Spinning test-body orbiting around a Kerr black hole: circular dynamics and gravitational-wave fluxes

TL;DR

This paper extends previous studies of spinning particles orbiting black holes to Kerr black holes, analyzing how different spin conditions affect orbital dynamics and gravitational wave fluxes, especially near the ISCO, with implications for gravitational wave modeling.

Contribution

It investigates the impact of three spin-supplementary-conditions on the circular dynamics and gravitational-wave fluxes around Kerr black holes, revealing conditions under which they converge or diverge.

Findings

SSC effects diminish at small frequencies

Fluxes agree within 0.2% for certain Kerr parameters

Significant differences appear at high frequencies near ISCO

Abstract

In a recent work, [Phys. Rev. D. 94, 104010 (2016)], hereafter Paper I, we have numerically studied different prescriptions for the dynamics of a spinning particle in circular motion around a Schwarzschild black hole. In the present work, we continue this line of investigation to the rotating Kerr black hole. We consider the Mathisson-Papapetrou formalism under three different spin-supplementary-conditions (SSC), the Tulczyjew SSC, the Pirani SSC and the Ohashi-Kyrian-Semerak SSC, and analyze the different circular dynamics in terms of the ISCO shifts and the frequency parameter ${x \equiv (M \Omega)^{2/3}}$, where $\Omega$ is the orbital frequency and $M$ is the Kerr black hole mass. Then, we solve numerically the inhomogeneous $(2+1)D$ Teukolsky equation to contrast the asymptotic gravitational wave fluxes for the three cases. Our central observation made in Paper I for the Schwarzschild limit is found to hold true for the Kerr background: the three SSCs reduce to the same circular dynamics and the same radiation fluxes for small frequency parameters but differences arise as $x$ grows close to the ISCO. For a positive Kerr parameter $a=0.9$ the energy fluxes mutually agree with each other within a $0.2\%$ uncertainty up to $x<0.14$, while for $a=-0.9$ this level of agreement is preserved up to $x<0.1$. For large frequencies ($x \gtrsim 0.1$), however, the spin coupling of the Kerr black hole and the spinning body results in significant differences of the circular orbit parameters and the fluxes, especially for the $a=-0.9$ case. Instead, in the study of ISCO the negative Kerr parameter $a=-0.9$ results in less discrepancies in comparison with the positive Kerr parameter $a=0.9$.