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We investigate here the final state of gravitational collapse of a non-spherical and non-marginally bound dust cloud as modeled by the Szekeres spacetime. We show that a directionally globally naked singularity can be formed in this case near the collapsing cloud boundary and not at its geometric center, as is typically the case for a spherical gravitational collapse. This singularity is a strong curvature naked singularity in the sense of Tipler criterion on gravitational strength. The null geodesics escaping from the singularity would be less scattered in this case in certain directions since the singularity is close to the boundary of the cloud, as is the case in the current scenario. The physical implications are pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate here the thermal properties of accretion disks in a spacetime for some galactic density profiles in spherical symmetry. The matter distributions have a finite outer radius with a naked central singularity. The luminosities of the accretion disks for some density profile models are found to be higher than those for a Schwarzschild black hole of the same mass. The slopes for the luminosity distributions with respect to frequencies are significantly different, especially at higher frequencies, from that in the Schwarzschild black hole case. Such features may be used to distinguish black holes from naked singularities. The efficiencies for the conversion of mass energy of the accreting gas into radiation and the strength of naked singularities are analyzed. The novel feature that we find is, the strength of the singularity is different depending on the profiles considered, and the stronger the singularity is, the higher is the efficiency for the accretion disk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rotating black hole causes the spin axis of a nearby pulsar to precess due to geodetic and gravitomagnetic frame-dragging effects. The aim of our theoretical work here is to explore how this spin precession can modify the rate at which pulses are received on Earth. Towards this end, we obtain the complete evolution of the beam vectors of pulsars moving on equatorial circular orbits in the Kerr space–time, relative to asymptotic fixed observers. We proceed to establish that such spin precession effects can significantly modify observed pulse frequencies and, in specific, we find that the observed pulse frequency rises sharply as the orbit shrinks, potentially providing a new way to locate horizons of Kerr black holes, even if observed for a very short time period. We also discuss implications for detections of sub-millisecond pulsars, pulsar nulling, quasi-periodic oscillations, multiply peaked pulsar Fourier profiles, and how Kerr black holes can potentially be distinguished from naked singularities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We begin with a review of the statements of non-linear, linear and mode stability of autonomous dynamical systems in classical mechanics, using symplectic geometry. We then discuss what the Arnowitt–Deser–Misner (ADM) phase space and the ADM Hamiltonian of general relativity are, what constitutes a dynamical system, and subsequently present a nascent attempt to draw a formal analogy between the notions of stability in these two theories. We wish to note that we have not discussed here the construction of the reduced phase space by forming the quotient space of the constrained phase space with the gauge orbits. Our approach here is pedagogical and geometric, and the motivation is to unify and simplify a formal understanding of the statements regarding the stability of stationary solutions of general relativity. That is, typically the governing equations of motion of a Hamiltonian dynamical system are simply the flow equations of the associated symplectic Hamiltonian vector field, defined on phase space, and the non-linear stability analysis of its critical points have simply to do with the divergence of its flow there. Further, the linear stability of a critical point is related to the properties of the tangent flow of the Hamiltonian vector field. In the second half of this work, we posit that a study of the genericity of a particular black hole or naked singularity spacetime forming as an endstate of gravitational collapse is equivalent to an inquiry of how sensitive the orbits of the symplectic Hamiltonian vector field of general relativity are to changes in initial data. We demonstrate this by conducting a restricted non-linear stability analysis of the formation of a Schwarzschild black hole, working in the usual initial value formulation of general relativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A massive star undergoes a continual gravitational collapse when the pressures inside the collapsing star become insufficient to balance the pull of gravity. The Physics of gravitational collapse of stars is well studied. Using general relativistic techniques, one can show that the final fate of such a catastrophic collapse can be a black hole or a naked singularity, depending on the initial conditions of gravitational collapse. While stars are made of baryonic matter whose collapse is well studied, there is good indirect evidence that another type of matter, known as dark matter, plays an important role in the formation of large-scale structures in the universe, such as galaxies. It is estimated that some 85% of the total matter in the universe is dark matter. Since the particle constituent of dark matter is not known yet, the gravitational collapse of dark matter is less explored. Here, we consider first some basic properties of baryonic matter and dark matter collapse. Then, we discuss the final