Glaser - 1

The Kerr Metric: A Comprehensive Guide

Joseph P. Glaser (Finalized May !
th
" !#$
%ntroduction:
After Albert Einstein published his theory of relativity in 1915, the world of
classical physics was shaken. For the first tie soeone had challen!ed the ind of
"ewton and his laws of !ravitation and rewrote how one deals with the attraction
between unchar!ed assive bodies. #n one onths tie, $arl %chwar&schild released
the first e'act solution to Einstein(s field e)uations naed the %chwar&schild etric.
*his etric provided for the e'act warpin! away fro traditional flat spacetie by a
unchar!ed, non-rotatin! perfectly spherical ass. +etween 191,-191-, the .eissner-
"ordstr/ solution was found to e'plain a char!ed non-rotatin!, perfectly spherical
assive bodies.
0owever, the e'actly solution for a assive rotatin! body about an a'is
evaded theorists for decades after the discovery of the %chwar&child(s etric. #t was
not until 19,1 that .oy $err, a "ew 2ealand atheatician, discovered the solution
to the Einstein Field E)uations for a unchar!ed rotatin! assive body. %hortly
thereafter, the $err-"ewan solution for the char!ed, rotatin! body was discovered.
*his paper will focus specifically on the $err etric and it(s any conse)uences
in relation to black holes. After analy&in! the etric and definin! our surfaces, we
will then be!in to e'plain soe physical aspects that have coe into study over the
past decade includin! frae dra!!in! and accretion disks.
Mathematics o& the Metric:
*he $err 3etric is !iven siply as4
ds
5
=
(
1
r
s
r
j
5
)
c
5
dt
5

j
5
A
dr
5
j
5
d 0
5

(
r +o
5
+
r
s
r o
5
sin(0)
5
j
5
)
sin( 0)
5
d
5
+
5r
s
r osin( 0)
5
c
j
5
dtd
j
5
= r
5
+o
5
cos
5
( 0) A = r
5
r
s
r +o
5
o =
J
Mc
where r, , are the standard spherical coordinates with the ori!in centered at
the center of ass, rs is the %chwar&schild radius, and where len!th scales ,
2
,
Glaser - 5
have been introduced to siplify the e'pression. For substitution into the Einstein
Field E)uations, we use the tensor for of the etric4
g
j+
=
|
(
1
r
s
r
j
5
)
c
5
6 6
5r
s
r osin
5
(0) c
j
5
6
j
5
A
6 6
6 6 j
5
6
5r
s
r osin
5
(0)c
j
5
6 6 r +o
5
+
r
s
r o
5
sin
5
(0)
j
5

#t should be noted that this etric is related directly to the %chwar&schild

etric. #f we are to set J to &ero, then the solution !enerali&es directly in the
followin! way4
ds
5
=
(
1
r
s
r
j
5
)
c
5
dt
5

j
5
A
dr
5
j
5
d 0
5

(
r +o
5
+
r
s
r o
5
sin(0)
5
j
5
)
sin( 0)
5
d
5
+
5r
s
r osin( 0)
5
c
j
5
dtd
ds
5
=
(
1
r
s
r
r
5
+o
5
cos
5
(0)
)
c
5
dt
5

r
5
+o
5
cos
5
( 0)
r
5
r
s
r +o
5
dr
5
r
5
+o
5
cos
5
(0)d 0
5

(
r +o
5
+
r
s
r o
5
sin(0)
5
r
5
+o
5
cos
5
( 0)
)
sin(0)
5
d
5
+
5r
s
r osin(0)
5
c
r
5
+o
5
cos
5
( 0)
dtd
ds
5
=
(
1
r
s
r
)
c
5
dt
5

