Particle Motion and Plasma Effects on Gravitational Weak Lensing in Lorentzian Wormhole Spacetime

Here we study particle motion in the specific Lorentzian wormhole spacetime characterized, in addition to the total mass M, with the dimensionless parameter λ. In particular we calculate the radius of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) for test particles and the photonsphere for massless particles. We show that the effect of the dimensionless wormhole parameter decreases the ISCO radius and the radius of the photon orbit. Then, we study plasma effects on gravitational weak lensing in wormhole spacetime and obtain the deflection angle of the light. We show that the effect of λ decreases the deflection angle. We study the effects of uniform and non-uniform plasma on the light deflection angle separately, and show that the uniform plasma causes the deflection angle to be smaller in contrast to the non-uniform plasma.

A critical assessment of black hole solutions with a linear term in their redshift function

Different theories of gravity can admit the same black hole solution, but the parameters usually have different physical interpretations. In this work we study in depth the linear term $$\beta r$$ β r in the redshift function of black holes, which arises in conformal gravity, de Rham–Gabadadze–Tolley (dRGT) massive gravity, f(R) gravity (as approximate solution) and general relativity. Geometrically we quantify the parameter $$\beta $$ β in terms of the curvature invariants. Astrophysically we found that $$\beta $$ β can be expressed in terms of the cosmological constant, the photon orbit radius and the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) radius. The metric degeneracy can be broken once black hole thermodynamics is taken into account. Notably, we show that under Hawking evaporation, different physical theories with the same black hole solution (at the level of the metric) can lead to black hole remnants with different values of their physical masses with direct consequences on their viability as dark matter candidates. In particular, the mass of the graviton in massive gravity can be expressed in terms of the cosmological constant and of the formation epoch of the remnant. Furthermore the upper bound of remnant mass can be estimated to be around $$0.5 \times 10^{27}$$ 0.5 × 10 27 kg.

A full relativistic thin disc - the physics of the plunging region and the value of the stress at the ISCO

The widely used Novikov-Thorne relativistic thin disc equations are only valid down to the radius of the innermost-stable circular orbit (ISCO). This leads to an undetermined boundary condition at the ISCO, known as the inner stress of the disc, which sets the luminosity of the disc at the ISCO and introduces considerable ambiguity in accurately determining the mass, spin and accretion rate of black holes from observed spectra. We resolve this ambiguity by self-consistently extending the relativistic disc solution through the ISCO to the black hole horizon by calculating the inspiral of an average disc particle subject to turbulent disc forces, using a new particle-in-disc technique. Traditionally it has been assumed that the stress at the ISCO is zero, with material plunging approximately radially into the black hole at close to the speed of light. We demonstrate that in fact the inspiral is less severe, with several (∼4 − 17) orbits completed before the horizon. This leads to a small non-zero stress and luminosity at and inside the ISCO, with a local surface temperature at the ISCO between ∼0.15 − 0.3 times the maximum surface temperature of the disc, in the case where no dynamically important net magnetic field is present. For a range of disc parameters we calculate the value of the inner stress/surface temperature, which is required when fitting relativistic thin disc models to observations. We resolve a problem in relativistic slim disc models in which turbulent heating becomes inaccurate and falls to zero inside the plunging region.

Lyapunov exponent, ISCO and Kolmogorov–Senai entropy for Kerr–Kiselev black hole

Geodesic motion has significant characteristics of space-time. We calculate the principle Lyapunov exponent (LE), which is the inverse of the instability timescale associated with this geodesics and Kolmogorov–Senai (KS) entropy for our rotating Kerr–Kiselev (KK) black hole. We have investigate the existence of stable/unstable equatorial circular orbits via LE and KS entropy for time-like and null circular geodesics. We have shown that both LE and KS entropy can be written in terms of the radial equation of innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) for time-like circular orbit. Also, we computed the equation marginally bound circular orbit, which gives the radius (smallest real root) of marginally bound circular orbit (MBCO). We found that the null circular geodesics has larger angular frequency than time-like circular geodesics ($$Q_o > Q_{\sigma }$$ Q o > Q σ ). Thus, null-circular geodesics provides the fastest way to circulate KK black holes. Further, it is also to be noted that null circular geodesics has shortest orbital period $$(T_{photon}< T_{ISCO})$$ ( T photon < T ISCO ) among the all possible circular geodesics. Even null circular geodesics traverses fastest than any stable time-like circular geodesics other than the ISCO.

