A note on methods for computing the critical curve of Kerr-like black holes

Abstract

This study systematically compares Bardeen's, de Vries's, and Grenzebach et al.'s celestial coordinate definitions of the critical curve ("shadow") of Kerr-like black holes. We find that all three definitions agree for black holes in vacuum or surrounded by inhomogeneous plasma observed from large distances. However, they diverge for observers located at a finite distance: Bardeen's definition yields the smallest critical curve, while de Vries's yields the largest. When homogeneous plasma is considered, critical curve computed using Bardeen's definition deviates from the other two even at large distances and contracts compared to the vacuum case with increasing plasma density. This is in clear contradiction with the behaviour predicted by de Vries's, Grenzebach et al.'s definitions, and previous gravitational lensing studies. We derive de Vries's definition assuming a critical curve on the observer's sky plane and explain its discrepancy with Grenzebach et al.'s definition. We further explore the effect of the change of tetrad on the critical curve. Using Bardeen and Carter tetrads, we plot the critical curve for Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes in the presence of plasma, highlighting that tetrad changes introduce only a horizontal shift in the critical curve.