Spinning super-massive objects in galactic nuclei up to a∗>1a_* > 1

preprint2011arXivOpen access

Abstract

Nowadays we believe that a typical galaxy contains about 10710^7 stellar-mass black holes and a single super-massive black hole at its center. According to general relativity, these objects are characterized solely by their mass MM and by their spin parameter a∗a_*. A fundamental limit for a black hole in general relativity is the Kerr bound ∣a∗∣≤1|a_*| \le 1, but the accretion process can spin it up to a∗≈0.998a_* \approx 0.998. If a compact object is not a black hole, the Kerr bound does not hold and in this letter I provide some evidences suggesting that the accretion process could spin the body up to a∗>1a_* > 1. While this fact should be negligible for stellar-mass objects, some of the super-massive objects at the center of galaxies may actually be super-spinning bodies exceeding the Kerr bound. Such a possibility can be tested by gravitational wave detectors like LISA or by sub-millimeter very long baseline interferometry facilities.

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