Related papers: Post-Newtonian, Quasi-Circular Binary Inspirals in…
In general relativity, astrophysical black holes are simple objects, being described by just their mass and spin. These simple solutions are not exclusive to general relativity, as they also appear in theories that allow for an extra scalar…
We study linear perturbations about non rotating black hole solutions in scalar-tensor theories, more specifically Horndeski theories. We consider two particular theories that admit known hairy black hole solutions. The first one,…
The strong gravitational lensing for charged black holes with scalar hair in Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton theory are studied. We find, with the increase of scalar hair, that the radius of the photon sphere, minimum impact parameter, angular…
We derive the gravitational field and equations of motion of compact binary systems up to the 5/2 post-Newtonian approximation of general relativity (where radiation-reaction effects first appear). The approximate post-Newtonian…
We show that the action of Einstein's gravity with a scalar field coupled in a generic way to spacetime curvature is invariant under a particular set of conformal transformations. These transformations relate dual theories for which the…
Gravitational wave observations will probe non-linear gravitational interactions and thus enable strong tests of Einstein's theory of general relativity. We present a numerical relativity study of the late inspiral and merger of binary…
The study of hyperbolic binary black hole encounters yields an effective probe of the strong field regime of black holes, thus providing an additional channel to test General Relativity. We study the scattering of two black holes in…
We reconsider, from a novel perspective, how unitarity constrains the corrections to the ratio of shear viscosity \eta\ to entropy density s. We start with higher-derivative extensions of Einstein gravity in asymptotically anti-de Sitter…
Using the effective field theory of quantum gravity at second order in curvature, we calculate quantum corrections to the metric of gravastars and the closely related dark energy stars. We find that the quantum corrections in the exterior…
We study various aspects of higher-curvature theories of gravity built from contractions of the metric, the Riemann tensor and the covariant derivative, $\mathcal{L}(g^{ab},R_{abcd},\nabla_a)$. We characterise the linearized spectrum of…
We consider the $\mathrm{O}(3)$ non-linear sigma-model, composed of three real scalar fields with a standard kinetic term and with a symmetry breaking potential in four spacetime dimensions. We show that this simple, geometrically motivated…
The present thesis attempts to study the effect of scalar fields on Hawking radiation and quasinormal modes of black holes. We selected a static, spherically symmetric electrically charged black hole with an additional scalar 'hair' for our…
Effects of inverse triad corrections and (point) holonomy corrections, occuring in loop quantum gravity, are considered on the properties of Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes. The version of inverse triad corrections with unmodified…
We study a gravity theory where a scalar field with potential, beyond its minimal coupling, is also coupled through a non-minimal derivative coupling with the torsion scalar which is the teleparallel equivalent of Einstein gravity. This…
We employ a recently developed spectral method to obtain the spectrum of quasinormal modes of rapidly rotating black holes in alternative theories of gravity and apply it to the black holes of shift-symmetric Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet…
It has recently been suggested that vacuum black holes of General Relativity (GR) can become spontaneously scalarised when appropriate non-minimal couplings to curvature invariants are considered. These models circumvent the standard black…
We study the consistency of Scalar Gauss-Bonnet Gravity, a generalization of General Relativity where black holes can develop non-trivial hair by the action of a coupling $F(\Phi){\cal G}$ between a function of a scalar field and the…
Spinning black holes in dynamical Einstein-Chern-Simons gravity are constructed by directly solving the field equations, without resorting to any perturbative expansion. This model is obtained by adding to the Einstein-Hilbert action a…
In the presence of appropriate non-minimal couplings between a scalar field and the curvature squared Gauss-Bonnet (GB) term, compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes (BHs) can spontaneously scalarize, becoming a preferred…
We construct the most general, to cubic order in curvature, theory of gravity whose (most general) static spherically symmetric vacuum solutions are fully described by a single field equation. The theory possess the following remarkable…