Estimating the size of X-ray lamppost coronae in active galactic nuclei

Aims. We report estimates of the X-ray coronal size of active galactic nuclei in the lamppost geometry. In this commonly adopted scenario, the corona is assumed for simplicity to be a point-like X-ray source located on the axis of the accretion disc. However, the corona must intercept a number of optical/UV seed photons from the disc consistent with the observed X-ray flux, which constrains its size. Methods. We employ a relativistic ray-tracing code, originally developed by Dovčiak and Done, that calculates the size of a Comptonizing lamppost corona illuminated by a standard thin disc. We assume that the disc extends down to the innermost stable circular orbit of a non-spinning or a maximally spinning black hole. We apply this method to a sample of 20 Seyfert 1 galaxies using simultaneous optical/UV and X-ray archival data from XMM-Newton. Results. At least for the sources accreting below the Eddington limit, we find that a Comptonizing lamppost corona can generally exist, but with constraints on its size and height above the event horizon of the black hole depending on the spin. For a maximally spinning black hole, a solution can almost always be found at any height, while for a non-spinning black hole the height must generally be higher than 5 gravitational radii. This is because, for a given luminosity, a higher spin implies more seed photons illuminating the corona, which is due to a larger and hotter inner disc area. The maximal spin solution is favoured, as it predicts an X-ray photon index in better agreement with the observations.

Circular motion and the innermost stable circular orbit for spinning particles around a charged Hayward black hole background

The circular orbits of a spinning test particle moving around a charged Hayward black hole is investigated by using the Mathisson–Papapetrou–Dixon equations together with the Tulczyjew spin-supplementary condition. By writing the equations of motion, the effective potential for the description of the test particle is obtained to study the properties of the Innermost Stable Circular Orbit (ISCO). The results show that the ISCO radii for spinning particles moving in the charged Hayward background differ from those obtained in the corresponding Schwarzschild or Reissner–Nordstrom spacetimes, depending on the values of the electric charge and the length-scale parameter of the metric. When the spin of the particle and its orbital angular momentum are aligned, an increase in the spin produces a decrease in the ISCO radius, while in the case in which the spin of the particle and its orbital angular momentum are anti-aligned, an increase in the spin results in an increase of the radius of the ISCO.

Multiwaveband quasi-periodic oscillation in the blazar 3C 454.3

ABSTRACT We report the detection (&gt;4σ) of a quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) in the gamma-ray light curve of 3C 454.3 along with a simultaneous marginal QPO detection (&gt;2.4σ) in the optical light curves. Periodic flux modulations were detected in both of these wavebands with a dominant period of ∼47 d. The gamma-ray QPO lasted for over 450 d (from MJD 56800 to 57250), resulting in over nine observed cycles which is among the highest number of periods ever detected in a blazar light curve. The optical light curve was not well sampled for almost half of the gamma-ray QPO span due to the daytime transit of the source, which could explain the lower significance of the optical QPO. Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) modelling of the light curve revealed a significant, exponentially decaying, trend in the light curve during the QPO, along with the 47 d periodicity. We explore several physical models to explain the origin of this transient quasi-periodic modulation and the overall trend in the observed flux with a month-like period. These scenarios include a binary black hole system, a hotspot orbiting close to the innermost stable circular orbit of the supermassive black hole, and precessing jets. We conclude that the most likely scenario involves a region of enhanced emission moving helically inside a curved jet. The helical motion gives rise to the QPO and the curvature (∼0.05○ pc−1) of the jet is responsible for the observed trend in the light curve.