fate of gravitational collapse for different types of matter fields and the nature of the singularity which can be formed as an endstate of gravitational collapse. We then present a general relativistic technique to form equilibrium configurations, and argue that this can be thought of as a general relativistic analog of the standard virialization process. We suggest a modification, where the top-hat collapse model of primordial dark-matter halo formation is modified using the general relativistic technique of equilibrium. We also explain why this type of collapse process is more likely to happen in the dark-matter fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance and significance of magnetic fields in the astrophysical scenario is well known. Many domains of astrophysical black hole physics such as polarized shadow image, high energy emitting processes and jet formation are dependent on the behavior of the magnetic fields in the vicinity of the compact objects. In light of this, we determine the master equation and master differential equation that determine the spatial behavior of the magnetic field inside a matter distribution or vacuum region, of general spherically symmetric metric, which is immersed in a test magnetic field. We also investigate here the case of JMN-1 singularity immersed in a uniform weak magnetic field and determine the behavior of magnetic fields by defining electromagnetic four potential vector. We find that the tangential component of the magnetic field is discontinuous at the matching surface of the JMN-1 singularity with the external Schwarzschild metric, resulting in surface currents. We define the covariant expression of surface current density in this scenario. We also analyze the behavior of center-of-mass energy of two oppositely charged particles in the geometry of the magnetized JMN-1 singularity. We briefly discuss the possible scenarios which would possess a discontinuous magnetic field and implications of the same and future possibilities in the realm of astrophysics are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the event horizon of a black hole could cast a shadow that was observed recently, a central singularity without horizon could also give rise to such a feature. This leaves us with a question on the nature of the supermassive black holes at the galactic centers, and if they admit an event horizon necessarily. We point out that observations of motion of stars around the galactic center should give a clear idea of the nature of this central supermassive object. We examine and discuss here recent developments that indicate intriguing behavior of the star motions that could possibly distinguish the existence or otherwise of an event horizon at the galactic center. We compare the motion of the S2 star with these theoretical results, fitting the observational data with theory, and it is seen that the star motions and precession of their orbits around the galactic center provide important clues on the nature of this central compact object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superspinar proposed by Gimon and Hořava is a rapidly rotating compact entity whose exterior is described by the over-spinning Kerr geometry. The compact entity itself is expected to be governed by superstringy effects, and in astrophysical scenarios it can give rise to interesting observable phenomena. Earlier it was suggested that the superspinar may not be stable but we point out here that this does not necessarily follow from earlier studies. We show, by analytically treating the Teukolsky equations by Detwiler's method, that in fact there are infinitely many boundary conditions that make the superspinar stable at least against the linear perturbations of m = l modes, and that the modes will decay in time. Further consideration leads us to the conclusion that it is possible to set the inverse problem to the linear stability issue: since the radial Teukolsky equation for the superspinar has no singular point on the real axis, we obtain regular solutions to the Teukolsky equation for arbitrary discrete frequency spectrum of the quasi-normal modes (no incoming waves) and the boundary conditions at the “surface” of the superspinar are found from obtained solutions. It follows that we need to know more on the physical nature of the superspinar in order to decide on its stability in physical reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Recent Event Horizon Telescope observations of M 87* and Sgr A* strongly suggest the presence of a supermassive black hole at their respective cores. We use the semi-analytic radiatively inefficient accretion flows (RIAF) model to investigate the resulting images of the Joshi–Malafarina–Narayan (JMN-1) naked singularity and the Schwarzschild black hole. Aims. We chose the JMN-1 naked singularity model and compared the synchrotron images with the Schwarzschild solution to search for any distinct features that can distinguish the two objects and to find an alternative to the solution with a black hole. Methods. We performed general relativistic ray-tracing and radiative transfer simulations using the Brahma code to generate synchrotron-emission images using the thermal distribution function for emissivity and absorptivity. We investigated effects in the images by varying the inclination angle, the disk width, and the frequency. Results. The shadow images simulated with the JMN-1 model closely resemble those generated by the Schwarzschild black hole. The disparities between the two images are very small. We conducted simulations using various plasma parameters, but the resulting images remained largely consistent for both scenarios. This similarity is evident in the horizontal cross-sectional brightness profiles of the two scenarios. Notably, the JMN-1 model exhibits a slightly higher intensity than the Schwarzschild black hole. Conclusions. We conclude that JMN-1 is a viable substitute for the black hole scenario. This conclusion is not solely grounded in the fact that the two scenarios are indistinguishable from their respective shadow observations, but also in the consideration that JMN-1 emerges as an end state of a continual gravitational collapse. This paradigm not only allows for constraints on spacetime, but also provides a good probe for the nature of the central compact object. