Highlights of 2016

We model the inspiral of a compact object into a more massive black hole rotating very near the theoretical maximum. We find that once the body enters the near-horizon regime the gravitational radiation is characterized by a constant frequency, equal to (twice) the horizon frequency, with an exponentially damped profile. This contrasts with the usual 'chirping' behavior and, if detected, would constitute a 'smoking gun' for a near-extremal black hole in nature.

General relativity has been widely tested in weak gravitational fields but still stands largely untested in the strong-field regime. According to the no-hair theorem, black holes in general relativity depend only on their masses and spins and are described by the Kerr metric. Mass and spin are the first two multipole moments of the Kerr spacetime and completely determine all higher-order moments. The no-hair theorem and, hence, general relativity can be tested by measuring potential deviations from the Kerr metric affecting such higher-order moments. Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, is a prime target for precision tests of general relativity with several experiments across the electromagnetic spectrum. First, near-infrared (NIR) monitoring of stars orbiting around Sgr A* with current and new instruments is expected to resolve their orbital precessions. Second, timing observations of radio pulsars near the Galactic center may detect characteristic residuals induced by the spin and quadrupole moment of Sgr A*. Third, the event horizon telescope, a global network of mm and sub-mm telescopes, aims to study Sgr A* on horizon scales and to image the silhouette of its shadow cast against the surrounding accretion flow using very-long baseline interferometric (VLBI) techniques. Both NIR and VLBI observations may also detect quasiperiodic variability of the emission from the accretion flow of Sgr A*. In this review, I discuss our current understanding of the spacetime of Sgr A* and the prospects of NIR, timing, and VLBI observations to test its Kerr nature in the near future.

We present a method for determining the purely imaginary quasinormal modes of the Kerr geometry. Such modes have previously been explored, but we show that prior results are incorrect. The method we present, based on the theory of Heun polynomials, is very general and can be applied to a broad class of problems, making it potentially useful to all branches of physics. Furthermore, our application provides an example where the method of matched asymptotic expansions seems to have failed. A deeper understanding of why it fails in this case may provide useful insights for other situations.

We present a plausible counterexample to cosmic censorship in four-dimensional Einstein–Maxwell theory with asymptotically anti-de Sitter boundary conditions. Smooth initial data evolves to a region of arbitrarily large curvature that is visible to distant observers. Our example is based on a holographic model of an electrically charged, localised defect which was previously studied at zero temperature. We partially extend those results to nonzero temperatures.

We argue that the event horizon of a binary black hole merger, in the extreme-mass-ratio limit where one of the black holes is much smaller than the other, can be described in an exact analytic way. This is done by tracing in the Schwarzschild geometry a congruence of null geodesics that approaches a null plane at infinity. Its form can be given explicitly in terms of elliptic functions, and we use it to analyze and illustrate the time-evolution of the horizon along the merger. We identify features such as the line of caustics at which light rays enter the horizon, and the critical point at which the horizons touch. We also compute several quantities that characterize these aspects of the merger.

We investigate the qualitative features of binary black hole shadows using the model of two extremally charged black holes in static equilibrium (a Majumdar–Papapetrou solution). Our perspective is that binary spacetimes are natural exemplars of chaotic scattering, because they admit more than one fundamental null orbit, and thus an uncountably infinite set of perpetual null orbits which generate scattering singularities in initial data. Inspired by the three-disc model, we develop an appropriate symbolic dynamics to describe planar null geodesics on the double black hole spacetime. We show that a one-dimensional (1D) black hole shadow may be constructed through an iterative procedure akin to the construction of the Cantor set; thus the 1D shadow is self-similar. Next, we study non-planar rays, to understand how angular momentum affects the existence and properties of the fundamental null orbits. Taking slices through 2D shadows, we observe three types of 1D shadow: regular, Cantor-like, and highly chaotic. The switch from Cantor-like to regular occurs where outer fundamental orbits are forbidden by angular momentum. The highly chaotic part is associated with an unexpected feature: stable and bounded null orbits, which exist around two black holes of equal mass M separated by ${a}_{1}\lt a\lt \sqrt{2}{a}_{1}$, where ${a}_{1}=4M/\sqrt{27}$. To show how this possibility arises, we define a certain potential function and classify its stationary points. We conjecture that the highly chaotic parts of the 2D shadow possess the Wada property. Finally, we consider the possibility of following null geodesics through event horizons, and chaos in the maximally extended spacetime.

