Two approaches to testing general relativity in the strong-field regime

Abstract

Observations of compact objects in the electromagnetic spectrum and the detection of gravitational waves from them can lead to quantitative tests of the theory of general relativity in the strong-field regime following two very different approaches. In the first approach, the general relativistic field equations are modified at a fundamental level and the magnitudes of the potential deviations are constrained by comparison with observations. In the second approach, the exterior spacetimes of compact objects are parametrized in a phenomenological way, the various parameters are measured observationally, and the results are finally compared against the general relativistic predictions. In this article, I discuss the current status of both approaches, focusing on the lessons learned from a large number of recent investigations.

To appear in the proceedings of the conference New Developments in Gravity

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• Constraint on energy-momentum squared gravity from neutron stars and its cosmological implications
• Exploring New Physics Frontiers Through Numerical Relativity
• NR/HEP: roadmap for the future
• Testing Kerr Black Hole Mimickers with Quasi-Periodic Oscillations from GRO J1655-40
• Geodesic models of quasi-periodic-oscillations as probes of quadratic gravity
• Sgr A*: The Optimal Testbed of Strong-Field Gravity
• Testing No-Hair Theorem by Quasi-Periodic Oscillations: the quadrupole of GRO J1655$-$40
• Rotating Black Hole in Kalb-Ramond Gravity: Constraining Parameters by Comparison with EHT Observations of Sgr A* and M87*
• A Born-Infeld-like f(R) gravity