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A galaxy halo may contain a large number of intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) with masses in the range of 10^{2-6} solar mass. We propose to directly detect these IMBHs by observing multiply imaged QSO-galaxy or galaxy-galaxy strong…
We study the ability of tidal signatures within the inspiral of compact binaries observed through gravitational waves (GWs) to distinguish between neutron stars (NSs) and black holes (BHs). After quantifying how hard this measurement is on…
In general relativity, isolated black holes are invisible due to an infinitely large redshift of photons propagating from the event horizon to the remote observer. However, the dark shadow (silhouette) of a black hole can be visible on the…
During the final moments of a binary black hole (BH) merger, the gravitational wave (GW) luminosity of the system is greater than the combined electromagnetic output of the entire observable universe. However, the extremely weak coupling…
Gravitational-wave observations of compact binaries have the potential to uncover the distribution of masses and angular momenta of black holes and neutron stars in the universe. The binary components' physical parameters can be inferred…
An intermediate mass black hole (IMBH) may have a dark matter (DM) mini-halo around it and develop a spiky structure within less than a parsec from the IMBH. When a stellar mass object is captured by the mini-halo, it eventually infalls…
A distinct visual signature occurs in black holes that are surrounded by optically thin and geometrically thick emission regions. This signature is a sharp-edged dip in brightness that is coincident with the black-hole shadow, which is the…
A significant number of stellar-mass black-hole (BH) binaries may merge in galactic nuclei or in the surrounding gas disks. With purposed space-borne gravitational-wave observatories, we may use such a binary as a signal carrier to probe…
Ultracompact objects with photonspheres are known to mimic many observational features of black holes. It has been suggested that anomalous tidal heating or the presence of resonances in gravitational wave signals would be a clear imprint…
The Milky Way galaxy is estimated to host up to a billion stellar-mass solitary black holes (BHs). The number and distribution of BH masses can provide crucial information about the processes involved in BH formation, the existence of…
Current images of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) candidates at the center of our Galaxy and M87 have opened an unprecedented era for studying strong gravity and the nature of relativistic sources. Very-long-baseline interferometry…
We propose the existence of ultracompact minihalos as a new type of massive compact halo object (MACHO) and suggest an observational test to discover them. These new MACHOs are a powerful probe into the nature of dark matter and physics in…
The high sensitivity of upcoming space-based gravitational wave detectors suggests the possibility that if halo dark matter were composed of primordial black holes (PBHs) with mass between $10^{16}$ g and 10$^{20}$ g, the gravitational…
During the final phases of inspiral, a massive black hole (MBH) binary experiences a recoil due to the asymmetric emission of gravitational waves. We use recent results from numerical relativity simulations together with models of the…
A detailed analysis is presented of gravitational microlensing by intervening compact objects of the black hole shadows imaged by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). We show how the center, size, and shape of the shadow depend on the…
In gravitational wave (GW) astronomy accurate measurement of the source parameters, such as mass, relies on accurate waveform templates. Currently, the templates are developed assuming that the source, such as a binary black hole (BBH), is…
We discuss formation of dark matter (DM) mini-halos around primordial black holes (PBHs) and its implication on DM direct detection experiments, including axion searches. Motivated by LIGO observations, we consider $f_{\textrm{DM}} \simeq…
We address the astrophysical imaging of a family of deformed Kerr black holes (BHs). These are stationary, asymptotically flat black hole (BH) spacetimes, that are solutions of General Relativity minimally coupled to a massive, complex…
It has been well known that in the point of view of a distant observer, all in-falling matter to a black hole (BH) will be eventually stalled and "frozen" just outside the event horizon of the BH, although an in-falling observer will see…
Black holes are the most compact objects in the Universe. According to general relativity, black holes have a horizon that hides a singularity where Einstein's theory breaks down. Recently, gravitational waves opened the possibility to…