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A calorimetric test for Kerr black holes in gamma-ray bursts

Maurice H. P. M. van Putten

astro-pharXiv:astro-ph/0110422

Abstract

Cosmological gamma-ray bursts are potentially associated with systems harboring a black rotating black hole. Calorimetry on yet "unseen" emissions in gravitational waves from a surrounding torus may provide a measure for its rotational energy. We introduce a compactness parameter α=2π∫ fdE for the fluence E and frequency f in gravitational waves. For black hole-torus systems, α 2πEf 0.005-0.05 may exceed the upper bound α* 0.005 for rapidly rotating neutron stars. A duration in gravitational radiation consistent with the redshift corrected durations of the BATSE catalogue defines an association with long GRBs. This promises a new test for Kerr black holes as objects in Nature.

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