Dynamics of spinning test particles in the innermost stable circular orbit of an approximate Kerr-like spacetime with mass quadrupole
Abstract
We study the motion of spinning test particles in a deformed, rotating spacetime described by a metric perturbed up to second order in the mass quadrupole moment. We examine how the parameters of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) --namely the radius, energy, and angular momentum-- are modified by the particle's spin, contrasting our findings with both the spinless case and standard Kerr benchmarks. By employing effective potential techniques, we consider both co-rotating and counter-rotating configurations, corresponding to parallel and antiparallel alignments of the angular momenta. Using the Euler--Lagrange formalism and Hamiltonian dynamics within the Mathisson--Papapetrou--Dixon framework, we derive an explicit general ISCO equation incorporating the spin and quadrupole parameters, alongside analytical expressions for the conserved orbital quantities. Furthermore, by taking the Schwarzschild, Lense--Thirring and Kerr limits within our generalized framework, we establish new ISCO equations and compact expressions for the energy and angular momentum that extend these fundamental spacetimes to the case of spinning test particles.
Related
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BibTeX
@misc{herrerachaves2026dynamics,
title = {{Dynamics of spinning test particles in the innermost stable circular orbit of an approximate Kerr-like spacetime with mass quadrupole}},
author = {Cristian Herrera-Chaves and Francisco Frutos-Alfaro},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.41036},
eprint = {2610.41036},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.41036},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Dynamics of spinning test particles in the innermost stable circular orbit of an approximate Kerr-like spacetime with mass quadrupole
AU - Cristian Herrera-Chaves
AU - Francisco Frutos-Alfaro
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.41036
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.41036
AB - We study the motion of spinning test particles in a deformed, rotating spacetime described by a metric perturbed up to second order in the mass quadrupole moment. We examine how the parameters of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) --namely the radius, energy, and angular momentum-- are modified by the particle's spin, contrasting our findings with both the spinless case and standard Kerr benchmarks. By employing effective potential techniques, we consider both co-rotating and counter-rotating configurations, corresponding to parallel and antiparallel alignments of the angular momenta. Using the Euler--Lagrange formalism and Hamiltonian dynamics within the Mathisson--Papapetrou--Dixon framework, we derive an explicit general ISCO equation incorporating the spin and quadrupole parameters, alongside analytical expressions for the conserved orbital quantities. Furthermore, by taking the Schwarzschild, Lense--Thirring and Kerr limits within our generalized framework, we establish new ISCO equations and compact expressions for the energy and angular momentum that extend these fundamental spacetimes to the case of spinning test particles.
ER -