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that, in principle, a slowly evolving gravitationally collapsing perfect fluid cloud can asymptotically settle to a static spherically symmetric equilibrium configuration with a naked singularity at the center. We consider one such asymptotic final configuration with a finite outer radius, and construct a toy model in which it is matched to a Schwarzschild exterior geometry. We examine the properties of circular orbits in this model. We then investigate the observational signatures of a thermal accretion disc in this spacetime, comparing them with the signatures expected for a disc around a black hole of the same mass. Several notable differences emerge. A disc around the naked singularity is much more luminous than one around an equivalent black hole. Also, the disc around the naked singularity has a spectrum with a high frequency power law segment that carries a major fraction of the total luminosity. Thus, at least some naked singularities can, in principle, be distinguished observationally from the black holes of the same mass. We discuss the possible implications of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important issue in the study of continual gravitational collapse of a massive matter cloud in general relativity is whether shell-crossing singularities develop as the collapse evolves. We examine this here to show that for any spherically symmetric collapse in general, till arbitrarily close to the final singularity, there is always a finite neighborhood of the center in which there are no shell-crossings taking place. It follows that in order to study the visibility or otherwise of the ultra-dense region close to the final singularity of collapse where physical radius of the matter cloud shrinks to an arbitrarily small value, we can always consider without loss of generality a collapsing ball of finite comoving radius in which there are no shell-crossings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we investigate the genericity and stability aspects for naked singularities and black holes that arise as the final states for a complete gravitational collapse of a spherical massive matter cloud. The form of the matter considered is a general Type I matter field, which includes most of the physically reasonable matter fields such as dust, perfect fluids and such other physically interesting forms of matter widely used in gravitation theory. Here, we first study in some detail the effects of small pressure perturbations in an otherwise pressure-free collapse scenario, and examine how a collapse evolution that was going to the black hole endstate would be modified and go to a naked singularity, once small pressures are introduced in the initial data. This allows us to understand the distribution of black holes and naked singularities in the initial data space. Collapse is examined in terms of the evolutions allowed by Einstein equations, under suitable physical conditions and as evolving from a regular initial data. We then show that both black holes and naked singularities are generic outcomes of a complete collapse, when genericity is defined in a suitable sense in an appropriate space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is now known that when a massive star collapses under the force of its own gravity, the final fate of such a continual gravitational collapse will be either a black hole or a naked singularity under a wide variety of physically reasonable circumstances within the framework of general theory of relativity. The research of recent years has provided considerable clarity and insight on stellar collapse, black holes and the nature and structure of spacetime singularities. We discuss several of these developments here. There are also important fundamental questions that remain unanswered on the final fate of collapse of a massive matter cloud in gravitation theory, especially on naked singularities which are hypothetical astrophysical objects and on the nature of cosmic censorship hypothesis. These issues have key implications for our understanding on black hole physics today, its astrophysical applications, and for certain basic questions in cosmology and possible quantum theories of gravity. We consider these issues here and summarize recent results and current progress in these directions. The emerging astrophysical and observational perspectives and implications are discussed, with particular reference to the properties of accretion disks around black holes and naked singularities, which may provide characteristic signatures and could help distinguish these objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All the classes of static massless scalar field models currently available in the Einstein theory of gravity necessarily contain a strong curvature naked singularity. We obtain here a family of solutions for static massless scalar fields coupled to gravity, which does not have any strong curvature singularity. This class of models contain a thin shell of singular matter, which has a physical interpretation. The central curvature singularity is, however, avoided which is common