'At a point r_e it becomes impossible to counteract the rotational sweeping force. The particle is in a kind of space-time maelstrom. The surface determined by r_e is the static limit: from there in, you cannot avoid rotating. Space-time is rotating here in such a way that you cannot do anything in order to not co-rotate with it.'
Source-
Introduction to Black Hole Astrophysics - Page 51
'..the (outer) event horizon of a Kerr black hole is surrounded by a second critical surface, the static limit, which has the shape of an oblate spheroid and touches the event horizon at the poles. The space between these two surfaces is called the ergosphere. Within the ergosphere the spacetime is dragged in the direction of the spinning black hole at a speed greater than c with respect to the outside universe at rest, while at the static limit this speed equals c.'
Source-
Extreme Environment Astrophysics - Page 17
'In a rotating black hole, the ergosphere is associated with the stationary limit, the location at which space-time is flowing at the speed of light'
Source- http://www.astro.cornell.edu/academics/courses/astro201/ergosphere.htm (Cornell Centre for Astrophysics and planetary science)
'All objects in the ergosphere become dragged by a rotating spacetime.'
(the phrase rotating spacetime is highlighted and actually links to the frame-dragging page)
Source-
Penrose process (Wikipedia)
While I understand that frame dragging cannot be measured directly at the event horizon or at the boundary of the ergosphere, it can be predicted by establishing where the marginally stable orbit is (which is what I state at the end of my post). A number of recent articles have stated that '..the black hole is spinning at half the speed of light.' or '..the black hole is spinning at close to the speed of light making it almost maximal'. I imagine these statements are based on where the MSO is which is normally defined by the inner edge of the accretion disk where there's plenty of matter sending pulses of radiation. For example, if a black hole has an MSO at 4M, then working backwards using the equations (eq 32, http://relativity.livingreviews.org/Articles/lrr-2013-1/articlese2.html ) to establish the MSO, the rate of spin can be established, in this case, the spin would be a/M=~0.56. Based on this, using [itex]\omega R[/itex], it can be predicted that the frame-dragging rate at the event horizon is 0.305c as observed from infinity, (the black hole is spinning at nearly a third the speed of light)
One source of [itex]\omega R/\alpha[/itex] is-
[tex]v_s=(\Omega_s-\omega)\frac{R}{\alpha}[/tex]
where [itex]v_s[/itex] is the local velocity required for a stable orbit and [itex]\Omega_s[/itex] is the angular velocity required for stable orbit. This equation can be rewritten as-
[tex]v_s=(\Omega_s-\omega)\frac{\Sigma^2\sin\theta}{\rho^2\sqrt{\Delta}}[/tex]
which can be seen in some form in
this paper, equation at the top of page three. Remove [itex]\Omega_s[/itex] and you have the local tangential velocity of the frame-dragging rate. Remove the [itex]\alpha[/itex] component and you have the tangential velocity of the frame-dragging rate as observed from infinity. I've also seen the equation in various forms elsewhere.
This is backed up to some extent when you look at the boundary for the ergosphere (or the static limit). If we look at the ergosphere of a 3 solar mass BH with a spin parameter of 0.95 (numbers rounded up). Note that r is the coordinate radius and R is the reduced circumference in the azimuth plane-
[tex]r_e=M+ \sqrt{M^2-a^2 \cos^2\theta}[/tex]
See
what is frame dragging to calculate [itex]\omega, R[/itex] and [itex]\alpha[/itex]
For [itex]\theta=90[/itex], frame-dragging rate at [itex]r_e[/itex] (8861.099m) is 3.6937e-05 rads/s, R=10,674.7743m, [itex]\alpha[/itex]=0.394296 which means v=1c
For [itex]\theta=45[/itex], frame-dragging rate at [itex]r_e[/itex] (7712.59695m) is 4.8909e-05 rads/s, R=6559.6475m, [itex]\alpha[/itex]=0.320827 which means v=1c
For [itex]\theta=5[/itex], frame-dragging rate at [itex]r_e[/itex] (5861.7987m) is 8.06154e-05 rads/s, R=629.7636m, [itex]\alpha[/itex]=0.050769 which means v=1c
which collaborates with the previous statements that spacetime is being dragged at 1c at the ergosphere boundary (or the static limit).
I'll admit, there appears to be a coordinate singularity at [itex]\theta=0[/itex] though that just might be the way I've got things set up.
[itex]\omega R[/itex] also features in
this link (in this case, [itex]R[/itex] is written as [itex]\varpi[/itex]), albeit in an algebraic sense. Wheeler also mentions 'tangential velocity [itex]Rd\phi/dt[/itex] as recorded by the Kerr bookkeeper' in Exploring Black Holes (where [itex]d\phi/dt=\omega[/itex]).