No Arabic abstract
We review the physics of atoms and clocks in weakly curved spacetime, and how each may be used to test the Einstein Equivalence Principle (EEP) in the context of the minimal Standard Model Extension (mSME). We find that conventional clocks and matter-wave interferometers are sensitive to the same kinds of EEP-violating physics. We show that the analogy between matter-waves and clocks remains true for systems beyond the semiclassical limit. We quantitatively compare the experimentally observable signals for EEP violation in matter-wave experiments. We find that comparisons of $^{6}$Li and $^{7}$Li are particularly sensitive to such anomalies. Tests involving unstable isotopes, for which matter-wave interferometers are well suited, may further improve the sensitivity of EEP tests.
The LIGO detection of GW150914 provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the two-body motion of a compact-object binary in the large velocity, highly nonlinear regime, and to witness the final merger of the binary and the excitation of uniquely relativistic modes of the gravitational field. We carry out several investigations to determine whether GW150914 is consistent with a binary black-hole merger in general relativity. We find that the final remnants mass and spin, as determined from the low-frequency (inspiral) and high-frequency (post-inspiral) phases of the signal, are mutually consistent with the binary black-hole solution in general relativity. Furthermore, the data following the peak of GW150914 are consistent with the least-damped quasi-normal mode inferred from the mass and spin of the remnant black hole. By using waveform models that allow for parameterized general-relativity violations during the inspiral and merger phases, we perform quantitative tests on the gravitational-wave phase in the dynamical regime and we determine the first empirical bounds on several high-order post-Newtonian coefficients. We constrain the graviton Compton wavelength, assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum in the same way as particles with mass, obtaining a $90%$-confidence lower bound of $10^{13}$ km. In conclusion, within our statistical uncertainties, we find no evidence for violations of general relativity in the genuinely strong-field regime of gravity.
The recent discovery by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo of a gravitational wave signal from a binary neutron star inspiral has enabled tests of general relativity (GR) with this new type of source. This source, for the first time, permits tests of strong-field dynamics of compact binaries in presence of matter. In this paper, we place constraints on the dipole radiation and possible deviations from GR in the post-Newtonian coefficients that govern the inspiral regime. Bounds on modified dispersion of gravitational waves are obtained; in combination with information from the observed electromagnetic counterpart we can also constrain effects due to large extra dimensions. Finally, the polarization content of the gravitational wave signal is studied. The results of all tests performed here show good agreement with GR.
We propose a generic, phenomenological approach to modifying the dispersion of gravitational waves, independent of corrections to the generation mechanism. This model-independent approach encapsulates all previously proposed parametrizations, including Lorentz violation in the Standard-Model Extension, and provides a roadmap for additional theories. Furthermore, we present a general approach to include modulations to the gravitational-wave polarization content. The framework developed here can be implemented in existing data analysis pipelines for future gravitational-wave observation runs.
After a short review of prominent properties of gravitational waves and the newly born gravitational astronomy, we focus on theoretical aspects. Analytic approximation methods in general relativity have played a crucial role in the recent discoveries of gravitational waves. They are used to build theoretical template banks for searching and analyzing the signals in the ground-based detectors LIGO and Virgo, and, further ahead, space-based LISA-like detectors. In particular, the post-Newtonian approximation describes with high accuracy the early inspiral of compact binary systems, made of black holes or neutron stars. It mainly consists of extending the Einstein quadrupole formula by a series of relativistic corrections up to high order. The compact objects are modelled by point masses with spins. The practical calculations face difficult problems of divergences, which have been solved thanks to the dimensional regularization. In the last rotations before the merger, the finite size effects and the internal structure of neutron stars (notably the internal equation of state) affect the evolution of the orbit and the emission of gravitational waves. We describe these effects within a simple Newtonian model.
Gravitational-wave sources offer us unique testbeds for probing strong-field, dynamical and nonlinear aspects of gravity. In this chapter, we give a brief overview of the current status and future prospects of testing General Relativity with gravitational waves. In particular, we focus on three theory-agnostic tests (parameterized tests, inspiral-merger-ringdown consistency tests, and gravitational-wave propagation tests) and explain how one can apply such tests to example modified theories of gravity. We conclude by giving some open questions that need to be resolved to carry out more accurate tests of gravity with gravitational waves.