Conveners
Fundamental Physics
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Fundamental Physics: Panel Session
- Andrea Maselli (Gran Sasso Science Institute)
- Elisa Maggio (Max Planck Institute)
Fundamental Physics
- There are no conveners in this block
Fundamental Physics
- There are no conveners in this block
In the ringing of a black hole, the nonlinearity of Einstein’s theory can appear in weak and subtle ways. The importance of these nonlinearities has only been appreciated in the past few years, thanks to accurate numerical relativity simulations, and in anticipation of the next generation of gravitational-wave detectors. I will review our current understanding of quasinormal modes, the...
The nature of gravity can be tested by how gravitational waves (GWs) are emitted, detected, and propagate through the universe. Propagation tests are powerful, as small deviations compound over astronomical distances. However, tests of theories beyond Einstein's general relativity (GR) are limited by the high degree of symmetry of the cosmological spacetime. Deviations from homogeneity, such...
In any extension of General Relativity (GR), extra fundamental degrees of freedom couple to gravity. Besides deforming GR forecasts in a theory-dependent way, this coupling generically introduces extra modes in the gravitational-wave signal. We propose a novel theory-agnostic test of gravity to search for these nongravitational modes in black hole merger ringdown signals. To leading order in...
Boson clouds can form through superradiant instabilities of ultralight bosons around spinning black holes. The formation of boson clouds leads to a number of potentially detectable signatures, among them the possibility that they can affect the dynamics of binary black hole systems. In this talk I will review recent work aiming at studying extreme-mass-ratio systems in which a small compact...
I will first discuss under which circumstances can black holes carry scalar charge and how such charge would scale with the mass of the black hole. I will use this insight to argue that EMRIs are an ideal system for searches of new fundamental scalars and lay out the framework for modelling EMRIs. I will then present forecasts on LISA's ability to measure scalar charge.
Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals (EMRIs) are asymmetric binary systems composed by a stellar mass compact object inspiralling around a central massive black hole while emitting gravitational waves (GWs), which are among the main targets of the future space detector LISA. By tracking the emitted GWs with LISA, it will be eventually possible to recover with extreme accuracy the intrinsic source...
In general relativity, all vacuum black holes are described by the Kerr metric. However, beyond general relativity, there is a prevailing expectation that deviations from the Kerr solution are more likely to manifest with increasing horizon curvature, making solar-mass black holes more promising grounds to test general relativity. In this talk I will challenge this expectation and discuss a...
Spacetime singularities are usually considered the proof of the intrinsic incompleteness of General Relativity (GR). The common belief is that their formation will be prevented in a full, potentially quantum, completion of GR. In this view, it is reasonable to assume that regular metrics can provide an effective description of the outcome of gravitational collapse. We have then two possible...
On 29 May 2023, the LIGO Livingston observatory detected the gravitational-wave signal GW230529_181500 from the merger of a neutron star with a lower mass-gap compact object. Its long inspiral signal provides a unique opportunity to test General Relativity (GR) in a parameter space previously unexplored by strong-field tests. In this work, we performed parameterized inspiral tests of GR with...
