged Weyl black hole. A complete derivation of the ergosphere and the static limit is also presented. Keywords: Weyl gravity; black hole shadow; ergosphere PACS: 04.50.-h; 04.20.Jb; 04.70.Bw; 04.70.-s; 04.80.Cc Citation: Fathi, M.; Olivares, M.; Villanueva, J.R. Ergosphere, Photon Region Structure, and the Shadow of 1. Introduction a Rotating Charged Weyl Black Hole. The recent black hole imaging of the shadow of M87*, performed by the Event Horizon Galaxies 2021, 9, 43.
    [Show full text]
  • The Carter Constant for Inclined Orbits About a Massive Kerr Black Hole: I
    Western University Scholarship@Western Physics and Astronomy Publications Physics and Astronomy Department 11-21-2010 The aC rter Constant for Inclined Orbits about a Massive Kerr Black Hole: I. Circular Orbits Peter G. Komorowski The University of Western Ontario, [email protected] Sree Ram Valluri The University of Western Ontario, [email protected] Martin Houde The University of Western Ontario, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/physicspub Part of the Applied Mathematics Commons, Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons, and the Physics Commons Citation of this paper: Komorowski, Peter G.; Valluri, Sree Ram; and Houde, Martin, "The aC rter Constant for Inclined Orbits about a Massive Kerr Black Hole: I. Circular Orbits" (2010). Physics and Astronomy Publications. 7. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/physicspub/7 The Carter Constant for Inclined Orbits About a Massive Kerr Black Hole: I. circular orbits P. G. Komorowski*, S. R. Valluri*#, M. Houde* November 22, 2010 *Department of Physics and Astronomy, #Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario Abstract In an extreme binary black hole system, an orbit will increase its angle of inclination (ι) as it evolves in Kerr spacetime. We focus our attention on the behaviour of the Carter constant (Q) for near-polar orbits; and develop an analysis that is independent of and complements radiation reaction models. For a Schwarzschild black hole, the polar orbits represent the abutment between the prograde and retrograde orbits at which Q is at its maximum value for given values of latus rectum (˜l) and eccentricity (e). The introduction of spin (S˜ = |J|/M 2) to the massive black hole causes this boundary, or abutment, to be moved towards greater orbital inclination; thus it no longer cleanly separates prograde and retrograde orbits.
    [Show full text]
  • Momento 60 NUMERICAL SOLUTION of MATHISSON-PAPAPETROU
    momento Revista de F´ısica,No 57, Jul - Dic / 2018 60 NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF MATHISSON-PAPAPETROU-DIXON EQUATIONS FOR SPINNING TEST PARTICLES IN A KERR METRIC SOLUCION´ NUMERICA´ DE LAS ECUACIONES DE MATHISSON - PAPAPETROU - DIXON PARA PART´ICULAS DE PRUEBA CON ESP´IN EN UNA METRICA´ DE KERR Nelson Velandia, Juan M. Tejeiro Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de F´ısica,Bogot´a, Colombia. (Recibido: 05/2018. Aceptado: 06/2018) Abstract In this work we calculate some estimations of the gravitomagnetic clock effect, taking into consideration not only the rotating gravitational field of the central mass, but also the spin of the test particle, obtaining values −8 for ∆t = t+ − t− = 2:5212079035 × 10 s. We use the formulation of Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations (MPD) for this problem in a Kerr metric. In order to compare our numerical results with previous works, we consider initially only the equatorial plane and also apply the Mathisson-Pirani supplementary spin condition for the spinning test particle. Keywords: Spinning test particles, Kerr metric, Trajectories of particles, Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations, Numerical solution. Resumen En este trabajo nosotros calculamos algunas estimaciones del efecto reloj gravitomagn´etico,tomando en consideraci´on no s´olo el campo rotacional de la masa central, sino tambi´en el esp´ın de la part´ıcula de prueba, obteniendo Nelson Velandia: [email protected] doi: 10.15446/mo.n57.73391 Soluci´onnum´erica de las ecuaciones de Mathisson-Papapetrou... 61 −8 valores de ∆t = t+ − t− = 2:5212079035 × 10 s. Nosotros usamos la formulaci´on de las ecuaciones de Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon para este problema en una m´etrica de Kerr.
    [Show full text]
  • Gravitational Waves from Merging Compact Binaries
    Gravitational waves from merging compact binaries The MIT Faculty has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters. Citation Hughes, Scott A. “Gravitational Waves from Merging Compact Binaries.” Annu. Rev. Astro. Astrophys. 47.1 (2011): 107-157. As Published http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-astro-082708-101711 Publisher Annual Reviews Version Author's final manuscript Citable link http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60688 Terms of Use Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Detailed Terms http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Compact binary gravitational waves 1 Gravitational waves from merging compact binaries Scott A. Hughes Department of Physics and MIT Kavli Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139 Key Words gravitational waves, compact objects, relativistic binaries Abstract Largely motivated by the development of highly sensitive gravitational-wave detec- tors, our understanding of merging compact binaries and the gravitational waves they generate has improved dramatically in recent years. Breakthroughs in numerical relativity now allow us to model the coalescence of two black holes with no approximations or simplifications. There has also been outstanding progress in our analytical understanding of binaries. We review these developments, examining merging binaries using black hole perturbation theory, post-Newtonian expansions, and direct numerical integration of the field equations. We summarize these ap- arXiv:0903.4877v3 [astro-ph.CO] 18 Apr 2009 proaches and what they have taught us about gravitational waves from compact binaries. We place these results in the context of gravitational-wave generating systems, analyzing the impact gravitational wave emission has on their sources, as well as what we can learn about them from direct gravitational-wave measurements.
