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Abstract Gravitational waves emitted by black hole binary inspiral and mergers enable unprecedented strong-field tests of gravity, requiring accurate theoretical modeling of the expected signals in extensions of general relativity. In this paper we model the gravitational wave emission of inspiralling binaries in scalar Gauss–Bonnet gravity theories. Going beyond the weak-coupling approximation, we derive the gravitational waveform to relative first post-Newtonian order beyond the quadrupole approximation and calculate new contributions from nonlinear curvature terms. We also compute the scalar waveform to relative 0.5PN order beyond the leading −0.5PN order terms. We quantify the effect of these terms and provide ready-to-implement gravitational wave and scalar waveforms as well as the Fourier domain phase for quasi-circular binaries. We also perform a parameter space study, which indicates that the values of black hole scalar charges play a crucial role in the detectability of deviation from general relativity. We also compare the scalar waveforms to numerical relativity simulations to assess the impact of the relativistic corrections to the scalar radiation. Our results provide important foundations for future precision tests of gravity.
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Spherical Accretion in Alternative Theories of Gravity
Abstract The groundbreaking image of the black hole at the center of the M87 galaxy has raised questions at the intersection of observational astronomy and black hole physics. How well can the radius of a black hole shadow be measured, and can this measurement be used to distinguish general relativity from other theories of gravity? We explore these questions using a simple spherical flow model in general relativity, scalar Gauss–Bonnet gravity, and the Rezzolla and Zhidenko parameterized metric. We assume an optically thin plasma with power-law emissivity in radius. Along the way we present a generalized Bondi flow, as well as a piecewise analytic model for the brightness profile of a cold inflow. We use the second moment of a synthetic image as a proxy for EHT observables and compute the ratio of the second moment to the radius of the black hole shadow. We show that corrections to this ratio from modifications to general relativity are subdominant compared to corrections to the critical impact parameter, and we argue that this is generally true. In our simplified model the astrophysical parameter uncertainty dominates the gravity theory parameter uncertainty, underlining the importance of understanding the accretion model if EHT is to be used to successfully test theories of gravity.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2007936
- PAR ID:
- 10362338
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 925
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: Article No. 119
- Size(s):
- Article No. 119
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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