to all static massless scalar field spacetime models known so far. Our result thus points out that the full class of solutions in this case may contain non-singular models, which is an intriguing possibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the general formalism for spherical gravitational collapse developed in [P. S. Joshi and I. H. Dwivedi, Class. Quant. Grav.16 (1999) 41; P. S. Joshi and R. Goswami, Phys. Rev. D76 (2007) 084026], we investigate here the final fate of a spherical distribution of a matter cloud, where radial pressures vanish but tangential pressures are nonzero. Within this framework, firstly we examine the effect of introducing a generic small pressure in a well-known black hole formation process, which is that of an otherwise pressure-free dust cloud. The intriguing result we find is that a dust collapse that was going to a black hole final state could now go to a naked singularity final configuration, when arbitrarily small tangential pressures are introduced. The implications of such a scenario are discussed in some detail. Secondly, the approach here allows us to generalize the earlier results obtained on gravitational collapse with nonzero tangential pressure, in the presence of a nonzero cosmological constant. Finally, we discuss the genericity of black hole and naked singularity formation in collapse with nonzero tangential pressure. The treatment here gives a unified and complete picture on collapse final states, in terms of black hole and naked singularity formation, generalizing the earlier results obtained for this class of collapse models. Thus the role of tangential stresses towards determining collapse end-states emerges in a straightforward and transparent manner in our treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review here some of the major open issues and challenges in black hole physics today, and the current progress on the same. It is pointed out that to secure a concrete foundation for the basic theory as well as astrophysical applications for black hole physics, it is essential to gain a suitable insight into these questions. In particular, we discuss the recent results investigating the final fate of a massive star within the framework of the Einstein gravity, and the stability and genericity aspects of the gravitational collapse outcomes in terms of black holes and naked singularities. Recent developments such as spinning up a black hole by throwing matter into it, and physical effects near naked singularities are considered. It is pointed out that some of the new results obtained in recent years in the theory of gravitational collapse imply interesting possibilities and understanding for the theoretical advances in gravity as well as towards new astrophysical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider here the genericity aspects of spacetime singularities that occur in cosmology and in gravitational collapse. The singularity theorems (that predict the occurrence of singularities in general relativity) allow the singularities of gravitational collapse to be either visible to external observers or covered by an event horizon of gravity. It is shown that the visible singularities that develop as final states of spherical collapse are generic. Some consequences of this fact are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct and study here a class of collapsing scalar field models with a nonzero potential. The weak energy condition is satisfied by the collapsing configuration and it is shown that the end state of collapse could be either a black hole or a naked singularity. It is seen that physically it is the rate of collapse that governs these outcomes of the dynamical evolution. The implications for the cosmic censorship conjecture are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

End state of gravitational collapse and the related cosmic censorship conjecture continue to be amongst the most important open problems in gravitation physics today. My purpose here is to bring out several aspects related to gravitational collapse and censorship, which may help towards a better understanding of the issues involved. Possible physical constraints on gravitational collapse scenarios are considered. It is concluded that the best hope for censorship lies in analyzing the genericity and stability properties of the currently known classes of collapse models which lead to the formation of naked singularities, rather than black holes, as the final state of collapse and which develop from a regular initial data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of cosmic gamma-ray bursts remains one of the most intriguing puzzles in astronomy. We suggest that purely general relativistic effects in the collapse of massive stars could account for these bursts. The late formation of closed trapped surfaces can occur naturally, allowing the escape of huge energy from curvature-generated fireballs, before these are hidden within a black hole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global visibility of a singularity as an end state of the gravitational collapse of a spherically symmetric pressureless cloud is investigated. We show the existence of a non-zero measured set of parameters: the total mass and the initial mean density of the collapsing cloud, giving rise to a physically strong globally visible singularity as the end state for a fixed velocity function. The existence of such a set indicates that such singularity is stable under small perturbation in the initial data causing its existence. This is true for marginally as well as non-marginally bound cases. The possibility of the presence of such suitable parameters in the astrophysical setup is then studied: (1) The singularities' requirements