Open AccessOn gravitomagnetic precession around black holes
Author(s) -
Merloni A.,
Vietri M.,
Stella L.,
Bini D.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-8711.1999.02307.x
Subject(s) - physics , precession , black hole (networking) , angular momentum , rotating black hole , astrophysics , rotation (mathematics) , orbit (dynamics) , classical mechanics , astronomy , geometry , computer network , routing protocol , routing (electronic design automation) , mathematics , engineering , computer science , aerospace engineering , link state routing protocol
We compute exactly the frequency of Lense‐‐Thirring precession for point masses in the Kerr metric, for arbitrary black hole mass and specific angular momentum. We show that this frequency, for point masses at or close to the innermost stable orbit, and for holes with moderate to extreme rotation, is less than, but comparable to, the rotation frequency. Thus, if the quasi‐periodic oscillations (QPOs) observed in the modulation of the X‐ray flux from some black hole candidates (BHCs) are caused by Lense‐‐Thirring precession of orbiting material, we predict that a separate, distinct QPO ought to be observed in each object.