Difficulties of quantitative tests of the Kerr-hypothesis with X-ray observations of mass accreting black holes
From MaRDI portal
Publication:1622151
Abstract: X-ray studies of stellar mass black holes in X-ray binaries and mass-accreting supermassive black holes in Active Galactic Nuclei have achieved a high degree of maturity and have delivered detailed information about the astrophysical sources and the physics of black hole accretion. In this article, I review recent progress made towards using the X-ray observations for testing the "Kerr hypothesis" that the background spacetimes of all astrophysical quasi-stationary black holes are described by the Kerr metric. Although the observations have indeed revealed clear evidence for relativistic effects in strong-field gravity, quantitative tests of the Kerr hypothesis still struggle with theoretical and practical difficulties. In this article, I describe several recently introduced test metrics and review the status of constraining the background spacetimes of mass accreting stellar mass and supermassive black holes with these test metrics. The main conclusion of the discussion is that astrophysical uncertainties are large compared to the rather small observational differences between the Kerr and non-Kerr metrics precluding quantitative constraints on deviations from the Kerr metric at this point in time. I conclude with discussing future progress enabled by more detailed numerical simulations and by future X-ray spectroscopy, timing, polarimetry, and interferometry missions.
Recommendations
- Topical collection: testing the Kerr spacetime with gravitational-wave and electromagnetic observations
- Observational testability of a Kerr bound in the x-ray spectrum of black hole candidates
- Black Holes: A Laboratory for Testing Strong Gravity
- Probing the strong (stationary) gravitational field of accreting black holes with X-ray observations
Cites work
- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3140324 (Why is no real title available?)
- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 5560371 (Why is no real title available?)
- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3806475 (Why is no real title available?)
- Black Hole Uniqueness Theorems
- Black hole continuum spectra as a test of general relativity: quadratic gravity
- Black holes. The membrane paradigm
- Event and apparent horizon finders for 3+1 numerical relativity
- Global Structure of the Kerr Family of Gravitational Fields
- Gravitational Field of a Spinning Mass as an Example of Algebraically Special Metrics
- Gravity: Newtonian, post-Newtonian, relativistic
- Hamilton-Jacobi and Schrödinger separable solutions of Einstein's equations
- Mapping spacetimes with LISA: inspiral of a test body in a ‘quasi-Kerr’ field
- Maximal Analytic Extension of the Kerr Metric
- Multipole Moments. II. Curved Space
- Multipole moments of axisymmetric systems in relativity
- Multipole moments of stationary space-times
- Numerical relativity. Solving Einstein's equations on the computer
- Probes and tests of strong-field gravity with observations in the electromagnetic spectrum
- Proof of uniqueness of the Kerr-Newman black hole solution
- QPO as the Rosetta Stone for understanding black hole accretion
- Stationary black holes: uniqueness and beyond
- THEORY OF GRAVITATION THEORIES: A NO-PROGRESS REPORT
- The Kerr metric
- The confrontation between general relativity and experiment
- The time-dependence of non-planar accretion discs
Cited in
(5)- Probing the strong (stationary) gravitational field of accreting black holes with X-ray observations
- Observational evidences for spinning black holes: a proof of general relativity for spacetime around rotating black holes
- Testing general relativity with black hole X-ray data: a progress report
- Observational testability of a Kerr bound in the x-ray spectrum of black hole candidates
- Topical collection: testing the Kerr spacetime with gravitational-wave and electromagnetic observations
This page was built for publication: Difficulties of quantitative tests of the Kerr-hypothesis with X-ray observations of mass accreting black holes
Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q1622151)
