Related papers: Testing the Kerr Paradigm with X-ray Observations
According to the no-hair theorem, astrophysical black holes are fully characterized by their masses and spins and are described by the Kerr metric. This theorem can be tested observationally by measuring (at least) three different multipole…
The theory of General Relativity has successfully passed a large number of observational tests. The theory has been extensively tested in the weak-field regime with experiments in the Solar System and observations of binary pulsars. The…
In this review, I have tried to focus on the development of the field, from the first speculations to the current lines of research. According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, black holes are relatively simple objects and…
Black holes are among the most extreme objects that can be found in the Universe and an ideal laboratory for testing fundamental physics. This article will briefly review the basic properties of black holes as expected from general…
The Kerr solution is the cornerstone of General Relativity (GR) for modelling astrophysical rotating black holes and for testing GR through gravitational-wave observations and black hole imaging. Understanding how the Kerr geometry is…
We demonstrate that the X-ray iron line fitting technique can be leveraged as a powerful probe of the cosmic censorship conjecture. We do this by extending existing emission line models to arbitrary spin parameters of the Kerr metric, no…
The X-ray emission of neutron stars and black holes presents a rich phenomenology that can lead us to a better understanding of their nature and to address more general physics questions: Does general relativity apply in the strong gravity…
Collapsed objects have definitely been observed: some are stellar-mass objects, the endpoint of massive stars; others, millions of times more massive, have been discovered in the cores of most galaxies. Their formation poses some…
X-ray reflection spectroscopy is a powerful tool for testing the Kerr hypothesis and probing the strong gravity regime around accreting black holes. Most tests of General Relativity (GR) assume that the spacetime around a black hole is…
The construction of a generic parametrization to describe the spacetime geometry around astrophysical black hole candidates is an important step to test the Kerr black hole hypothesis. In the last few years, the Johannsen-Psaltis metric has…
The iron K$\alpha$ line commonly observed in the X-ray spectrum of both stellar-mass and supermassive black hole candidates is produced by the illumination of a cold accretion disk by a hot corona. In this framework, the activation of a new…
The black hole in the center of the Milky Way has been observed and modeled intensely during the last decades. It is also the prime target of a number of new experiments that aim to zoom into the vicinity of its horizon and reveal the inner…
Despite its success in the weak gravity regime, General Relativity (GR) has yet to be verified in the regime of strong gravity. In this paper, we present the results of detailed ray tracing simulations aiming at clarifying if the combined…
In astronomy, the problem of black holes is arguably second in importance only to the problem of cosmology. A current frontier in black hole research is the measurement of spin. During the past three years, the spins of several stellar-mass…
Einstein's theory of General Relativity was proposed over 100 years ago and has successfully passed a large number of observational tests in weak gravitational fields. On the contrary, the strong field regime is still largely unexplored.…
Observations of the continuum spectrum emitted by accretion disks around black holes allows us to infer their properties, including possibly whether black holes are described by the Kerr metric. Some modified gravity theories do not admit…
The inspirals of ``small'' ($1 - 100 M_\odot$) compact bodies through highly relativistic orbits of massive (several $\times 10^5 M_\odot -$ several $\times 10^6 M_\odot$) black holes are among the most anticipated sources for the LISA…
Relativistic reflection features are commonly observed in the X-ray spectra of accreting black holes. In the presence of high quality data and with the correct astrophysical model, X-ray reflection spectroscopy can be quite a powerful tool…
The Kerr spacetime of spinning black holes is one of the most intriguing predictions of Einstein's theory of general relativity. The special role this spacetime plays in the theory of gravity is encapsulated in the no-hair theorem, which…
The spacetime around astrophysical black holes is thought to be described by the Kerr solution. However, even within general relativity, there is not yet a proof that the final product of the complete collapse of an uncharged body can only…