r
5
r
5
r
s
r
dr
5
r
5
d 0
5
r sin
5
( 0)d
5
+y settin! J to &ero, we have also proven that the ter ust be the an!ular
oentu of the assive body. *his is because the only difference between the
$err and the %chwar&schild etrics is that rotation is involved in the forer.
'asic Geometric (escription o& the Kerr 'lac) *ole:
7hatever specific process occurs to for black holes, it is certain to retain
any coplications. 8ne of these coplications is the fact that the star is rotatin!
about soe a'is. *his rotation of course, results in a sli!ht flattenin! of the body into
a spheroid. *his eans that it is very likely that the !ravitational collapse will not be
perfectly syetrical and ener!y will have to be released via !ravitational waves.
9urin! !ravitational collapse, the an!ular oentu of the body is conserved,
thou!h its radius chan!es. :ike the star, this eans that it(s pro;ected !eoetry will
Glaser - 1
also be that of a spheroid.
#f we were to ;ourney into a $err
+lack 0ole <$+0=, we(d find a rather >odd?
!eoetry. *he first surface we(d encounter
would be the static limit, which is the point
where frame dragging is so severe that a
photon ovin! with a velocity e)ual to c in
the co-rotatin! direction would appear to
be at a fi'ed an!ular coordinate <e.!., a
constant value of =. After the static liit,
we would enter the ergosphere, which is the area between the event hori&on and the
static liit. #nside the er!osphere, frae dra!!in! akes it ipossible for particles
to stay stationary or co-rotate, forcin! the particle to rotate with the black hole. As
frae dra!!in! becoes ore and ore intense as we approach the event horizon,
the surface of infinite !ravitational red-shift and the connection barrier between the
interior and e'terior of the black hole. *he event hori&on itself is a virtual, perfectly
spherical surface, ;ust like that of the %chwar&schild +lack 0ole <%+0=. As we approach
the sin!ularity of the $+0, we notice that the rotation of the black hole has caused
the central point sin!ularity to take the shape of a rin! with a radius proportional to
. 9ue to the increasin! frae dra!!in! effect, a fallin! particle will be forced to
ove with respect to the black holes rotation before it can intersect the rin!.
Mathematical (erivations o& the Main +ur&aces:
0owever, with such !reat clais, !reat proof is re)uired to affir these
physical interpretations. *herefore, this paper will now look at the atheatical
e'pressions of these surfaces and their effects, provin! the above literal description.
#f we first look at the surface of the sin!ularity in the purely radial coponent,
grr, of the $err etric. #n the %chwar&schild etric, this yielded the surface of infinite
!ravitational redshift as seen by a observer at a far distance, otherwise known as the
event hori&on. :ikewise, the followin! solution will also !ive us the e)uation of the
Glaser - @
$+0(s event hori&on<s=. *o find this surface, we set the len!th scale of e)ual to &ero
and solve the )uadratic e)uation, yieldin!4
A = 6 = r
5
r
s
r +o
5
- r
!h
=
GM!.(GM)
5
(oc
5
)
5
c
5
"ote that this radial ter is a constant value for all space around the $+0, thus the
surface is that of a perfect spherical shell. 0owever, since this is ;ust a coordinate
based sin!ularity, there isn(t an actual >physical? barrier at this point for the inward
fallin! particle.
"e't, let us look at the surface of the sin!ularity in the purely tie coponent,
gtt, of the $err etric. #n the %chwar&schild etric, this sin!ularity is the sae as for
the purely radial coponent <with a value of rs=. 0owever, the sin!ularity around a
$+0 in this coponent ay be different due to the rotation. *herefore, when we set
all of gtt e)ual to &ero, solvin! the )uadratic e)uation yields4
g
tt
= 6 = c
5