We review black hole and star solutions for Horndeski theory. For non-shift symmetric theories, black holes involve a Kaluza–Klein reduction of higher dimensional Lovelock solutions. On the other hand, for shift symmetric theories of Horndeski and beyond Horndeski, black holes involve two classes of solutions: those that include, at the level of the action, a linear coupling to the Gauss–Bonnet term and those that involve time dependence in the galileon field. We analyze the latter class in detail for a specific subclass of Horndeski theory, discussing the general solution of a static and spherically symmetric spacetime. We then discuss stability issues, slowly rotating solutions as well as black holes coupled to matter. The latter case involves a conformally coupled scalar field as well as an electromagnetic field and the (primary) hair black holes thus obtained. We review and discuss the recent results on neutron stars in Horndeski theories.

Bekenstein proved that in Einstein's gravity minimally coupled to one (or many) real, Abelian, Proca field, stationary black holes (BHs) cannot have Proca hair. Dropping Bekenstein's assumption that matter inherits spacetime symmetries, we show this model admits asymptotically flat, stationary, axi-symmetric, regular on and outside an event horizon BHs with Proca hair, for an even number of real (or an arbitrary number of complex) Proca fields. To establish it, we start by showing that a test, complex Proca field can form bound states, with real frequency, around Kerr BHs: stationary Proca clouds. These states exist at the threshold of superradiance. It was conjectured in [1, 2], that the existence of such clouds at the linear level implies the existence of a new family of BH solutions at the nonlinear level. We confirm this expectation and explicitly construct examples of such Kerr BHs with Proca hair (KBHsPH). For a single complex Proca field, these BHs form a countable number of families with three continuous parameters (ADM mass, ADM angular momentum and Noether charge). They branch off from the Kerr solutions that can support stationary Proca clouds and reduce to Proca stars [3] when the horizon size vanishes. We present the domain of existence of one family of KBHsPH, as well as its phase space in terms of ADM quantities. Some physical properties of the solutions are discussed; in particular, and in contrast with Kerr BHs with scalar hair, some spacetime regions can be counter-rotating with respect to the horizon. We further establish a no-Proca-hair theorem for static, spherically symmetric BHs but allowing the complex Proca field to have a harmonic time dependence, which shows BHs with Proca hair in this model require rotation and have no static limit. KBHsPH are also disconnected from Kerr–Newman BHs with a real, massless vector field.

We discuss the implications of the recently released Planck data for inflation. We show that they favor the simplest category of inflationary models, namely single-field slow-roll inflation, with a plateau-like potential, a typical representative of this class of scenarios being the Starobinsky model. We also investigate the constraints on the inflationary reheating. Finally, we briefly address the question of which observables should be measured as a matter of priority in order to further improve our knowledge of inflation.

Supersymmetry is the most natural framework for physics above the TeV scale, and the corresponding framework for early-Universe cosmology, including inflation, is supergravity. No-scale supergravity emerges from generic string compactifications and yields a non-negative potential, and is therefore a plausible framework for constructing models of inflation. No-scale inflation yields naturally predictions similar to those of the Starobinsky model based on $R+{R}^{2}$ gravity, with a tilted spectrum of scalar perturbations: ${n}_{s}\sim 0.96$, and small values of the tensor-to-scalar perturbation ratio $r\lt 0.1$, as favoured by Planck and other data on the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Detailed measurements of the CMB may provide insights into the embedding of inflation within string theory as well as its links to collider physics.

Several unexpected features have been observed in the microwave sky at large angular scales, both by WMAP and by Planck. Among those features is a lack of both variance and correlation on the largest angular scales, alignment of the lowest multipole moments with one another and with the motion and geometry of the solar system, a hemispherical power asymmetry or dipolar power modulation, a preference for odd parity modes and an unexpectedly large cold spot in the Southern hemisphere. The individual p-values of the significance of these features are in the per mille to per cent level, when compared to the expectations of the best-fit inflationary ΛCDM model. Some pairs of those features are demonstrably uncorrelated, increasing their combined statistical significance and indicating a significant detection of CMB features at angular scales larger than a few degrees on top of the standard model. Despite numerous detailed investigations, we still lack a clear understanding of these large-scale features, which seem to imply a violation of statistical isotropy and scale invariance of inflationary perturbations. In this contribution we present a critical analysis of our current understanding and discuss several ideas of how to make further progress.

