Frequency contamination from new fundamental fields in black hole ringdowns
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
2025-11-25 v2 High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
We revisit the modelling of black hole ringdown beyond General Relativity (GR), emphasizing the limitations of approaches that rely solely on shifted quasinormal mode (QNM) frequencies. Starting from modified Teukolsky equations in such scenarios, we classify the distinct types of deviations that can arise -- those shifting QNM frequencies, and those introducing additional frequencies associated with extra fields. We then construct the most general ansatz for metric perturbations in this context and discuss its implications for QNM modelling and theory-agnostic tests of GR using gravitational wave data.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2505.18261,
title = {Frequency contamination from new fundamental fields in black hole ringdowns},
author = {Jacopo Lestingi and Giovanni D'Addario and Thomas P. Sotiriou},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.18261},
year = {2025}
}