Constraints on the Sen black hole mass and charge from quasi-periodic oscillations

TL;DR

This paper uses quasi-periodic oscillation data to constrain the mass and charge of Sen black holes, a string theory-inspired alternative to classical black holes, by fitting observational data within a relativistic precession model.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach to testing string-inspired black hole models using astrophysical QPO data and constrains their parameters based on observational fits.

Findings

Constraints on Sen black hole mass and charge from QPO data

Distinction between classical and string-inspired black holes

Implications for black hole astrophysics

Abstract

We analyze quasi-periodic oscillation data from selected X-ray binary systems hosting black holes. To model the spacetime geometry, we resort the static Sen solution -- originally derived in the framework of heterotic string theory -- which reduces to the Schwarzschild spacetime for vanishing electric charge. By fitting the observed frequencies within the relativistic precession model, we constrain the mass and charge parameters of the Sen black hole and discuss their astrophysical implications, particularly in distinguishing classical black holes from their string-inspired counterparts.