Transient instability of rapidly rotating black holes

2016/08/31 by Samuel E. Gralla, Aaron Zimmerman, Peter Zimmerman · 47 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Black hole (networking) #Classical mechanics #Electromagnetic field #Event horizon #Geometry #Gravitation #Gravitational instability #Horizon #Instability #Mechanics #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #Rotating black hole #Scalar (mathematics) #Scalar field #Transient (computer programming) #astro-ph.HE #gr-qc #hep-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.94.084017

published in Physical review. D/Physical review. D. 94(8) (American Physical Society) · 8 pages. 1 figure. Minor revisions to match published version

arxiv created 2016/10/13 · openalex publication_date 2016/10/13 · arxiv updated 2016/10/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06

Abstract

We analytically study the linear response of a near-extremal Kerr black hole to external scalar, electromagnetic, and gravitational field perturbations. We show that the energy density, electromagnetic field strength, and tidal force experienced by infalling observers exhibit transient growth near the horizon. The growth lasts arbitrarily long in the extremal limit, reproducing the horizon instability of extremal Kerr. We explain these results in terms of near-horizon geometry and discuss potential astrophysical implications.

Citations

• Spinning Black Holes as Particle Accelerators
• Towards an understanding of the force-free magnetosphere of rapidly spinning black holes
• Foundations of Black Hole Accretion Disk Theory
• Quasinormal modes of black holes and black branes
• Branching of quasinormal modes for nearly extremal Kerr black holes
• Perturbations of a rotating black hole. III - Interaction of the hole with gravitational and electromagnetic radiation
• Kerr-CFT and gravitational perturbations
• Microscopic Origin of the Bekenstein-Hawking Entropy
• Force-free electrodynamics around extreme Kerr black holes
• An Approach to Gravitational Radiation by a Method of Spin Coefficients
• Slow relaxation of rapidly rotating black holes
• Near-horizon extreme Kerr magnetospheres

Cited by

• Gravitational waves from a plunge into a nearly extremal Kerr black hole
• Event Horizon Image within Black Hole Shadow
• Silhouettes of invisible black holes
• Asymptotics for scalar perturbations from a neighborhood of the bifurcation sphere