Frame-dragging Effect in Strong Gravity Regime

Abstract

The exact frame-dragging (or Lense-Thirring (LT) precession) rates for Kerr, Kerr-Taub-NUT (KTN) and Taub-NUT spacetimes have been derived. Remarkably, in the case of the `zero angular momentum' Taub-NUT spacetime, the frame-dragging effect is shown not to vanish, when considered for spinning test gyroscope. In the case of the interior of the pulsars, the exact frame-dragging rate monotonically decreases from the center to the surface along the pole and but it shows an `anomaly' along the equator. Moving from the equator to the pole, it is observed that this `anomaly' disappears after crossing a critical angle. The `same' anomaly can also be found in the KTN spacetime. The resemblance of the anomalous LT precessions in the KTN spacetimes and the spacetime of the pulsars could be used to identify a role of Taub-NUT solutions in the astrophysical observations or equivalently, a signature of the existence of NUT charge in the pulsars.