Constraints on the Size of Extra Dimensions from the Orbital Evolution of Black-Hole X-Ray Binaries

Abstract

One of the plausible unification schemes in physics considers the observable universe to be a 4-dimensional surface (the "brane") embedded in a higher-dimensional curved spacetime (the "bulk"). In such braneworld gravity models with infinitely large extra dimensions, black holes evaporate fast through the emission of the additional gravitational degrees of freedom, resulting in lifetimes of stellar-mass black holes that are significantly smaller than the Hubble time. We show that the predicted evaporation rate leads to a change in the orbital period of X-ray binaries harboring black holes that is observable with current instruments. We obtain an upper limit on the rate of change of the orbital period of the binary A0620-00 and use it to constrain the asymptotic curvature radius of the extra dimension to a value comparable to the one obtained by table-top experiments. Furthermore we argue that any measurement of a period increase for low-mass X-ray binaries with a high mass ratio is evidence for new physics beyond general relativity and the standard model.

accepted for publication in ApJ, typo corrected

References in corpus (8)

• X-ray Properties of Black-Hole Binaries
• Tests of the Gravitational Inverse-Square Law below the Dark-Energy Length Scale
• Particle Physics Implications of a Recent Test of the Gravitational Inverse Square Law
• Improved constraints on non-Newtonian forces at 10 microns
• On the existence and dynamics of braneworld black holes
• The Eccentric Accretion Disc of the Black Hole A0620-00
• Constraints on Braneworld Gravity Models from a Kinematic Limit on the Age of the Black Hole XTE J1118+480
• Evolution of low-mass binaries with black-hole components

Cited by in corpus (7)

• The Origin of Black Hole Spin in Galactic Low-Mass X-ray Binaries
• New Constraint on Scalar Gauss-Bonnet Gravity and a Possible Explanation for the Excess of the Orbital Decay Rate in a Low-Mass X-ray Binary
• Scientific Potential of DECIGO Pathfinder and Testing GR with Space-Borne Gravitational Wave Interferometers
• Population Synthesis of Black Hole X-Ray Binaries
• Shrinking the Braneworld: Black Hole in a Globular Cluster
• Search for Dormant Black Holes in Ellipsoidal Variables II. A Binary Modified Minimum Mass Ratio
• Change in the orbital period of a binary system due to an outburst in a windy accretion disc