    [Show full text]
  • The Separation of the Hamilton-Jacobi Equation for the Kerr Metric
    J. Austral. Math. Soc. Ser. B 41(1999), 248-259 THE SEPARATION OF THE HAMILTON-JACOBI EQUATION FOR THE KERR METRIC G. E. PRINCE1, J. E. ALDRIDGE1, S. E. GODFREY1 and G. B. BYRNES1 (Received 13 February 1995) Abstract We discuss the separability of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the Kerr metric. We use a recent theorem which says that a completely integrable geodesic equation has a fully separable Hamilton-Jacobi equation if and only if the Lagrangian is a composite of the involutive first integrals. We also discuss the physical significance of Carter's fourth constant in terms of the symplectic reduction of the Schwarzschild metric via 50(3), showing that the Killing tensor quantity is the remnant of the square of angular momentum. 1. Introduction Our objective is to provide a partial explanation for the separability of the Hamiltonian- Jacobi equation for the Kerr metric in general relativity. We recognize that what is a satisfactory explanation to one reader is uninformative to another, so we will qualify our objective by saying that our analysis is based upon the Lagrangian formulation of the geodesic equations and the Hamilton-Jacobi theorem, and that it is centred upon a theorem which guarantees full separability of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation when the geodesic equations are completely integrable. (In the general, non-geodesic case, a completely integrable Lagrangian system will not have a fully separable Hamilton- Jacobi equation.) The feature of the Kerr metric that we hope to clarify is the relation between the four involutive integrals produced by the Hamilton-Jacobi separability and the separable co-ordinates themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • General Relativity
    PX436: General Relativity Gareth P. Alexander University of Warwick email: [email protected] office: D1.09, Zeeman building http://go.warwick.ac.uk/px436 Wednesday 6th December, 2017 Contents Preface iii Books and other reading iv 1 Gravity and Relativity2 1.1 Gravity........................................2 1.2 Special Relativity...................................6 1.2.1 Notation....................................8 1.3 Geometry of Minkowski Space-Time........................ 10 1.4 Particle Motion.................................... 12 1.5 The Stress-Energy-Momentum Tensor....................... 14 1.6 Electromagnetism................................... 15 1.6.1 The Transformation of Electric and Magnetic Fields........... 17 1.6.2 The Dynamical Maxwell Equations..................... 17 1.6.3 The Stress-Energy-Momentum Tensor................... 20 Problems.......................................... 23 2 Differential Geometry 27 2.1 Manifolds....................................... 27 2.2 The Metric...................................... 29 2.2.1 Lorentzian Metrics.............................. 31 2.3 Geodesics....................................... 32 2.4 Angles, Areas, Volumes, etc.............................. 35 2.5 Vectors, 1-Forms, Tensors.............................. 36 2.6 Curvature....................................... 39 2.7 Covariant Derivative................................. 46 2.7.1 Continuity, Conservation and Divergence................. 47 2.8 Summary....................................... 49 Problems.........................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Kerr-Newman Metric: a Review
    Scholarpedia 9(10):31791 The Kerr-Newman metric: A Review Tim Adamoa and E. T. Newmanb aDepartment of Applied Mathematics & Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom bDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh 100 Allen Hall, 3941 O'Hara St, Pittsburgh PA 15260, USA E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Abstract: The Kerr-Newman metric describes a very special rotating, charged mass and is the most general of the asymptotically flat stationary `black hole' solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell equations of general relativity. We review the derivation of this metric from the Reissner-Nordstr¨omsolution by means of a complex transformation algorithm and provide a brief overview of its basic geometric properties. We also include some discussion of interpretive issues, related metrics, and higher-dimensional analogues. arXiv:1410.6626v2 [gr-qc] 14 Nov 2016 Contents 1 Background & Introduction1 2 Derivation of the Kerr-Newman Solution4 2.1 The complex transformation algorithm4 2.2 Justification9 2.3 Extensions 11 3 Properties of the Solution 13 3.1 Alternate coordinate systems 13 3.2 Source and singularity 16 3.3 Horizons, ergosurfaces, and the ergosphere 16 4 Further Advances 19 1 Background & Introduction In four space-time dimensions, the no hair theorem dictates that all black hole solutions to the Einstein-Maxwell equations are uniquely characterized by three numbers: mass, electric charge, and angular momentum. In the static case, where the angular momentum vanishes and there is a spherical symmetry, we have the well-known Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstr¨ommetrics depending on whether there is electric charge.
    [Show full text]