Strong gravity Lense-Thirring Precession in Kerr and Kerr-Taub-NUT spacetimes

TL;DR

This paper derives exact Lense-Thirring precession frequencies for Kerr, Kerr-Taub-NUT, and Taub-NUT spacetimes, revealing non-vanishing frame-dragging effects even in zero angular momentum cases.

Contribution

It provides explicit formulas for LT precession in complex spacetimes, clarifying previous ambiguities and demonstrating non-zero effects in Taub-NUT spacetime with zero angular momentum.

Findings

Exact LT precession frequencies derived for Kerr and NUT spacetimes.

Frame-dragging effect persists in zero angular momentum Taub-NUT spacetime.

Results reconcile with recent claims of null precession in NUT spacetimes.

Abstract

An exact expression derived in the literature for the rate of dragging of inertial frames (Lense-Thirring (LT) precession) in a general stationary spacetime, is reviewed. The exact LT precession frequencies for Kerr, Kerr-Taub-NUT and Taub-NUT spacetimes are explicitly derived. Remarkably, in the case of the zero angular momentum Taub-NUT spacetime, the frame-dragging effect is shown {\it not} to vanish, when considered for spinning test gyroscopes. The result becomes sharper for the case of vanishing ADM mass of that spacetime. We clarify how our results are consistent with claims in the recent literature of null orbital plane precession for NUT spacetimes.