Thin accretion disk signatures of slowly rotating black holes in Horava gravity

Abstract

In this work, we consider the possibility of observationally testing Hořava gravity by using the accretion disk properties around slowly rotating black holes of the Kehagias–Sfetsos (KS) solution in asymptotically flat spacetimes. The energy flux, temperature distribution, the emission spectrum as well as the energy conversion efficiency are obtained, and compared to the standard slowly rotating general relativistic Kerr solution. Comparing the mass accretion in a slowly rotating KS geometry in Hořava gravity with the one of a slowly rotating Kerr black hole, we verify that the intensity of the flux emerging from the disk surface is greater for the slowly rotating Kehagias–Sfetsos solution than for rotating black holes with the same geometrical mass and accretion rate. We also present the conversion efficiency of the accreting mass into radiation, and show that the rotating KS solution provides a much more efficient engine for the transformation of the accreting mass into radiation than the Kerr black holes. Thus, distinct signatures appear in the electromagnetic spectrum, leading to the possibility of directly testing Hořava gravity models by using astrophysical observations of the emission spectra from accretion disks.