New conformally flat initial data for spinning black holes

We obtain an explicit solution of the momentum constraint for conformally flat, maximal slicing, initial data which gives an alternative to the purely longitudinal extrinsic curvature of Bowen and York. The new solution is related, in a precise form, with the extrinsic curvature of a Kerr slice. We study these new initial data representing spinning black holes by numerically solving the Hamiltonian constraint. They have the following features: (i) they contain less radiation, for all allowed values of the rotation parameter, than the corresponding single spinning Bowen-York black hole; (ii) the maximum rotation parameter J/m² reached by this solution is higher than that of the purely longitudinal solution, allowing us thus to describe holes closer to a maximally rotating Kerr one. We discuss the physical interpretation of these properties and their relation with the weak cosmic censorship conjecture. Finally, we generalize the data for multiple black holes using the “puncture” and isometric formulations.