No-Hair Theorem in the Wake of Event Horizon Telescope

TL;DR

This paper uses EHT observations of M87* to test the no-hair theorem by analyzing shadows in a modified Kerr metric with a hair parameter, constraining deviations from standard black hole models.

Contribution

It introduces a parameterized framework to test the no-hair theorem using EHT data, exploring how deviations affect shadow shapes and deriving bounds on the hair parameter.

Findings

Constraints on the hair parameter $psilon$ from shadow observables.

Hairy Kerr black holes remain compatible with EHT observations.

Deformation parameter $psilon$ influences shadow shape, making it more oblate or prolate.

Abstract

Thanks to the release of the extraordinary EHT image of shadow attributed to the M87* supermassive black hole (SMBH), we have a novel window to assess the validity of fundamental physics in the strong-field regime. Motivated by this, we consider Johannsen \& Psaltis metric parameterized by mass, spin, and an additional dimensionless hair parameter $\epsilon$. This parametric framework in the high rotation regimes provides a well-behaved bed to the strong-gravity test of the no-hair theorem (NHT) using the EHT data. Incorporating the $\epsilon$ into the standard Kerr spacetime enrich it in the sense that, depending on setting the positive and negative values for that, we deal with alternative compact objects: deformed Kerr naked singularity and Kerr BH solutions, respectively. Shadows associated with these two possible solutions indicate that the deformation parameter $\epsilon$ affects the geometry shape of standard shadow such that it becomes more oblate and prolate with $\epsilon<0$ and $\epsilon>0$, respectively. By scanning the window associated with three shadow observables oblateness, deviation from circularity, and shadow diameter, we perform a numerical analysis within the range $a_*=0.9\mp0.1$ of the dimensionless rotation parameter, to find the constraints on the hair parameter $\epsilon$ in both possible solutions. For both possible signs of $\epsilon$, we extract a variety of upper bounds that are in interplay with $a_*$. Although by approaching the rotation parameters to the extreme limit, the allowable range of both hair parameters becomes narrower, the hairy Kerr BH solution is a more promising candidate to play the role of the alternative compact object instead of the standard Kerr BH. The lack of tension between hairy Kerr BH with the current observation of the EHT shadow of the M87* SMBH carries this message that there is the possibility of NHT violation.