at the centre of the M87 galaxy and at the centre of our galaxy (SgrA*) to be globally visible are discussed in terms of the initial size of the collapsing cloud forming them, presuming that such singularities are formed due to gravitational collapse. (2) The requirement for the primordial singularities formed due to a collapsing configuration after getting detached from the background universe at the time of matter-dominated era just after the time of matter-radiation equality, to be globally visible, is discussed. (3) The scenario of the collapse of a neutron star after reaching a critical mass, which is achieved by accreting the supernova ejecta expelled by its binary companion core progenitor, is considered. The primary aim of this paper is to show that globally visible singularities can form in astrophysical setups under appropriate circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the gravitational field of a charged, non-vacuum, non-rotating, spherically symmetric body of mass M assuming a static solution to the Einstein–Maxwell field equations. We show the characteristics of perihelion precession of orbits in the case of charged naked singularity (CNS) spacetime. Here we discuss some novel features of light-like geodesics in this spacetime. We also discuss the comparative study of tidal force in the null singularity spacetime and charged naked singularity spacetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general theory of relativity predicts the relativistic effect in the orbital motions of S-stars which are orbiting around our Milky-way Galactic Center. The post-Newtonian or higher-order approximated Schwarzschild black hole models have been used by GRAVITY and UCLA Galactic Center groups to carefully investigate the S2 star's periastron precession. In this paper, we investigate the scalar field effect on the orbital dynamics of S2 star. Hence, we consider a spacetime, namely Janis-Newman-Winicour (JNW) spacetime which is seeded by a minimally coupled, mass-less scalar field. The novel feature of this spacetime is that one can retain the Schwarzschild spacetime from JNW spacetime considering zero scalar charge. We constrain the scalar charge of JNW spacetime by best fitting the astrometric data of S2 star using the Monte-Carlo–Markov-Chain (MCMC) technique assuming the charge to be positive. Our best-fitted result implies that similar to the Schwarzschild black hole spacetime, the JNW naked singularity spacetime with an appropriate scalar charge also offers a satisfactory fitting to the observed data for S2 star. Therefore, the JNW naked singularity could be a contender for explaining the nature of Sgr A* through the orbital motions of the S2 star. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the complete gravitational collapse of a class of spherically symmetric inhomogeneous perfect fluid models obtained by introducing small radial perturbations in an otherwise homogeneous matter cloud. Our aim here is to study the genericity and stability of the formation of black holes and locally naked singularities in collapse. While the occurrence of naked singularities is known for many models of collapse, the key issue now in focus is genericity and stability of these outcomes. Towards this purpose, we study how the introduction of a somewhat general class of small inhomogeneities in homogeneous collapse leading to a black hole can change the final outcome to a naked singularity. The key feature that we assume for the perturbation profile is that of a mass profile that is separable in radial and temporal coordinates. The known models of dust and homogeneous perfect fluid collapse can be obtained from this choice of the mass profile as special cases. This choice is very general and physically well motivated and we show that this class of collapse models leads to the formation of a naked singularity as the final state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the light trajectories and shadow properties in the rotating version of null naked singularity (NNS) spacetime which is derived using the Newman–Janis algorithm without complexification method. We discuss some of the geometrical properties and causal structure of Rotating Naked Singularity (RNS) spacetime. The gravitational lensing in a rotating naked singularity is analyzed, and the results are compared to those of a Kerr black hole. In the case of a Kerr black hole, the photon sphere exists for both prograde and retrograde photon orbits, whereas for RNS, the photon sphere exists only for retrograde photon orbits. As a result, the naked singularity projects an arc-shaped shadow that differs from the contour-shaped shadow cast by a Kerr black hole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The phenomena of collapse and dispersal for a massless scalar field have drawn considerable interest in recent years, mainly from a numerical perspective. We give here a sufficient condition for the dispersal to take place for a scalar field that initially begins with a collapse. It is shown that the change of the gradient of the scalar field from a timelike to a spacelike vector must be accompanied by the dispersal of the scalar field. This result holds independently of any symmetries of the spacetime. We demonstrate the result explicitly by means of an example, which is the scalar field solution given by Roberts. The implications of the result are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we construct the rotating Janis–Newman–Winicour (JNW) naked singularity spacetime using Newman–Janis Algorithm (NJA). We analyse NJA with and without complexification methods and find that the energy conditions do satisfied when we skip the complexification step. We study the shadows cast by