Probes and Tests of Strong-Field Gravity with Observations in the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Abstract

Neutron stars and black holes are the astrophysical systems with the strongest gravitational fields in the universe. In this article, I review the prospect of probing with observations of such compact objects some of the most intriguing General Relativistic predictions in the strong-field regime: the absence of stable circular orbits near a compact object and the presence of event horizons around black-hole singularities. I discuss the need for a theoretical framework within which future experiments will provide detailed, quantitative tests of gravity theories. Finally, I summarize the constraints imposed by current observations of neutron stars on potential deviations from General Relativity.

58 pages, review article for Living Reviews in Relativity

References in corpus (24)

• f(R) Theories Of Gravity
• The Spin of the Near-Extreme Kerr Black Hole GRS 1915+105
• Constraining Black Hole Spin Via X-ray Spectroscopy
• Relativistic X-ray Lines from the Inner Accretion Disks Around Black Holes
• EXO 0748-676 Rules out Soft Equations of State for Neutron Star Matter
• Metric-affine f(R) theories of gravity
• Simulating the Emission and Outflows from Accretion Disks
• Kerr Black Holes are Not Unique to General Relativity
• The modified Newtonian dynamics-MOND-and its implications for new physics
• Light Curves for Rapidly-Rotating Neutron Stars
• Stability of spherically symmetric solutions in modified theories of gravity
• The coherence of kHz quasi-periodic oscillations in the X-rays from accreting neutron stars
• Black hole spin in GRS 1915+105
• Curvature singularities, tidal forces and the viability of Palatini f(R) gravity
• Magnetic pressure support and accretion disk spectra
• Supporting evidence for the signature of the innermost stable circular orbit in Rossi X-ray data from 4U1636-536
• A Hard X-ray View on Scorpius X-1 with INTEGRAL: non-Thermal Emission ?
• Suzaku Observations of Iron Lines and Reflection in AGN
• Testing General Relativity with High-Resolution Imaging of Sgr A*
• An XMM-Newton survey of broad iron lines in AGN
• A Short Review of Relativistic Iron Lines from Stellar-Mass Black Holes
• Stable, Accelerating Universes in Modified Gravity
• Testing Strong-field Gravity with Quasi-Periodic Oscillations
• Constraining Brans-Dicke Gravity with Millisecond Pulsars in Ultracompact Binaries

Cited by in corpus (229)

• The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment
• Testing General Relativity with Present and Future Astrophysical Observations
• Testing the nature of dark compact objects: a status report
• Theoretical Physics Implications of the Binary Black-Hole Mergers GW150914 and GW151226
• Dynamical Boson Stars
• Can environmental effects spoil precision gravitational-wave astrophysics?
• I-Love-Q Relations in Neutron Stars and their Applications to Astrophysics, Gravitational Waves and Fundamental Physics
• The Evolution of Compact Binary Star Systems
• Gravitational Wave Tests of General Relativity with Ground-Based Detectors and Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Observations in the Electromagnetic Spectrum: II. Black-Hole Images
• Fundamental Physics with the Square Kilometre Array
• A Metric for Rapidly Spinning Black Holes Suitable for Strong-Field Tests of the No-Hair Theorem
• Further stable neutron star models from f(R) gravity
• Approximate Universal Relations for Neutron Stars and Quark Stars
• Hydrostatic equilibrium and stellar structure in f(R)-gravity
• Stellar equilibrium configurations of compact stars in $f(R,T)$ gravity
• Born-Infeld inspired modifications of gravity
• The Mass-Radius relation for Neutron Stars in $f(R)$ gravity
• Extreme neutron stars from Extended Theories of Gravity
• Testing General Relativity with stellar orbits around the supermassive black hole in our Galactic center
• Rotating black holes in $4D$ Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity and its shadow
• Regular Black Hole Metric with Three Constants of Motion
• Testing the black hole "no-hair" hypothesis
• Slowly Rotating Black Holes in Dynamical Chern-Simons Gravity: Deformation Quadratic in the Spin
• The Masses and Spins of Neutron Stars and Stellar-Mass Black Holes
• Progress in Constraining Nuclear Symmetry Energy Using Neutron Star Observables Since GW170817
• Slowly-Rotating Black Holes in Einstein-Dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity: Quadratic Order in Spin Solutions
• Towards Understanding Astrophysical Effects of Nuclear Symmetry Energy
• Slowly rotating black holes in alternative theories of gravity
• Nucleon Effective Masses in Neutron-Rich Matter
• Linearized f(R) Gravity: Gravitational Radiation & Solar System Tests
• General Relativity and Cosmology: Unsolved Questions and Future Directions
• Prospects for Probing the Spacetime of Sgr A* with Pulsars
