Retrograde Precession of Relativistic Orbits and the Quest for Charged Black Holes

TL;DR

This paper derives relativistic orbit equations for charged and rotating black holes, analyzing periastron shifts to distinguish between black holes and naked singularities using S-star observations.

Contribution

It introduces fully relativistic orbit equations for Reissner-Nordström and Kerr-Newman spacetimes and explores their implications for astrophysical observations.

Findings

Retrograde precession possible in naked singularities

Comparison with Schwarzschild and Kerr spacetimes

Potential to distinguish charged black holes from uncharged ones

Abstract

The S-stars around the center of the milky way galaxy provide us with detailed information about the nature of the supermassive compact object Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). In this work, we derive the fully relativistic orbit equations for the case of the Reissner-Nordstr\"om (RN) and Kerr-Newman spacetimes. We solve these orbit equations numerically to analyze the periastron shift of relativistic orbits. We show that retrograde precession (or negative precession) of timelike bound orbits is possible in the case of naked singularity arising from these spacetimes. We have then compared our results with the non-charged Schwarzschild and Kerr spacetimes. This theoretical analysis of relativistic orbits would be helpful in either confirming or ruling out such charged black holes and naked singularities through the future trajectories of S-stars and will also help us constrain the geometry of Sgr A*.