rotating JNW naked singularity and compare them with the shadows cast by the Kerr black hole. We find that the shadow of the rotating naked singularity can be distinguished from the shadow of the Kerr black hole. While we analyse the precession of timelike bound orbits in rotating JNW spacetime, we find that it can have a negative (or opposite) precession, which is not present in the Kerr black hole case. These novel signatures of the shadow and orbital precession in rotating JNW naked singularity spacetime could be important in the context of the recent observation of the shadow of the M87 galactic center and the stellar dynamics of 'S-stars' around Milkyway galactic center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astrometric observations of S-stars provide a unique opportunity to probe the nature of Sagittarius-A* (Sgr-A*). In view of this, it has become important to understand the nature and behavior of timelike bound trajectories of particles around a massive central object. It is known now that whereas the Schwarzschild black hole does not allow the negative precession for the S-stars, the naked singularity spacetimes can admit the positive as well as negative precession for the bound timelike orbits. In this context, we study the perihelion precession of a test particle in the Kerr spacetime geometry. Considering some approximations, we investigate whether the timelike bound orbits of a test particle in Kerr spacetime can have negative precession. In this paper, we only consider low eccentric timelike equatorial orbits. With these considerations, we find that in Kerr spacetimes, negative precession of timelike bound orbits is not allowed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The critical collapse of a scalar field is a threshold solution of black hole formation, in which a naked singularity arises. We study here the curvature strength of this singularity using a numerical ansatz. The behavior of the Jacobi volume forms is examined along a non-spacelike geodesic in the limit of approach to the singularity. These are seen to be vanishing, thus showing that all physical objects will be crushed to zero size near the singularity. Consequently, although the critical collapse is considered to be a fine-tuning problem, the naked singularity forming is gravitationally strong. This implies that the spacetime cannot be extended beyond the singularity, thus making the singularity genuine and physically interesting. These results imply that the nature of critical collapse may need to be examined and explored further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare shadows cast by Schwarzschild black holes with those produced by two classes of naked singularities that result from gravitational collapse of spherically symmetric matter. The latter models consist of an interior naked singularity space–time restricted to radii r ≤ R b, matched to Schwarzschild space–time outside the boundary radius R b. While a black hole always has a photon sphere and always casts a shadow, we find that the naked singularity models have photon spheres only if a certain parameter M 0 that characterizes these models satisfies M 0 ≥ 2/3, or equivalently, if R b ≤ 3 M, where M is the total mass of the object. Such models do produce shadows. However, models with M 0 < 2/3 (or R b > 3 M) have no photon sphere and do not produce a shadow. Instead, they produce an interesting 'full-moon' image. These results imply that the presence of a shadow does not by itself prove that a compact object is necessarily a black hole. The object could be a naked singularity with M 0 ≥ 2/3, and we will need other observational clues to distinguish the two possibilities. On the other hand, the presence of a full-moon image would certainly rule out a black hole and might suggest a naked singularity with M 0 < 2/3. It would be worthwhile to generalize the present study, which is restricted to spherically symmetric models, to rotating black holes and naked singularities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study reports PIV (particle image velocimetry) analysis of the transparent and opaque flow using a smartphone camera in ambient light. A typical PIV setup consists of high-speed cameras, synchronizers, and high-energy light sources like pulsed lasers or high-power LEDs, whereas in the present work, we demonstrate that PIV analysis can be possible without sophisticated instruments. Two essential parameters, viz recording speed and interrogation window size, have been optimized for the flow recorded in the mobile camera. The present work describes methods for optimization of recording speed (fps-frames per second) and interrogation window (IW) size for the transparent (water) vortex flow. Further, the velocity profile derived at optimal recording speed and interrogation window size using the PIV analysis have been compared with the Burger vortex model to validate the optimization methods and the parameters. The agreement validates the optimization methods and the parameters. Moreover, the optimized parameters have been used to record and analyze the opaque flow to extend the application potentiality. The finding suggests that the PIV- extracted data of the opaque flow can be compared with the transparent flow, which suggests that PIV can also be used to analyze opaque flow. [Display omitted] • Velocity estimation and comparison of transparent and opaque flow using PIV. • The potential of the PIV technique for the surface flow analysis of opaque flow. • The use of ambient light and a smartphone camera to record the flow. • The study provides a stepwise optimization method for consideration of recording speed and interrogation window size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]