• Neutron Stars in f(R) Gravity with Perturbative Constraints
• Dense Nuclear Matter Equation of State from Heavy-Ion Collisions
• Nonperturbative models of quark stars in $f(R)$ gravity
• Extended Gravity Description for the GW190814 Supermassive Neutron Star
• Transient Black Hole Binaries
• Testing General Relativity with the Shadow Size of Sgr A*
• Rotating black holes in Einstein-Dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet gravity with finite coupling
• Extreme- and Intermediate-Mass Ratio Inspirals in Dynamical Chern-Simons Modified Gravity
• Testing General Relativity with the Event Horizon Telescope
• Spacetime and orbits of bumpy black holes
• Sgr A* and General Relativity
• Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Observations in the Electromagnetic Spectrum. III. Quasi-Periodic Variability
• Neutron stars in Starobinsky model
• Surface Emission from Neutron Stars and Implications for the Physics of their Interiors
• Viability of quantum-gravity induced ultraviolet completions for matter
• Stellar Mass Black Holes and Ultraluminous X-Ray Sources
• Testing Horndeski Gravity from EHT Observational Results for Rotating Black Holes
• Environmental Effects for Gravitational-wave Astrophysics
• Quadrupole Moments of Rapidly Rotating Compact Objects in Dilatonic Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet Theory
• Distinguishing fuzzballs from black holes through their multipolar structure
• Tests of General Relativity in the Strong Gravity Regime Based on X-Ray Spectropolarimetric Observations of Black Holes in X-Ray Binaries
• Anisotropic strange stars under simplest minimal matter-geometry coupling in the $f(R,\mathcal{T})$ gravity
• Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Observations of Black Holes in the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Slowly rotating black hole solutions in Horndeski gravity
• Ring-down gravitational waves and lensing observables: How far can a wormhole mimic those of a black hole?
• Constraint on energy-momentum squared gravity from neutron stars and its cosmological implications
• Strong deflection gravitational lensing by a modified Hayward black hole
• Bounds on the Nonminimal Coupling of the Higgs Boson to Gravity
• Relativistic Stars in dRGT Massive Gravity
• Relativistic stars in scalar-tensor theories with disformal coupling
• Modified gravity with logarithmic curvature corrections and the structure of relativistic stars
• Physical Attributes of Anisotropic Compact Stars in $f(R,G)$ Gravity
• Event Horizon Telescope Observations as Probes for Quantum Structure of Astrophysical Black Holes
• Testing General Relativity with Accretion-Flow Imaging of Sgr A*
• Strong gravitational lensing by an electrically charged black hole in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity
• Strong field gravitational lensing by a charged Galileon black hole
• Slowly Rotating Relativistic Stars in Scalar-Tensor Gravity
• Shadows and negative precession in non-Kerr spacetime
• Enhancing modified gravity detection from gravitational-wave observations using the Parametrized ringdown spin expansion coefficients formalism
• Electrically Charged Quark Stars in $4D$ Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity
• Exotic compact objects with soft hair
• Approximate Waveforms for Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals in Modified Gravity Spacetimes
• Expansion of magnetic neutron stars in an energy (in)dependent spacetime
• From neutron stars to quark stars in mimetic gravity
• Properties of an electrically charged black hole in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity
• Testing Kerr Black Hole Mimickers with Quasi-Periodic Oscillations from GRO J1655-40
• Constraining Parity Violation in Gravity with Measurements of Neutron-Star Moments of Inertia
• Impacts of dark matter on the curvature of the neutron star
• The multipolar structure of fuzzballs
• Scattering by regular black holes: Planar massless scalar waves impinging upon a Bardeen black hole
• Buchdahl-Bondi limit in modified gravity: Packing extra effective mass in relativistic compact stars
• Gravitational-wave versus X-ray tests of strong-field gravity
• The Transient Gravitational-Wave Sky
• Mass and spin of a Kerr black hole in modified gravity and a test of the Kerr black hole hypothesis
• The vacuum revealed: the final state of vacuum instabilities in compact stars
• Gravastars in $f(R,G)$ Gravity
• Long-lived inverse chirp signals from core collapse in massive scalar-tensor gravity
• Numerical simulations of stellar collapse in scalar-tensor theories of gravity
• Compact objects in Horndeski gravity
• Observing the Galaxy's massive black hole with gravitational wave bursts
• Observing the dynamics of super-massive black hole binaries with Pulsar Timing Arrays
• What can quasi-periodic oscillations tell us about the structure of the corresponding compact objects?
