High spin expansion for null geodesics

Abstract

We consider the high spin expansion for the null geodesics in the Kerr spacetime. We expand the null geodesic equation successively to higher orders in deviation from extremity. Via the method of matched asymptotic expansion, the radial integrals are obtained analytically. It turns out that the analytic expressions are very sensitive to the value of the shifted Carter constant $q$. We show that for a large $q$, the analytic expressions can be used to study observational electromagnetic signatures for astrophysical black holes like M87*. However, for a small $q$, the high spin expansion method can only be applied to (near-) extreme black holes.