Isofrequency pairing of geodesic orbits in Kerr geometry

Niels Warburton, Leor Barack, Norichika Sago

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Bound geodesic orbits around a Kerr black hole can be parametrized by three constants of the motion: the (specific) orbital energy, angular momentum, and Carter constant. Generically, each orbit also has associated with it three frequencies, related to the radial, longitudinal, and (mean) azimuthal motions. Here, we note the curious fact that these two ways of characterizing bound geodesics are not in a one-to-one correspondence. While the former uniquely specifies an orbit up to initial conditions, the latter does not: there is a (strong-field) region of the parameter space in which pairs of physically distinct orbits can have the same three frequencies. In each such isofrequency pair, the two orbits exhibit the same rate of periastron precession and the same rate of Lense-Thirring precession of the orbital plane, and (in a certain sense) they remain "synchronized" in phase.

Original languageEnglish
Article number084012
JournalPhysical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
Volume87
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 3 2013

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Nuclear and High Energy Physics
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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