• A Ray-Tracing Algorithm for Spinning Compact Object Spacetimes with Arbitrary Quadrupole Moments. II. Neutron Stars
• Testing alternative theories of gravity by fitting the hot-spot data of Sgr A*
• White dwarfs in de Rham-Gabadadze-Tolley like massive gravity
• Low-mass neutron stars: universal relations, the nuclear symmetry energy and gravitational radiation
• Testing the No-Hair Theorem with Observations of Black Holes in the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• What does a measurement of mass and/or radius of a neutron star constrain: Equation of state or gravity?
• The balance of power: accretion and feedback in stellar mass black holes
• Impact of the equation-of-state -- gravity degeneracy on constraining the nuclear symmetry energy from astrophysical observables
• Quasinormal modes of a black hole with a cloud of strings in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity
• An effective action model of dynamically scalarizing binary neutron stars
• Neutron Stars in Screened Modified Gravity: Chameleon vs Dilaton
• Towards the most general scalar-tensor theories of gravity: a unified approach in the language of differential forms
• Scalar gravitational waves from relativistic stars in scalar-tensor gravity
• Pulsar spin-down luminosity: Simulations in general relativity
• Sgr A*: The Optimal Testbed of Strong-Field Gravity
• Excavating black hole continuum spectrum: Possible signatures of scalar hairs and of higher dimensions
• Stellar oscillations in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity
• Observational discrimination of Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity from general relativity
• Difficulties of Quantitative Tests of the Kerr-Hypothesis with X-Ray Observations of Mass Accreting Black Holes
• An all-purpose metric for the exterior of any kind of rotating neutron star
• Decoding signatures of extra dimensions and estimating spin of quasars from the continuum spectrum
• Absorption by dirty black holes: null geodesics and scalar waves
• I-Love-Q Relations for Neutron Stars in dynamical Chern Simons Gravity
• The Galactic Center as a laboratory for theories of gravity and dark matter
• Effective theory for quantum gravity
• Numerical Black Hole Solutions in Modified Gravity Theories: Axial Symmetry Case
• Optical frequency standards for gravitational wave detection using satellite Doppler velocimetry
• Exploring waveforms with non-GR deviations for extreme mass-ratio inspirals
• Strange stars in $f(\mathcal{R})$ gravity Palatini formalism and gravitational wave echoes from them
• Pulsar timing in extreme mass ratio binaries: a general relativistic approach
• Spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking effects on GRBs jets arising from neutrino pair annihilation process near a black hole
• Hyperons in neutron stars within Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld theory of gravity
• Analysis of accretion disk around a black hole in dRGT massive gravity
• Prospects of detecting deviations to Kerr geometry with radiation reaction effects in EMRIs
• Testing General Relativity's No-Hair Theorem with X-Ray Observations of Black Holes
• The multipolar structure of rotating boson stars
• Neutron star pulse profiles in scalar-tensor theories of gravity
• Anisotropic Quark Stars with an Interacting Quark Equation of State within the Complexity Factor Formalism
• Testing General Relativity with Black Hole-Pulsar Binaries
• Inspiralling compact objects with generic deformations
• Neutron Star Structure in the Presence of Nonminimally Coupled Scalar Fields
• Anisotropic stellar models admitting conformal motion
• Weighing massive neutron star with screening gravity: A look on PSR J0740+6620 and GW190814 secondary component
• Ergosphere, photon region structure, and the shadow of a rotating charged Weyl black hole
• Numerical studies on core collapse supernova in self-interacting massive scalar-tensor gravity
• Black Hole Continuum Spectra as a Test of General Relativity: Quadratic Gravity
