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Relativity

A twist on relativistic astrophysics

Nature Physics volume 7, pages 188–189 (2011)Cite this article

Rotating black holes twist photons emitted nearby, a peculiar effect in general relativity that is now demonstrated by numerical experiments. This twisted light and its orbital angular momentum could reveal the physics of black holes in more detail than deemed possible before.

It does not happen often in general-relativity research that a new phenomenon is discovered that not only allows us to test the theory further but also promises to become an addition to the toolbox of astrophysics. Gravitational lensing1, which Einstein himself considered a curiosity2, has become key in exploring the large-scale structure of the Universe. Gravitational waves have only indirectly been detected, but they are already delivering results of interest for cosmology3. Shapiro's time delay4, described in 1964, has entered the rarefied set of classic tests of general relativity, and was recently used to determine the mass of a heavy neutron star5. Although incomplete, this list illustrates the steady but slow line of progress in the challenging yet important field of general relativity. It may therefore come as a surprise that Fabrizio Tamburini and his co-workers, writing in Nature Physics6, claim to have found a new relativistic effect that has the potential of providing direct evidence for rotating black holes. As a novelty in general-relativity research, and true to the current zeitgeist, the phenomenon has been uncovered by numerical experiments.

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Figure 1: Photons emitted by an accretion disk around a rotating black hole carry intrinsic orbital angular momentum (OAM), with wavefronts of spiral-staircase shape.

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  1. Martin Bojowald is at Pennsylvania State University, 104 Davey Laboratory, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-6300, USA.,

    Martin Bojowald

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  1. Martin Bojowald
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Correspondence to Martin Bojowald.

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Bojowald, M. A twist on relativistic astrophysics. Nature Phys 7, 188–189 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1938

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