Image features of spinning regular black holes based on a locality principle

TL;DR

This paper links theoretical models of spinning regular black holes, based on a locality principle, to their observable shadow features, identifying characteristic image signatures that could serve as universal indicators of such black holes.

Contribution

It introduces a family of spinning regular black hole models grounded in a locality principle and analyzes their shadow images to identify unique observable features.

Findings

Regularity leads to increased compactness and stretching in shadows.

Locality principle results in cusps and asymmetry in black hole images.

Characteristic features are robust across different regular black hole models.

Abstract

To understand the true nature of black holes, fundamental theoretical developments should be linked all the way to observational features of black holes in their natural astrophysical environments. Here, we take several steps to establish such a link. We construct a family of spinning, regular black-hole spacetimes based on a locality principle for new physics and analyze their shadow images. We identify characteristic image features associated to regularity (increased compactness and relative stretching) and to the locality principle (cusps and asymmetry) that persist in the presence of a simple analytical disk model. We conjecture that these occur as universal features of distinct classes of regular black holes based on different sets of construction principles for the corresponding spacetimes.