• Thin accretion disks around a black hole in Einstein-Aether-scalar theory
• Testing No-Hair Theorem by Quasi-Periodic Oscillations: the quadrupole of GRO J1655$-$40
• Breaking the EOS-Gravity Degeneracy with Masses and Pulsating Frequencies of Neutron Stars
• Black hole accretion discs and screened scalar hair
• Perturbative deflection angle, gravitational lensing in the strong field limit and the black hole shadow
• A Systematic Spectral-Timing Analysis of Kilohertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer Archive
• X-ray Probes of Black Hole Accretion Disks for Testing the No-Hair Theorem
• Inverse-chirp signals and spontaneous scalarisation with self-interacting potentials in stellar collapse
• Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff Equations and their implications or the structures of relativistic Stars in f(T) gravity
• Contraction of cold neutron star due to in the presence a quark core
• Bounds on graviton mass using weak lensing and SZ effect in galaxy clusters
• Neutron Stars in frames of $R^2$-gravity and Gravitational Waves
• Can the Slow-Rotation Approximation be used in Electromagnetic Observations of Black Holes?
• A critical discussion on the $H_0$ tension
• Rotating Black Hole in Kalb-Ramond Gravity: Constraining Parameters by Comparison with EHT Observations of Sgr A* and M87*
• Tidal deformability and radial oscillations of anisotropic polytropic spheres
• Inner Accretion Disk Edges in a Kerr-Like Spacetime
• Astrophysical black holes in screened modified gravity
• Spontaneous Scalarization as a New Core-Collapse Supernova Mechanism and its Multi-Messenger Signals
• Accretion disks around a static black hole in $f(R)$ gravity
• Fragile Black Holes
• Experimental Relativity with Accretion Disk Observations
• Relativistic accretion disk reflection in AGN X-ray spectra at z=0.5--4: a study of four \textit{Chandra} deep fields
• Thermonuclear X-ray bursts from the 401 Hertz accreting pulsar IGR J17498-2921: indication of burning in confined regions
• Testing horizon topology with electromagnetic observations
• Relativistic structure of charged quark stars in energy-momentum squared gravity
• Studies of the Origin of High-Frequency Quasi-Periodic Oscillations of Mass Accreting Black Holes in X-ray Binaries with Next-Generation X-ray Telescopes
• Constraining the KRZ deformation parameters I: limits from supermassive black hole X-ray data
• Gravitational Waves in Chern-Simons-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity
• Novel Scalings of Neutron Star Properties from Analyzing Dimensionless Tolman--Oppenheimer--Volkoff Equations
• Orbital spin dynamics of a millisecond pulsar around a massive black hole with an general mass quadrupole
• Trapped surfaces and nature of singularities in Lyra's geometry
• Five-dimensional compact stars in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity
• Quark stars with isotropic matter in Hořava gravity and Einstein-æther theory
• Magnetized relativistic stellar models in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity
• The exterior spacetime of relativistic stars in scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity
• Moment of inertia of neutron star crust in alternative and modified theories of gravity
• Towards unveiling the large-scale nature of gravity with the wavelet scattering transform
• - Gravitational Waves - A Review on the Conceptual Foundations of Gravitational Radiation
• Anisotropic radiation field and trapped photons around the Kerr black hole
• Black hole in a generalized Chaplygin-Jacobi dark fluid: shadow and light deflection angle
• Effect of Torsion on Neutron Star Structure in Einstein-Cartan Gravity
• Test of relativistic gravity using microlensing of relativistically broadened lines in gravitationally lensed quasars
• Future prospects for measuring 1PPN parameters using observations of S2 and S62 at the Galactic Center
• Effect of Scalar Boson on Fermionic Dark Star
• Modified Kerr black holes surrounded by dark matter spike