r
s
rc
5
r
5
+o
5
cos
5
(0)
r
!e
=
GM!.(GM)
5
(oc
5
)
5
cos
5
(0)
c
5
"ote that this solution is very siilar to that of the purely radial coponent e'cept
for the cos
5
<= under the s)uare root ter. *his !ives a !eoetry that is a flattened
spheroid shell that ;oins the event hori&ons at the a'is of rotation. *his sin!ularity
also has a ne!ative ter, thou!h as we will see ne't, it has little physical eanin!.
*he surface we have ;ust derived is known as the static limit <see pa!e 5= and the area
defined as r+e A r+h is known as the ergosphere, where frae dra!!in! effects increase
radially inward.
8ne curiosity that occurs with $+0 is the fact that the above derived surfaces
include even roots, which allow for both positive and ne!ative nuerical values when
takin! the roots. 0owever, if we analy&ed these surfaces to to find their locations in
standard spherical coordinates fro the ori!in, we find soethin! peculiar. #n the
first case, when c
2
B G
2
M
2
<J B Jmax=, then the !eoetry of the surfaces is rather
siple. Cictured on the top left of the ne't pa!e is this case. 7e can see that the
Glaser - 5
static liit(s >positive? ter <r+e, brown= is
present as a flattened spheroid outside of
the event hori&on(s >positive? ter <r+h,
red= and ;oinin! at the a'is of rotation
<black=. +oth ne!ative ters are uch
saller in value than their counterparts
and lie within the first event hori&on,
therefore havin! no physical eanin! as
the $err etric breaks down inside the
event hori&on <r-h, !reen D r-e, blue=.
*he other fi!ure describes the
second case
1
, when c
2
G
2
M
2
<J Jmax=,
which is an e'tree case of the $+0 and
one that is currently studied in !reat
detail. A!ain, we can see that the static
liit(s >positive? ter <r+e, brown= is
present as a type of spheroid outside of
the event hori&on(s >positive? ter <r+h, redE!reen= and ;oinin! at the a'is of rotation
<black=. #n this instance, the e)uatorial distance between the event hori&on and the
static liit is at its a'iu. Also, notice that while the >ne!ative? ters are lar!er,
they both still do not pass the barrier of the first event hori&on <the r-h F r+h, eetin!
the e'pectations of the %+0=.
Frame (ra,,in, - The .r,osphere:
As previously entioned, the er!osphere is a coordinate based sin!ularity is
not a physics surface. *hat is, a particle ovin! alon! the fabric of spacetie at the
er!osphere will be able to pass freely and not feel an infinite curvature. 0owever,
1 *his case is has the upper fir liit for the an!ular oentu of a $+0. #f J AJmax, then all of the
surfaces evaluate to the cople' plain, leavin! the >naked sin!ularity.? *his violates the !a" of
#osmic #ensorship. *he a'iu an!ular oentu of a $+0 is !iven as4
J
max
=
GM
5
c
<Garroll,
,@6=
Glaser - ,
due to frae dra!!in!, which be!ins to take a very lar!e effect at the static liit, all
particles that drop directly into a $+0 will be forced to slowly spiral inwards in the
direction of the rotation in this re!ion.
:et us look at frae dra!!in!(s effects by first enterin! in the plane.
7orkin! fro the e)uation of the !eodesic in :a!ran!ian for, we have4
g
t
dt +g

d = h = 6
d
dt
=
g
t
g

=
@GMr sin
5
(0)o
c (ocos
5
(0)+r
5
)
5
= D
where h F 6 refers to the particle bein! a photon. *his is the e)uation for frae
dra!!in! around a rotatin! assive body. For the non-rotatin! case, F 6, then $ F 6
and the photon falls directly into the black hole fro any direction. For the rotatin!
case as e'perienced far away fro the ori!in, F 6 H r I, then $ 6 and the
effects of frae dra!!in! are not very noticeable. 0owever, when we !et close to
the ob;ect, or in the case of the $+0 pass it(s static liit, the effects becoe very
noticeable and the photon will spiral in at an increasin! rate in the direction of the
body(s rotation.
7e can also e'aine frae dra!!in! in a ore specific e'aple. Assue that
we have a photon racin! towards a $+0 and have it enterin! at the e)uator. *he
:a!ran!ian is for this case is4
g
tt
dt
5
+5!
t
dtd +g

d
5
= 6
#f we divide by and solve the )uadratic for $, we find that4
d
dt
=
g
t
g

!
.
(
g
t
g

)
5

g
tt
g

:ookin! at the surface of gtt F 6, the an!ular velocity of photons reduces to4
d
dt
=
g
t
g

