No Arabic abstract
We develop a description of tidal effects in astrophysical systems using effective field theory techniques. While our approach is equally capable of describing objects in the Newtonian regime (e.g. moons, rocky planets, main sequence stars, etc.) as well as relativistic objects (e.g. neutron stars and black holes), in this paper we focus special attention on the Newtonian regime. In this limit, we recover the dynamical equations for the weak friction model with additional corrections due to tidal and rotational deformations.
With an increasing number of expected gravitational-wave detections of binary neutron star mergers, it is essential that gravitational-wave models employed for the analysis of observational data are able to describe generic compact binary systems. This includes systems in which the individual neutron stars are millisecond pulsars for which spin effects become essential. In this work, we perform numerical-relativity simulations of binary neutron stars with aligned and anti-aligned spins within a range of dimensionless spins of $chi sim [-0.28,0.58]$. The simulations are performed with multiple resolutions, show a clear convergence order and, consequently, can be used to test existing waveform approximants. We find that for very high spins gravitational-wave models that have been employed for the interpretation of GW170817 and GW190425 are not capable of describing our numerical-relativity dataset. We verify through a full parameter estimation study in which clear biases in the estimate of the tidal deformability and effective spin are present. We hope that in preparation of the next gravitational-wave observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors our new set of numerical-relativity data can be used to support future developments of new gravitational-wave models.
In this paper we show in a covariant and gauge invariant way that in general relativity, tidal forces are actually a hidden form of gravitational waves. This must be so because gravitational effects cannot occur faster than the speed of light. Any two body gravitating system, where the bodies are orbiting around each other, may generate negligible gravitational waves, but it is via these waves that non-negligible tidal forces (causing shape distortions) act on these bodies. Although the tidal forces are caused by the electric part of the Weyl tensor, we transparently show that some small time varying magnetic part of the Weyl tensor with non zero curl must be present in the system that mediates the tidal forces via gravitational wave type effects. The outcome is a new test of whether gravitational effects propagate at the speed of light.
We revisit Weyls unified field theory, which arose in 1918, shortly after general relativity was discovered. As is well known, in order to extend the program of geometrization of physics started by Einstein to include the electromagnetic field, H. Weyl developed a new geometry which constitutes a kind of generalization of Riemannian geometry. However, despite its mathematical elegance and beauty, a serious objection was made by Einstein, who considered Weyls theory not suitable as a physical theory since it seemed to lead to the prediction of a not yet observed effect, the so-called second clock effect . In this paper, our aim is to discuss Weyls proposal anew and examine its consistency and completeness as a physical theory. Finally, we propose new directions and possible conceptual changes in the original work. As an application, we solve the field equations assuming a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe and a perfect fluid as its source. Although we have entirely abandoned Weyls atempt to identify the vector field with the 4-dimensional electromagnetic potentials, which here must be simply viewed as part of the space-time geometry, we believe that in this way we could perhaps be led to a rich and interesting new modified gravity theory.
Effective field theory methods suggest that some rather-general extensions of General Relativity include, or are mimicked by, certain higher-order curvature corrections, with coupling constants expected to be small but otherwise arbitrary. Thus, the tantalizing prospect to test the fundamental nature of gravity with gravitational-wave observations, in a systematic way, emerges naturally. Here, we build black hole solutions in such a framework and study their main properties. Once rotation is included, we find the first purely gravitational example of geometries without $mathbb{Z}_2$-symmetry. Despite the higher-order operators of the theory, we show that linearized fluctuations of such geometries obey second-order differential equations. We find nonzero tidal Love numbers. We study and compute the quasinormal modes of such geometries. These results are of interest to gravitational-wave science but also potentially relevant for electromagnetic observations of the galactic center or $X$-ray binaries.
In this work we investigate the interaction between spin-zero and spin-one monopoles by making use of an effective field theory based on two-body and four-body interaction parts. In particular, we analyze the formation of bound state of monopole-antimonopole (i.e. monopolium). The magnetic-charge conjugation symmetry is studied in analogy to the usual charge conjugation to define a particle basis, for which we find bound-state solutions with relatively small binding energies and which allows us to identify the bounds on the parameters in the effective Lagrangians. Estimations of their masses, binding energies and scattering lengths are performed as functions of monopole masses and interaction strength in a specific renormalization scheme. We also examine the general validity of the approach and the feasibility of detecting the monopolium.