Related papers: Seeing the unseeable
We estimate the potential of present and future interferometric gravitational-wave detectors to test the Kerr nature of black holes through "gravitational spectroscopy," i.e. the measurement of multiple quasinormal mode frequencies from the…
The observation of the shadow of the supermassive black hole M87$^{*}$ by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is sensitive to the spacetime geometry near the circular photon orbit and beyond, and it thus has the potential to test general…
There is persistent and endemic confusion between the true (future) horizon and the illusory (past) horizon of a black hole. The illusory horizon is the redshifting surface of matter that fell into the black hole long ago. A person who…
The general misconception regarding velocity measurements of a test particle as it approaches black hole is addressed by introducing generalized observer set. For a general static spherically symmetric metric applicable to both Einstein and…
The proposed infrared space interferometry mission Darwin has two main aims: (i) to detect and characterize exo-planets similar to the Earth, and (ii) to carry out astrophysical imaging in the wavelength range 6 - 20 micron at a sensitivity…
The images of supermassive black holes captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration have allowed us to have access to the physical processes that occur in the vicinity of the event horizons of these objects. This has enabled…
The staged commissioning of the Large Hadron Collider presents an opportunity to map gross features of particle production over a significant energy range. I suggest a visual tool - event displays in (pseudo)rapidity-transverse-momentum…
We describe and present the first observational evidence that light propagating near a rotating black hole is twisted in phase and carries orbital angular momentum. The novel use of this physical observable as an additional tool for the…
The half opening angle of a Kerr black-hole shadow is always equal to (5+-0.2)GM/Dc^2, where M is the mass of the black hole and D is its distance from the Earth. Therefore, measuring the size of a shadow and verifying whether it is within…
Interferometric gyroscope systems are being developed with the goal of measuring general-relativistic effects including frame-dragging effects. Such devices are also capable of performing searches for Lorentz violation. We summarize efforts…
Operating 1.5 million km from Earth at the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, the Origins Space Telescope equipped with a slightly modified version of its HERO heterodyne instrument could function as a uniquely valuable node in a VLBI network.…
We describe an atom interferometer to study the coherence of atoms reflected from an evanescent wave mirror. The interferometer is sensitive to the loss of phase coherence induced by the defects in the mirror. The results are consistent…
We define different notions of black holes, event horizons and Killing horizons for a general time-oriented manifold $(M,g)$ extending previous notions but without the assumption of asymptotical flatness. The notions of 'horizon' are always…
Electromagnetic observations have been used over the past decades to understand the nature of black holes and the material around them. Our ability to learn about the fundamental physics relies on our understanding of two key ingredients in…
The direct detection of a bright, ring-like structure in horizon-resolving images of M87* by the Event Horizon Telescope is a striking validation of general relativity. The angular size and shape of the ring is a degenerate measure of the…
Using very long baseline interferometry, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration has resolved the shadows of two supermassive black holes. Model comparison is traditionally performed in image space, where imaging algorithms…
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration recently published the first images of the supermassive black holes in the cores of the Messier 87 and Milky Way galaxies. These observations have provided a new means to study supermassive…
Interferometry is a powerful technique for making sensitive, high-fidelity images of the sky, but is limited in its ability to measure extended or diffuse emission. Better images of extended astronomical objects can be obtained by…
This talk gives a brief introduction to black hole horizons and their role in black hole thermodynamics. In particular a distinction is made between quasi-locally defined horizons and event horizons. Currently some new techniques have led…
Suppose an astronomer is equipped with a device capable of detecting emissions -- whether they be electromagnetic, gravitational, or neutrino -- from transient sources distributed throughout the cosmos. Because of source rate density…