!
g
t
g

= 6 or 5
g
t
g

*hus for all A 6, all photons are either stationary or ove with respect to the black
hole(s rotation at or past the static liit, respectively. Given that particles ove ore
slowly than photons, they ust always travel in the direction of rotation at and past
the static liit. *his is frae dra!!in! and was confired by "A%A(s Gravity Crobe +
Glaser - J
in 566J after a three year lon! ission.
5
Special Topic: K'* Accretion (is)s
%ince the discovery of )uasars and active !alactic nuclei <AG"s= and their
related odelin! in the $err etric, the study of accretion disks around $+0s have
becoe a key cosolo!ical study. %ccretion dis&s are disks of !ases that have been
stripped fro a parent star at a soewhat steady rate. *he !ases, after bein!
stripped fro the parent star, radiate inward till they fall into the $+0, transforin!
the !ravitational ener!y into rotational and radiation ener!y. *his continues until the
$+0 has reached it(s a'iu rotational oentu and becoes an e'tree $+0.
*he followin! is a re-derivation of 9in!-Kion! 7an!(s work with thin and thick
accretion disks and the evolution of the diensionless relationship between the
an!ular oentu and the total ass of the $+0 in a pure accretion process.
First, we will study the effects on the $+0 due to a thin disk <a rin! of a sin!le
constant radius=. *he ass and an!ular oentu of a $+0 over tie can be
e'pressed in the followin! anor4
dM
dt
= '
ms
dM
r
dt
dJ
dt
= !
ms
dM
r
dt
where
dM
r
dt
is the accretion rate of the rest ass, 'ms H !ms are the specific ener!y and
the specific an!ular oentu correspondin! to the inner ost stable orbit of the
$+0, rms, which is the ar!inal radius of the disk. 'ms H !ms are !iven as4
'
ms
=
15X
ms
5
+X
ms
1
.
11X
ms
5
+5X
ms
1
!
ms
= MX
ms
15X
ms
1
+
5
X
ms
@
.
11X
ms
5
+5
5
X
ms
1
5 *he Gravity Crobe + ission <566@-566J= be!an fundin! in 19,@ after the $err etric becae a
ain focus of study due to it(s further prediction of the 191- idea of frae dra!!in!. *he probe
pointed itself at #3 Ce!asi while in a polar orbit around the Earth. Lsin! record breakin!
!yroscopes as it(s reference frae, it easured both the effects of frae dra!!in! and !eodetic
effect <the warpin! of spacetie around a !ravitational body= with unprecedented precession.
Glaser - -
where the diensionless paraeters xms and ( are e'pressed as4
X
ms
=
.
r
ms
M
(1X
ms
.,)
=
o
M
=
J
M
5
(61)
%ince xms and ( are not independent, they ust satisfy the followin! e)uation4
X
ms
@
,X
ms
5
+-X
ms
1
5
= 6
After soe substitution for hi!h powers of xms, we return the followin! e)uation for
the rate at which the ( paraeter increases over tie4
d
dt
=
5.1
M
(
1

X
ms
)
5
dM
r
dt
6
*he e)uality for the above e)uation above holds when M and 's are e)ual to one. #t
should be noted that this eans that as the ( paraeter increases towards 1, values
of the diensionless an!ular oentu and total ass conver!e and the the
accretion process slows down. #t is at this tie that the $+0 will reach its a'iu
rotational oentu and any ater fallin! into the black hole will be radiated away.
*he process for thick accretion disks <bands of !ases with an inner radius and
an outer radius= is siilar in the classical case and is sipler to e'press. #f we take the
inner radius, rb, to be the ost bound orbit for the !ases and the outer radius, rs, to
be the ost stable orbit. *he ost bound orbit can be !iven in ters of the
diensionless an!ular oentu and the ass siply as4