We describe a concept for realizing a high performance space-time reference using a stable atomic clock in a precisely defined orbit and synchronizing the orbiting clock to high-accuracy atomic clocks on the ground. The synchronization would be accomplished using a two-way lasercom link between ground and space. The basic approach is to take advantage of the highest-performance cold-atom atomic clocks at national standards laboratories on the ground and to transfer that performance to an orbiting clock that has good stability and that serves as a 'frequency-flywheel' over time-scales of a few hours. The two-way lasercom link would also provide precise range information and thus precise orbit determination. With a well-defined orbit and a synchronized clock, the satellite could serve as a high-accuracy space-time reference, providing precise time worldwide, a valuable reference frame for geodesy, and independent high-accuracy measurements of GNSS clocks. Under reasonable assumptions, a practical system would be able to deliver picosecond timing worldwide and millimeter orbit determination, and could serve as an enabling subsystem for other proposed space-gravity missions, which are briefly reviewed.

Responding to calls from the National Science Foundation for new proposals to measure the gravitational constant G, we offer an interesting experiment in deep space employing the classic gravity train mechanism. Our setup requires three bodies: a larger layered solid sphere with a cylindrical hole through its center, a much smaller retroreflector which will undergo harmonic motion within the hole and a host spacecraft with laser ranging capabilities to measure round trip light-times to the retroreflector but ultimately separated a significant distance away from the sphere-retroreflector apparatus. Measurements of the period of oscillation of the retroreflector in terms of host spacecraft clock time using existing technology could give determinations of G nearly three orders of magnitude more accurate than current measurements here on Earth. However, significant engineering advances in the release mechanism of the apparatus from the host spacecraft will likely be necessary. Issues with regard to the stability of the system are briefly addressed.

We develop, in the context of general relativity, the notion of a geoid—a surface of constant 'gravitational potential'. In particular, we show how this idea naturally emerges as a specific choice of a previously proposed, more general and operationally useful construction called a quasilocal frame—that is, a choice of a two-parameter family of timelike worldlines comprising the worldtube boundary of the history of a finite spatial volume. We study the geometric properties of these geoid quasilocal frames, and construct solutions for them in some simple spacetimes. We then compare these results—focusing on the computationally tractable scenario of a non-rotating body with a quadrupole perturbation—against their counterparts in Newtonian gravity (the setting for current applications of the geoid), and we compute general-relativistic corrections to some measurable geometric quantities.

We develop, in the context of general relativity, the notion of a geoid—a surface of constant 'gravitational potential'. In particular, we show how this idea naturally emerges as a specific choice of a previously proposed, more general and operationally useful construction called a quasilocal frame—that is, a choice of a two-parameter family of timelike worldlines comprising the worldtube boundary of the history of a finite spatial volume. We study the geometric properties of these geoid quasilocal frames, and construct solutions for them in some simple spacetimes. We then compare these results—focusing on the computationally tractable scenario of a non-rotating body with a quadrupole perturbation—against their counterparts in Newtonian gravity (the setting for current applications of the geoid), and we compute general-relativistic corrections to some measurable geometric quantities.

