Chern-Simons modified gravity comprises the Einstein-Hilbert action and a higher-derivative interaction containing the Chern-Pontryagin density. We derive the analog of the Gibbons-Hawking-York boundary term required to render the Dirichlet boundary value problem well-defined. It turns out to be a boundary Chern-Simons action for the extrinsic curvature. We address applications to black hole thermodynamics.
The gravitational memory effects of Chern-Simons modified gravity are considered in the asymptotically flat spacetime. If the Chern-Simons scalar does not directly couple with the ordinary matter fields, there are also displacement, spin and center-of-mass memory effects as in general relativity. This is because the term of the action that violates the parity invariance is linear in the scalar field but quadratic in the curvature tensor. This results in the parity violation occuring at the higher orders in the inverse luminosity radius. The scalar field does not induce any new memory effects that can be detected by interferometers or pulsar timing arrays. The asymptotic symmetry is group is also the extended Bondi-Metzner-Sachs group. The constraints on the memory effects excited by the tensor modes are obtained.
Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals (EMRIs) are one of the most promising sources of gravitational waves (GWs) for space-based detectors like the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). EMRIs consist of a compact stellar object orbiting around a massive black hole (MBH). Since EMRI signals are expected to be long lasting (containing of the order of hundred thousand cycles), they will encode the structure of the MBH gravitational potential in a precise way such that features depending on the theory of gravity governing the system may be distinguished. That is, EMRI signals may be used to test gravity and the geometry of black holes. However, the development of a practical methodology for computing the generation and propagation of GWs from EMRIs in theories of gravity different than General Relativity (GR) has only recently begun. In this paper, we present a parameter estimation study of EMRIs in a particular modification of GR, which is described by a four-dimensional Chern-Simons (CS) gravitational term. We focus on determining to what extent a space-based GW observatory like LISA could distinguish between GR and CS gravity through the detection of GWs from EMRIs.
Using a unified approach of optical-mechanical analogy in a semiclassical formula, we evaluate the effect of Chern-Simons modified gravity on the quantum phase shift of de Broglie waves in neutron interferometry. The phase shift calculated here reveals, in a single equation, a combination of effects coming from Newtonian gravity, inertial forces, Schwarzschild and Chern-Simons modified gravity. However the last two effects, though new, turn out to be too tiny to be observed, and hence only of academic interest at present. The approximations, wherever used, as well as the drawbacks of the non-dynamical approach are clearly indicated.
We produce the first numerical relativity binary black hole gravitational waveforms in a higher-curvature theory beyond general relativity. In particular, we study head-on collisions of binary black holes in order-reduced dynamical Chern-Simons gravity. This is a precursor to producing beyond-general-relativity waveforms for inspiraling binary black hole systems that are useful for gravitational wave detection. Head-on collisions are interesting in their own right, however, as they cleanly probe the quasi-normal mode spectrum of the final black hole. We thus compute the leading-order dynamical Chern-Simons modifications to the complex frequencies of the post-merger gravitational radiation. We consider equal-mass systems, with equal spins oriented along the axis of collision, resulting in remnant black holes with spin. We find modifications to the complex frequencies of the quasi-normal mode spectrum that behave as a power law with the spin of the remnant, and that are not degenerate with the frequencies associated with a Kerr black hole of any mass and spin. We discuss these results in the context of testing general relativity with gravitational wave observations.
Five dimensional Chern-Simons theory with (anti-)de Sitter SO(1,5) or SO(2,4) gauge invariance presents an alternative to General Relativity with cosmological constant. We consider the zero-modes of its Kaluza-Klein compactification to four dimensions. Solutions with vanishing torsion are obtained in the cases of a spherically symmetric 3-space and of a homogeneous and isotropic 3-space, which reproduce the Schwarzshild-de Sitter and $Lambda$CDM cosmological solutions of General Relativity. We also check that vanishing torsion is a stable feature of the solutions.