Related papers: Probing Massive Scalar/Vector Fields with Binary P…
Gravitational-wave observations provide a powerful probe of compact objects and strong-field gravity. In this work, we investigate the detectability of binaries containing (sub-)solar-mass black holes and superspinars with current and…
We present a new observational test to identify massive black hole binaries in large multi-epoch spectroscopical catalogues and to probe the real nature of already proposed binary candidates. The test is tailored for binaries with…
Large light deflection angles are produced in the strong gravitational field regions around neutron stars and black holes. In the case of binary systems, part of the photons emitted from the companion star towards the collapsed object are…
Although neutron star-black hole binaries have been identified through mergers detected in gravitational waves, a pulsar-black hole binary has yet to be detected. While short-period binaries are detectable due to a clear signal in the…
We describe the techniques used in pulsar timing observations, and show how these observations may be applied to tests of strong-field general relativity for double-neutron-star binary systems. We describe the tests of GR resulting from the…
Supermassive black hole binary mergers generate a stochastic gravitational wave background detectable by pulsar timing arrays. While the amplitude of this background is subject to significant uncertainties, the frequency dependence is a…
Future ground-based gravitational wave observatories will be ideal probes of the environments surrounding black holes with masses $1 - 10\,\mathrm{M_\odot}$. Binary black hole mergers with mass ratios of order $q=m_2/m_1\lesssim10^{-3}$ can…
A stellar-mass compact object spiraling into a supermassive black hole, an extreme-mass-ratio inspiral (EMRI), is one of the targets of future gravitational-wave detectors and it offers a unique opportunity to test General Relativity (GR)…
The realm of strong classical gravity and perhaps even quantum gravity are waiting to be explored. In this letter we consider the recently detected triple system composed of two stars and a non-accreting black hole. Using published…
The influence of the low-frequency timing noise on the precision of measurements of the Keplerian and post-Keplerian orbital parameters in binary pulsars is studied. Fundamental limits on the accuracy of tests of alternative theories of…
It is shown that the data from the orbital period decay of binary pulsars give strong constraints on the dark matter-nucleons cross section. The limits are robust and competitive because this new method for testing dark matter interactions…
One of the proposed explanations for the broad, double-peaked Balmer emission lines observed in the spectra of some active galactic nuclei (AGNs) is that they are associated with sub-parsec supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. Here, we…
Neutron star binaries and their associated gravitational wave signal facilitate precision tests of General Relativity. Any deviation of the detected gravitational waveform from General Relativity would therefore be a smoking gun signature…
We study black holes in shift-symmetric scalar Gauss-Bonnet gravity extended by a cubic Galileon interaction with a distinct energy scale. Introducing this hierarchy profoundly modifies the theory's phenomenology. The cubic interaction…
Scalar fields of masses between $10^{-21}\rm{eV}/c^2$ and $10^{-11} \rm{eV}/c^2$ can exhibit enhanced gravitational interactions with black holes, and form scalar clouds around them. Such a cloud modifies the dynamics of a coalescing…
We explore spinning, precessing, unequal mass binary black holes to display the long term orbital angular momentum, $\vec{L}$, flip dynamics. We study two prototypical cases of binaries with mass ratios $q=1/7$ and $q=1/15$ and a misaligned…
We perform a systematic search for sub-parsec binary supermassive black holes (BHs) in normal broad line quasars at z<0.8, using multi-epoch SDSS spectroscopy of the broad Hbeta line. Our working model is that: only one of the two BHs in…
Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are designed to detect the predicted gravitational wave (GW) background produced by a cosmological population of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. In this contribution I review the physics of such GW…
We report 21-yr timing of one of the most precise pulsars: PSR J1713+0747. Its pulse times of arrival are well modeled by a comprehensive pulsar binary model including its three-dimensional orbit and a noise model that incorporates…
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…