• Pseudo-Newtonian equations for evolution of particles and fluids in stationary space-times
• Static Vacuum Solutions on Curved Spacetimes with Torsion
• Quasiperiodic oscillations and Tomimatsu-Sato δ = 2 space-time
• An exact model for evaporating primordial black holes in cosmological space-time
• Electromagnetic radiation generated by a charged particle falling radially into a Schwarzschild black hole: A complex angular momentum description
• Exploring higher order images with Fe K_α-lines from relativistic disks: black hole spin determination and bias
• Testing Ghasemi-Nodehi-Bambi metric parameters with quasi-periodic oscillations
• Relativistic tidal effects in non standard Kerr space-time
• Ricci-Determinant Gravity: Dynamical Aspects and Astrophysical Implications
• An adaptive scheduling tool to optimize measurements to reach a scientific objective: methodology and application to the measurements of stellar orbits in the Galactic Center
• Tachyonic instability and spontaneous scalarization in parameterized Schwarzschild-like black holes
• Kerr-Schild Form of the Exact Metric for a Constantly Moving Kerr Black Hole and Null Gravitational Deflection
• Kilohertz quasi-periodic oscillations in neutron-star X-ray binaries: Flattening of the lag spectrum with increasing luminosity
• Flat Galactic Rotation Curves from Geometry in Weyl Gravity
• Neutron star calculations with the phenomenological three-nucleon force
• Constraining self-interactions of a massive scalar field using scalar gravitational waves from stellar core collapse
• Neutron stars in general relativity and scalar-tensor theory of gravity
• Testing General Relativity in the Strong-Field Regime with Observations of Black Holes in the Electromagnetic Spectrum
• New Insights into Supradense Matter from Dissecting Scaled Stellar Structure Equations
• Study on the energy limits of kHz QPOs in Sco X-1 with $RXTE$ and $Insight$-HXMT observations
• Scalar Gravitational Wave Signals from Core Collapse in Massive Scalar-Tensor Gravity with Triple-Scalar Interactions
• Probing Strong Field $f(R)$ Gravity and Ultra-Dense Matter with the Structure and Thermal Evolution of Neutron Stars
• Null Gravitational Redshift by a Reissner-Nordström Black Hole in the Strong Field Limit
• Geometry-Information Duality: Quantum Entanglement Contributions to Gravitational Dynamics
• Shadow analysis of an approximate rotating black hole solution with weakly coupled global monopole charge
• Observational constraints on the Kerr and its several single-parameter modified spacetimes using quasi-periodic oscillation data
• Mass Distribution and "Mass Gap" of Compact Stellar Remnants in Binary Systems
• Ten years of extreme gravity tests of general theory of relativity with gravitational-wave observations
• Correlation between the curvature and some properties of the neutron star
• A Neutron Star with a Strange Quark Star-like Mass-Radius Relation
• Neutron stars as extreme gravity probes
• Origins and Impacts of High-Density Symmetry Energy
• Neutron stars more compact than black holes as a probe of strong-field gravity
• Testing Modified Gravity with Gravitational Wave Astronomy
• Neutron stars more compact than black holes in quasi-topological gravity: Equilibrium configurations and radial stability
• Investigating Graviton Mass Effects on Black Hole Lensing in dRGT Massive Gravity
• Investigating the interplay of the braneworld gravity and the plasma environment on the black hole shadow
• Impact of Anisotropy on Neutron Star Structure and Curvature
• Numerical Approach to the Exterior Solution of Spherically Symmetric and Static Configuration in Scalar-Tensor Theories
• Gravitational-wave constraints on noncommutative spacetime from GW190814
• Lags of the KiloHertz Quasi-Periodic Oscillations in the transient source XTE J1701$-$462
• Black bounces as magnetically charged phantom regular black holes in Einstein-nonlinear electrodynamics gravity coupled to a self-interacting scalar field