Paper detail

Characterization of Null Geodesics on Kerr Spacetimes

We consider null geodesics in the exterior region of a subextremal Kerr spacetime. We show that most well-known fundamental properties of null geodesics can be represented on one plot. In particular, one can see immediately that the ergoregion and trapping are separated in phase space. Furthermore, we show that from the point of view of any timelike observer outside of the black hole, trapping can be understood as a smooth set of spacelike directions on the celestial sphere of the observer. Finally, we discuss some applications of these insights.