2020-09-25 23:00  P7F

Probing strong gravity and fundamental physics using black hole shadows: a theory-agnostic approach

Che-Yu Chen

Testing strong gravity regimes such as the vicinity of black holes using their shadow images is likely to be attainable with the future developments of observing technology. In this talk, adopting a theory-agnostic approach, we first propose a class of Kerr-like rotating black holes, whose Z_2 symmetry is generically broken. We focus on the possibility that such a violation of Z_2 symmetry is induced by the spin of the black hole. This class of Kerr-like spacetimes could be a good approximation to general black hole solutions in effective low-energy theories of a fundamental quantum theory of gravity. In the model, the violation of the Z_2 symmetry can be parametrized by a single parameter. We investigate how the shadow contour of the Kerr-like black hole and the associated observables are affected by this deviation parameter. Comparisons with the shadow image cast by M87* are discussed.