General relativity has passed all solar system experiments and neutron star based tests, such as binary pulsar observations, with flying colors. A more exotic arena for testing general relativity is in systems that contain one or more black holes. Black holes are the most compact objects in the Universe, providing probes of the strongest-possible gravitational fields. We are motivated to study strong-field gravity since many theories give large deviations from general relativity only at large field strengths, while recovering the weak-field behavior. In this article, we review how one can probe general relativity and various alternative theories of gravity by using electromagnetic waves from a black hole with an accretion disk, and gravitational waves from black hole binaries. We first review model-independent ways of testing gravity with electromagnetic/gravitational waves from a black hole system. We then focus on selected examples of theories that extend general relativity in rather simple ways. Some important characteristics of general relativity include (but are not limited to) (i) only tensor gravitational degrees of freedom, (ii) the graviton is massless, (iii) no quadratic or higher curvatures in the action, and (iv) the theory is four-dimensional. Altering a characteristic leads to a different extension of general relativity: (i) scalar–tensor theories, (ii) massive gravity theories, (iii) quadratic gravity, and (iv) theories with large extra dimensions. Within each theory, we describe black hole solutions, their properties, and current and projected constraints on each theory using black hole based tests of gravity. We close this review by listing some of the open problems in model-independent tests and within each specific theory.

The Space-Time Explorer and Quantum Equivalence principle Space Test (STE-QUEST) space mission will perform tests of the gravitational redshift in the field of the Sun and the Moon to high precision by frequency comparisons of clocks attached to the ground and separated by intercontinental distances. In the absence of Einstein equivalence principle (EP) violation, the redshift is zero up to small tidal corrections, as the Earth is freely falling in the field of the Sun and Moon. Such tests are thus null tests, allowing us to bound possible violations of the EP. Here we analyze the Sun/Moon redshift tests using a generic EP-violating theoretical framework, with clocks minimally modelled as two-level atoms. We present a complete derivation of the redshift (including both general relativity (GR) and non-GR terms) in a realistic experiment such as the one envisaged for STE-QUEST. We point out and correct an error in previous formalisms linked to the atom's recoil not being properly taken into account.

The excess energy method is used in searches for gravitational waves (GWs) produced by sources with poorly modeled characteristics. It identifies GW events by searching for coincident excess energy in a GW detector network. While it is sensitive to a wide range of signal morphologies, the energy outliers can be populated by background noise events (background), thereby reducing the statistical confidence of a true signal. However, if the physics of the source is partially understood, weak model-dependent constraints can be imposed to suppress the background. This letter presents the novel idea of using the reconstructed chirp mass along with two goodness of fit parameters for suppressing background when a search is focused on GWs produced from the compact binary coalescence.

Terrestrial gravitational-wave (GW) detectors are mostly based on Michelson-type laser interferometers with arm lengths of a few km and signal bandwidths of tens of Hz to a few kHz. Many conceivable sources would emit GWs below 10 Hz. A low-frequency tensor GW detector can be constructed by combining six magnetically levitated superconducting test masses. Seismic noise and Newtonian gravity noise are serious obstacles in constructing terrestrial GW detectors at such low frequencies. By using the transverse nature of GWs, a full tensor detector, which can in principle distinguish GWs from near-field Newtonian gravity, can be constructed. Such a tensor detector is sensitive to GWs coming from any direction with any polarization; thus a single antenna is capable of resolving the source direction and polarization. We present a design concept of a tensor GW detector that could reach a strain sensitivity of 10⁻¹⁹–10⁻²⁰ Hz^−1/2 at 0.2–10 Hz, compute its intrinsic detector noise, and discuss procedures of mitigating the seismic and Newtonian noise.

We show that the gravitational wave source counts distribution can test how gravitational radiation propagates on cosmological scales. This test does not require obtaining redshifts for the sources. If the signal-to-noise ratio (ρ) from a gravitational wave source is proportional to the strain then it falls as ${R}^{-1}$, thus we expect the source counts to follow ${\rm{d}}{N}/{\rm{d}}\rho \propto {\rho }^{-4}$. However, if gravitational waves decay as they propagate or propagate into other dimensions, then there can be deviations from this generic prediction. We consider the possibility that the strain falls as ${R}^{-\gamma }$, where $\gamma =1$ recovers the expected predictions in a Euclidean uniformly-filled Universe, and forecast the sensitivity of future observations to deviations from standard General Relativity. We first consider the case of few objects, seven sources, with a signal-to-noise from 8 to 24, and impose a lower limit on γ, finding $\gamma \gt 0.33$ at 95% confidence level. The distribution of our simulated sample is very consistent with the distribution of the trigger events reported by Advanced LIGO. Future measurements will improve these constraints: with 100 events, we estimate that γ can be measured with an uncertainty of 15%. We generalize the formalism to account for a range of chirp masses and the possibility that the signal falls as $\mathrm{exp}(-R/{R}_{0})/{R}^{\gamma }$.

