Iron Kα line of Kerr black holes with Proca hair

Menglei Zhou, Cosimo Bambi, Carlos A. R. Herdeiro, and Eugen Radu
Phys. Rev. D 95, 104035 – Published 25 May 2017

Abstract

We continue our study on the capabilities of present and future x-ray missions to test the nature of astrophysical black hole candidates via x-ray reflection spectroscopy and distinguish Kerr black holes from other solutions of 4-dimensional Einstein’s gravity in the presence of a matter field. Here we investigate the case of Kerr black holes with Proca hair [1]. The analysis of a sample of these configurations suggests that even extremely hairy black holes can mimic the iron line profile of the standard Kerr black holes, and, at least for the configurations of our study, we find that current x-ray missions cannot distinguish these objects from Kerr black holes. This contrasts with our previous findings for the case of Kerr black holes with scalar (rather than Proca) hair [2], even though such comparison may be biased by the limited sample. Future x-ray missions can detect the presence of Proca hair, but a theoretical knowledge of the expected intensity profile (currently missing) can be crucial to obtain strong constraints.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 23 March 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.95.104035

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Menglei Zhou1, Cosimo Bambi1,2,*, Carlos A. R. Herdeiro3, and Eugen Radu3

  • 1Center for Field Theory and Particle Physics and Department of Physics, Fudan University, 200433 Shanghai, China
  • 2Theoretical Astrophysics, Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
  • 3Departamento de Fìsica da Universidade de Aveiro and Center for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications (CIDMA), Campus de Santiago, 3810-183 Aveiro, Portugal

  • *Corresponding author. bambi@fudan.edu.cn

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 10 — 15 May 2017

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review D

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×