Complete quasinormal modes of Type-D black holes

Abstract

Quasinormal mode (QNM) spectra of black holes exhibit two open problems [Conf. Proc. C 0405132, 145 (2004); CQG 26, 163001 (2009)]: (i) the discontinuity in highly damped QNMs between Schwarzschild and Kerr solutions as $a \to 0$, and (ii) the unexplained spectral proximity between QNMs and algebraically special (AS) frequencies, particularly the anomalous multiplet splitting for Kerr $\ell=2$, $m \geq 0$ modes. We develop a novel method to compute complete QNM spectra for Type-D black holes, solving both problems and establishing a mathematical framework for boundary value problems of dissipative systems. Using analytic continuation of radial eigenvalue equations, our method eliminates the dependence on auxiliary parameters in the connection formulas for confluent Heun solutions. This breakthrough overcomes the long-standing challenge of calculating QNMs that cross or lie on the negative imaginary axis (NIA). For Schwarzschild and Kerr spacetimes ($0 \leq {n} \leq 41$, $2 \leq \ell \leq 16$), we present complete spectra validated through scattering amplitudes with errors $<10^{-10}$. The results provide definitive solutions to both open problems: (i) The inability of conventional methods to compute QNMs crossing or residing on the NIA leads to apparent discontinuities in Kerr spectra as $a \to 0$. (ii) When a QNM exactly coincides with the AS frequency, an additional QNM (unconventional mode) appears nearby. For the Kerr case with $\ell=2$, overtone sequences from both unconventional and AS modes exhibit precisely $2\ell+1$ branches, without multiplets or supersymmetry breaking at AS frequencies. Our method confirms Leung's conjecture of high-$\ell$ unconventional mode deviations from the NIA through the first $\ell=3$ calculation. Moreover, this paradigm surpasses the state-of-the-art Cook's continued fraction and isomonodromic methods in computational efficiency.