Gyroscope precession along unbound equatorial plane orbits around a Kerr black hole

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the precession of a gyroscope along unbound equatorial orbits around a Kerr black hole, comparing it with the orbital change and discussing the Schwarzschild limit.

Contribution

It provides a detailed calculation of gyroscope precession in Kerr spacetime for unbound orbits, extending understanding beyond bound orbits.

Findings

Precession angle depends on black hole spin and orbit parameters.

Comparison with Schwarzschild case highlights effects of rotation.

Results applicable to gravitational wave and black hole physics.

Abstract

The precession of a test gyroscope along unbound equatorial plane geodesic orbits around a Kerr black hole is analyzed with respect to a static reference frame whose axes point towards the "fixed stars." The accumulated precession angle after a complete scattering process is evaluated and compared with the corresponding change in the orbital angle. Limiting results for the non-rotating Schwarzschild black hole case are also discussed.