Circular Orbit Structure and Thin Accretion Disks around Kerr Black Holes with Scalar Hair

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, we first investigate the equatorial circular orbit structure of Kerr black holes with scalar hair (KBHsSH) and highlight their most prominent features, which are quite distinct from the exterior region of ordinary bald Kerr black holes, i.e., peculiarities that arise from the combined bound system of a hole with an off-center, self-gravitating distribution of scalar matter. Some of these traits are incompatible with the thin-disk approach; thus, we identify and map out various regions in parameter space. All of the solutions for which the stable circular orbital velocity (and angular momentum) curve is continuous are used for building thin and optically thick disks around them, from which we extract the radiant energy fluxes, luminosities, and efficiencies. We compare the results in batches with the same spin parameter j but different normalized charges, and the profiles are richly diverse. Because of the existence of a conserved scalar charge, Q, these solutions are nonunique in the (M, J) parameter space. Furthermore, Q cannot be extracted asymptotically from the metric functions. Nevertheless, by constraining the parameters through different observations, the luminosity profile could in turn be used to constrain the Noether charge and characterize the spacetime, should KBHsSH exist.