We continue our investigations of the development and importance of the one-arm spiral instability in long-lived hypermassive neutron stars (HMNSs) formed in dynamical capture binary neutron star mergers. Employing hydrodynamic simulations in full general relativity, we find that the one-arm instability is generic in that it can develop in HMNSs within a few tens of milliseconds after merger for all equations of state in our survey. We find that mergers with stiffer equations of state tend to produce HMNSs with stronger m  =  2 azimuthal mode density deformations, and weaker m  =  1 components, relative to softer equations of state. We also find that for equations of state that can give rise to double-core HMNSs, large m  =  1 density modes can already be present due to asymmetries in the two cores. This results in the generation of l  =  2, m  =  1 gravitational wave modes even before the dominance of a one-arm mode that ultimately arises following merger of the two cores. Our results further suggest that stiffer equations of state give rise to HMNSs generating lower m  =  1 gravitational wave frequencies. Thus, if gravitational waves from the one-arm instability are detected, they could in principle constrain the neutron star equation of state. We estimate that, depending on the equation of state, the one-arm mode could potentially be detectable by second generation gravitational wave detectors at  ∼10 Mpc and by third generation ones at  ∼100 Mpc. Finally, we provide estimates of the properties of dynamical ejecta, as well as the accompanying kilonovae signatures.

In this article we review recent progress on the holographic modelling of field theories with Lifshitz symmetry. We focus in particular on the holographic dictionary for Lifshitz backgrounds—the relationship between bulk fields and boundary operators, operator correlation functions and the underlying geometrical structure. The holographic dictionary is essential in identifying the universality class of strongly coupled Lifshitz theories described by gravitational models.

We present a plausible counterexample to cosmic censorship in four-dimensional Einstein–Maxwell theory with asymptotically anti-de Sitter boundary conditions. Smooth initial data evolves to a region of arbitrarily large curvature that is visible to distant observers. Our example is based on a holographic model of an electrically charged, localised defect which was previously studied at zero temperature. We partially extend those results to nonzero temperatures.

We obtain an energy inequality on null surfaces u = const in the Bondi–Sachs formalism. We show that for a sufficiently regular event horizon H there is an affine radial coordinate which is constant on H. Then the energy inequality can be prolongated to the horizon giving an estimation which is closely related to the Penrose inequality. We test it for the Kerr solution written in Fletcher-Lun coordinates.

The constraint equations for smooth (n + 1)-dimensional (with $n\geqslant 3$) Riemannian or Lorentzian spaces satisfying the Einstein field equations are considered. It is shown, regardless of the signature of the primary space, that the constraints can be put into the form of an evolutionary system comprising either a first order symmetric hyperbolic system and a parabolic equation or, alternatively, a symmetrizable hyperbolic system and a subsidiary algebraic relation. In both cases the (local) existence and uniqueness of solutions are also discussed.

We derive an energy conservation law for the system of gravitational perturbations on the Schwarzschild spacetime expressed in a double null gauge. The resulting identity involves only first derivatives of the metric perturbation. Exploiting the gauge invariance up to boundary terms of the fluxes that appear, we are able to establish positivity of the flux on any outgoing null hypersurface to the future of the initial data. This allows us to bound the total energy flux through any such hypersurface, including the event horizon, in terms of initial data. We similarly bound the total energy radiated to null infinity. Our estimates provide a direct approach to a weak form of stability, thereby complementing the proof of the full linear stability of the Schwarzschild solution recently obtained in Dafermos et al (2016 The linear stability of the Schwarzschild solution to gravitational perturbations arXiv:1601.06467).