7e can also !ive e'press the specific ener!y and an!ular oentu of the inner
ost bound orbit as4
'
m)
= 1
!
m)
= 5M(1+.1)
Followin! the sae procedure as before, we first e'press the rates of chan!e of the
ass and the an!ular oentu of the $+04
dM
dt
= '
m)
dM
r
dt
=
dM
r
dt
r
m)
= 5(M!.M
5
Mo)o
Glaser - 9
dJ
dt
= !
m)
dM
r
dt
= 5M(1+.1)
dM
dt
%ince ass is constantly fallin! into the black hole by the definition of the accretion
process, the rate of chan!e for the ass and oentu are both !reater than &ero.
*herefore, the rate of chan!e for the ( paraeter can be e'pressed as4
d
dt
=
5
M
(1+.1)
dM
dt
6
A!ain, the e)uality only holds when the ( paraeter e)uals one. 7hen this occurs, an
e'tree $+0 is fored and the a'iu an!ular oentu has been reached.
*o sueri&e, the ethod derived is a perfectly classical interpretation of the
accretion process of an unchar!ed disk fallin! into an unchar!ed $+0. #t shows that
the accretion process is a stable one and !ives reason to believe that non-active $+0s
are likely near the e'tree an!ular oentu.
Closin, Thou,hts:
*he $err etric, as developed in 19,1, has !iven theorists a nuber of new
ideas to work with. 7ith the ability to view how rotatin! unchar!ed bodies warp the
fabric of spacetie around the, we can better understand the physics of the ost
interestin! celestial ob;ects in our universe. 7e are able to understand why )uasars
!ive off hu!e aounts of K-.ay radiation, why AG"s force the stars around the to
rotate in the sae direction, and what rotatin! bodies look when the collapse below
their event hori&on.
*hou!h this paper has covered a very lar!e section in relation to the basic
properties of the $err etric, it has only touched the surface of the vast field
surroundin! it. *here have been studies ran!in! fro spherical li)uid shells
surroundin! a $+0 to stable 9yson rin!s of assive rotatin! bodies. #ncluded after
the references used in the creation of this paper is a list of articles which detail
several variable interestin! studies done on the etric in the past decade. #t is the
hope of this author that they will provide useful inforation for those who wish to
be!in to di! deeper into this specific topic.
Glaser - 16
/e&erences:
Garrol, +radley H 8stlie, 9ale. Ghapters 1J.1, 1-.5, H 1-., in %n *ntrod+ction to Modern
%stroph,sics. 5
nd
Ed. Addison 7esley4 %an Francisco 566J. Crint.
"A%A(s GC-+ *ea. -he Gravit, .ro)e / 'xperiment0 .ost 1light %nal,sis 2 1inal 3eport. "A%A4
8ctober 566,. Crint.
.obinson, Edward. General 3elativit, #hapter 40 -he 5err Metric 2 3otation and 3otating /lac&
6oles7 Lniversity of *e'as in Austin(s 9epartent of Astronoy4 566J Ner. 1.5 <1,J-
1-9=. 7eb C9F. Bhttp4EEpisces.as.ute'as.eduEGen.elE$err3etric.pdfA
7an!, 9in!-Kion!. 'vol+tion of 8imensionless %ng+lar Moment+m of #entral /lac& 6oles of
%ccretion 8is&s. General .elativity H Gravitation4 199- Nol. 16.J <1655-1615=. Crint.
Further /eadin,:
A. +urinskii, E. Eli&alde, %. 0ildebrandt, H G. 3a!li. 3eg+lar 9o+rces of the 5err-9child #lass for
3otating and :onrotating /lac& 6ole 9ol+tions7 Chysical .eview 94 5665 Nol. ,5.6,@619
,5 <1-15=. Crint.
Graer, Glaes .. ;sing the ;ncharged 5err /lac& 6ole as a Gravitational Mirror. General
.elativity H Gravitation4 199J Nol. 59.@ <@@5-@5@=. Crint.
Gardoso, Nitor H :eos, Oose C.%. -he 3adial *nfall of a 6ighl, 3elativistic .oint .article into a
5err /lac& 6ole along the 9,mmetric %xis. General .elativity H Gravitation4 5661 Nol.
15.5 <15J-111=. Crint.
Faridi, Abbas 3. .recession of %ng+lar Moment+m <ector in a 9lo"l, 3otating 5err Metric7
General .elativity H Gravitation4 19-, Nol. 1-.1 <5J1-5-,=. Crint.
0u!hes, %cott A. :earl, 6orizon 9&imming =r)its of 5err /lac& 6oles7 Chysical .eview 94 Nol.
,1.6,@61, <1-9=. Crint.
3einel, .. /lac& 6oles0 % .h,sical 3o+te to the 5err Metric. Ann Chys <:eip&i!=4 5665 Nol. 11.J
<569-551=. Crint.
%ie!l, .. % spinning shell aro+nd a 5err )lac& hole in a slo" rotation approximation. General
.elativity H Gravitation4 5611 Nol. @1 <155-1,1=. Crint.
%ion, 7alter. #haracteristics of the 5err Metric. General .elativity H Gravitation4 19-@ Nol.
1,.5 <@,5-@J,=. Crint.