Related papers: Gravitational Collider Physics via Pulsar-Black Ho…
A rotating black hole can be clouded by light bosons via superradiance, and thus acquire an atom-like structure. If such a gravitational atom system is companioned with a pulsar, the pulsar can trigger transitions between energy levels of…
Several models of physics beyond the Standard Model predict the existence of new ultralight bosons. This thesis investigates a way to discover such particles through observations of gravitational waves from binary black holes. This is…
We study the imprints of new ultralight particles on the gravitational-wave signals emitted by binary black holes. Superradiant instabilities may create large clouds of scalar or vector fields around rotating black holes. The presence of a…
Rotating black holes can amplify ultralight bosonic fields through superradiance, forming macroscopic clouds known as gravitational atoms. When the cloud forms around one of the components of a binary system, it can undergo a series of…
We present a study of the gravitational time delay of arrival of signals from binary pulsar systems with rotating black hole companions. In particular, we investigate the strength of this effect (Shapiro delay) as a function of the…
Gravitational waves are expected to be radiated by supermassive black hole binaries formed during galaxy mergers. A stochastic superposition of gravitational waves from all such binary systems will modulate the arrival times of pulses from…
Pulsar timing measurements can be used to detect gravitational radiation from massive black hole binaries. The ~106d quasi-periodic flux variations in Sagittarius A* at radio wavelengths reported by Zhao, Bower, & Goss (2001) may be due to…
Rotating black holes can produce superradiant clouds of ultralight bosons. When the black hole is part of a binary system, its cloud can undergo resonances and ionization. These processes leave a distinct signature on the gravitational…
Pulsars are some of the most accurate clocks found in nature, while black holes offer a unique arena for the study of quantum gravity. As such, pulsar-black hole (PSR-BH) binaries provide ideal astrophysical systems for detecting the…
Pulsar timing is a promising technique for detecting low frequency sources of gravitational waves. Historically the focus has been on the detection of diffuse stochastic backgrounds, such as those formed from the superposition of weak…
Black holes in binaries with other compact objects can provide natural venues for indirect detection of axions or other ultralight fields. The superradiant instability associated with a rapidly spinning black hole leads to the creation of…
We perform a comprehensive study of gravitational waves in the context of the higher-order quadratic scalar curvature gravity, which encompasses the ordinary Einstein-Hilbert term in the action plus an $R^{2}$ contribution and a term of the…
Gravitational wave observations will probe non-linear gravitational interactions and thus enable strong tests of Einstein's theory of general relativity. We present a numerical relativity study of the late inspiral and merger of binary…
We present a detailed, fully nonlinear study of binary systems involving one black hole and one boson star, considering the effects of both a quartic self-interaction and a solitonic potential for the scalar field. First, we show the…
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…
The recent detections of gravitational waves from binary systems of black holes are in remarkable agreement with the predictions of General Relativity. In this pedagogical mini-review, I will go through the physics of the different phases…
Tests of Einstein's general theory of relativity have mostly been carried out in weak gravitational fields where the space-time curvature effects are first-order deviations from Newton's theory. Binary pulsars provide a means of probing the…
Unlike traditional electromagnetic measurements, gravitational-wave observations are not affected by crowding and extinction. For this reason, compact object binaries orbiting around a massive black hole can be used as probes of the inner…
Precision tests of general relativity can be conducted by observing binary pulsars. Theories with massive fields exist to explain a variety of phenomena from dark energy to the strong CP problem. Existing pulsar binaries, such as the white…
Binary pulsars allow us to carry out precision tests of gravity and have placed stringent bounds on a broad class of theories beyond general relativity. Current and future radio telescopes, such as FAST, SKA, and MeerKAT, may find a new…