The non-modal linear stability of the Schwarzschild black hole established in Dotti (2014 Phys. Rev. Lett. 112 191101) is generalized to the case of a non-negative cosmological constant Λ. Two gauge invariant combinations G_± of perturbed scalars made out of the Weyl tensor and its first covariant derivative are found such that the map $[{h}_{\alpha \beta }]\to ({G}_{-}([{h}_{\alpha \beta }]),{G}_{+}([{h}_{\alpha \beta }]))$ with domain the set of equivalent classes $[{h}_{\alpha \beta }]$ under gauge transformations of solutions of the linearized Einstein's equation, is invertible. The way to reconstruct a representative of $[{h}_{\alpha \beta }]$ in terms of $({G}_{-},{G}_{+})$ is given. It is proved that, for an arbitrary perturbation consistent with the background asymptote, ${G}_{+}$ and ${G}_{-}$ are bounded in the the outer static region. At large times, the perturbation decays leaving a linearized Kerr black hole around the Schwarzschild or Schwarschild de Sitter background solution. For negative cosmological constant it is shown that there are choices of boundary conditions at the time-like boundary under which the Schwarzschild anti de Sitter black hole is unstable. The root of Chandrasekhar's duality relating odd and even modes is exhibited, and some technicalities related to this duality and omitted in the original proof of the ${\rm{\Lambda }}=0$ case are explained in detail.

The wide applications of higher dimensional gravity and gauge/gravity duality have fuelled the search for new stationary solutions of the Einstein equation (possibly coupled to matter). In this topical review, we explain the mathematical foundations and give a practical guide for the numerical solution of gravitational boundary value problems. We present these methods by way of example: resolving asymptotically flat black rings, singly spinning lumpy black holes in anti-de Sitter (AdS), and the Gregory–Laflamme zero modes of small rotating black holes in AdS${}_{5}\times {S}^{5}$. We also include several tools and tricks that have been useful throughout the literature.

The continuum limit of a 4-dimensional, discrete d'Alembertian operator for scalar fields on causal sets is studied. The continuum limit of the mean of this operator in the Poisson point process in 4-dimensional Minkowski spacetime is shown to be the usual continuum scalar d'Alembertian $\square$. It is shown that the mean is close to the limit when there exists a frame in which the scalar field is slowly varying on a scale set by the density of the Poisson process. The continuum limit of the mean of the causal set d'Alembertian in 4-dimensional curved spacetime is shown to equal $\square -\frac{1}{2}R$, where R is the Ricci scalar, under certain conditions on the spacetime and the scalar field.

The problem of how space–time responds to gravitating quantum matter in full quantum gravity has been one of the main questions that any program of quantization of gravity should address. Here we analyze this issue by considering the quantization of a collapsing null shell coupled to spherically symmetric loop quantum gravity. We show that the constraint algebra of canonical gravity is Abelian both classically and when quantized using loop quantum gravity techniques. The Hamiltonian constraint is well defined and suitable Dirac observables characterizing the problem were identified at the quantum level. We can write the metric as a parameterized Dirac observable at the quantum level and study the physics of the collapsing shell and black hole formation. We show how the singularity inside the black hole is eliminated by loop quantum gravity and how the shell can traverse it. The construction is compatible with a scenario in which the shell tunnels into a baby universe inside the black hole or one in which it could emerge through a white hole.

It is widely believed that the leading secular loop corrections from quantum gravity can be subsumed into a coordinate redefinition. Hence the apparent infrared logarithm corrections to any quantity would be just the result of taking the expectation value of the tree order quantity at the transformed coordinates in the graviton vacuum. We term this the transformation ansatz and we compare its predictions against explicit one loop computations in Maxwell + Einstein and Dirac + Einstein on de Sitter background. In each case the ansatz fails.

Building on a recent proposal for a quantum reduction to spherical symmetry from full loop quantum gravity, we investigate the relation between a quantisation of spherically symmetric general relativity and a reduction at the quantum level. To this end, we generalise the previously proposed quantum reduction by dropping the gauge fixing condition on the radial diffeomorphisms, thus allowing us to make direct contact with previous work on reduced quantisation. A dictionary between spherically symmetric variables and observables with respect to the reduction constraints in the full theory is discussed, as well as an embedding of reduced quantum states to a subsector of the quantum symmetry reduced full theory states. On this full theory subsector, the quantum algebra of the mentioned observables is computed and shown to qualitatively reproduce the quantum algebra of the reduced variables in the large quantum number limit for a specific choice of regularisation. Insufficiencies in recovering the reduced algebra quantitatively from the full theory are attributed to the oversimplified full theory quantum states we use.