Black Hole Mergers beyond General Relativity: A Self-Force Approach.

Area of Science:

• Astrophysics
• Gravitational wave astronomy
• Theoretical physics

Background:

• Binary black hole mergers are crucial for testing general relativity (GR) and the Kerr black hole model.
• Simulating black hole mergers in theories beyond GR has been computationally challenging.
• Existing simulation methods struggle with the full range of binary parameters.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel first-principles approach for simulating black hole mergers in theories beyond GR.
• To utilize self-force theory for modeling extreme gravitational dynamics.
• To enable precision tests of gravity theories using gravitational waves.

Main Methods:

• Employing self-force theory to model the merger and ringdown phases of binary black holes.
• Focusing on scenarios where one black hole is significantly smaller than the other.
• Calculating self-force effects on the gravitational waveform during the merger.

Main Results:

• Successfully calculated self-force effects on the merger waveform for the first time.
• Demonstrated a modular approach to compute and incorporate beyond-GR effects.
• Developed a framework for fast merger-ringdown waveform modeling.

Conclusions:

• Self-force theory provides a viable pathway for simulating black hole mergers in alternative gravity theories.
• The new formulation facilitates modular computation of beyond-GR effects.
• This work enhances the capability to test fundamental physics with gravitational wave observations.