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We discuss constraints on black hole spin and spin-related astrophysics as derived from X-ray spectroscopy. After a brief discussion about the robustness with which X-ray spectroscopy can be used to probe strong gravity, we summarize how…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-10 Christopher S. Reynolds , Laura W. Brenneman , David Garofalo

Gravitational wave (GW) observations of binary black hole (BBH) mergers provide a unique opportunity to probe the nature of spacetime in the strong-field and dynamical regime. We present updated constraints on deviations from the Kerr…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2026-04-20 Debtroy Das , Swarnim Shashank , Cosimo Bambi

In a recent paper [Ghasemi-Nodehi & Bambi, EPJC 76 (2016) 290], we have proposed a new parametrization for testing the Kerr nature of astrophysical black hole candidates. In the present work, we study the possibility of constraining the…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2016-11-30 M. Ghasemi-Nodehi , Cosimo Bambi

The detection of gravitational waves with ground-based laser interferometers has opened a new window to test and constrain General Relativity (GR) in the strong, dynamical, and non-linear regime. In this paper, we follow an agnostic…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2025-04-18 Yuhao Guo , Swarnim Shashank , Cosimo Bambi

Johannsen metric is a natural and significant generalization of the Kerr metric, representing the most general stationary, axisymmetric spacetime that preserves the Carter constant of motion. The theoretical status furnishes a powerful,…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2026-05-28 Jining Tang , Yang Huang , Hongsheng Zhang

In a previous paper, we presented an extension of our reflection model RELXILL_NK to include the finite thickness of the accretion disk following the prescription in Taylor & Reynolds (2018). In this paper, we apply our model to fit the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2021-06-07 Ashutosh Tripathi , Askar B. Abdikamalov , Dimitry Ayzenberg , Cosimo Bambi , Honghui Liu

The recent time witnessed a surge of interest in strong gravitational lensing by black holes is due to the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) results, which suggest comparing the black hole lensing in both general relativity and heterotic string…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2021-03-25 Sushant G. Ghosh , Rahul Kumar , Shafqat Ul Islam

By using the relativistic precession model, we have studied frequencies of quasi-periodic oscillations in the spacetime of a disformal Kerr black hole. This black hole owns an extra disformal parameter and belongs to a class of non-stealth…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2021-06-28 Songbai Chen , Zejun Wang , Jiliang Jing

Recently, two of us have found a family of singularity-free rotating black hole solutions in Einstein's conformal gravity. These spacetimes are characterized by three parameters: the black hole mass $M$, the black hole spin angular momentum…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2018-07-06 Menglei Zhou , Zheng Cao , Askar Abdikamalov , Dimitry Ayzenberg , Cosimo Bambi , Leonardo Modesto , Sourabh Nampalliwar

The spins of a number of supermassive and stellar-mass black holes have been measured based on detections of thermal continuum emission and relativistically broadened iron lines in their x-ray spectra. Likewise, quasiperiodic variability…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2015-06-23 Tim Johannsen

Recent strong-field regime tests of gravity are so far in agreement with general relativity. In particular, astrophysical black holes appear all to be consistent with the Kerr spacetime, but the statistical error on current observations…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2021-05-26 Edgardo Franzin , Stefano Liberati , Mauro Oi

We present the first X-ray reflection model for testing the assumption that the metric of astrophysical black holes is described by the Kerr solution. We employ the formalism of the transfer function proposed by Cunningham. The calculations…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2017-06-19 Cosimo Bambi , Alejandro Cardenas-Avendano , Thomas Dauser , Javier A. Garcia , Sourabh Nampalliwar

The gravitational field around an astrophysical black hole (BH) is thought to be described by the Kerr spacetime, which is a solution of the Einstein equation. Signatures of binary black hole (BBH) coalescence in gravitational waves (GW)…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2024-12-03 Debtroy Das , Swarnim Shashank , Cosimo Bambi

X-ray reflection spectroscopy is a powerful tool for probing the strong gravity region of black holes and can be used for testing general relativity in the strong field regime. Simplifications of the available relativistic reflection models…

X-ray studies of stellar mass black holes in X-ray binaries and mass-accreting supermassive black holes in Active Galactic Nuclei have achieved a high degree of maturity and have delivered detailed information about the astrophysical…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2018-07-26 Henric Krawczynski

The spacetime geometry around astrophysical black holes is supposed to be well approximated by the Kerr metric, but deviations from the Kerr solution are predicted in a number of scenarios involving new physics. Broad iron K$\alpha$ lines…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2016-09-12 Yueying Ni , Jiachen Jiang , Cosimo Bambi

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…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2026-02-19 Leda Gao , Swarnim Shashank , Cosimo Bambi

Recent X-ray observations have shown broad, skewed iron line emission from Seyfert 1 galaxies which is explained by the emission being fluorescence on a disk close to a black hole. During one interval, the line in MCG--6-30-15 was so broad…

Astrophysics · Physics 2019-04-03 Y. Dabrowski , A. C. Fabian , K. Iwasawa , A. N. Lasenby , C. S. Reynolds

We analyze the post-Newtonian orbit of stars around a deformed Kerr black hole. The deformation we consider is a class of disformal transformations of a nontrivial Kerr solution in scalar-tensor theory which are labeled via the disformal…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2021-06-15 Timothy Anson , Eugeny Babichev , Christos Charmousis

Black holes in General Relativity are known as Kerr black holes and are characterized solely by two parameters, the mass $M$ and the spin $J$. All the higher multipole moments of the gravitational field are functions of these two…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2015-11-02 Cosimo Bambi , Enrico Barausse