Can an astrophysical black hole have a topologically non-trivial event horizon?

TL;DR

This paper explores the possibility that astrophysical black holes can have topologically non-trivial event horizons, especially in models inspired by Loop Quantum Gravity, challenging classical theorems.

Contribution

It demonstrates that spinning black holes in alternative gravity theories can undergo horizon topology changes when exceeding a critical spin, suggesting such phenomena may be common.

Findings

Horizon topology changes occur at high spin parameters.

Non-Kerr black holes can have non-spherical horizons.

Accretion processes might induce topology transitions.

Abstract

In 4-dimensional General Relativity, there are several theorems restricting the topology of the event horizon of a black hole. In the stationary case, black holes must have a spherical horizon, while a toroidal spatial topology is allowed only for a short time. In this paper, we consider spinning black holes inspired by Loop Quantum Gravity and by alternative theories of gravity. We show that the spatial topology of the event horizon of these objects changes when the spin parameter exceeds a critical value and we argue that the phenomenon may be quite common for non-Kerr black holes. Such a possibility may be relevant in astrophysics, as in some models the accretion process can induce the topology transition of the horizon.