PIRSA:26030081 Scientific Series Strong Gravity

DOI10.48660/26030081

Series: Strong Gravity

Lu, N. (2026). Probing spacetime with black hole mergers. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/26030081

Lu, Neil. Probing spacetime with black hole mergers. Perimeter Institute, Mar. 26, 2026, https://pirsa.org/26030081 

@misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:26030081,
  doi = {10.48660/26030081},
  url = {https://pirsa.org/26030081},
  author = {Lu, Neil},
  keywords = {Strong Gravity},
  language = {en},
  title = {Probing spacetime with black hole mergers},
  publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
  year = {2026},
  month = {mar},
  note = {PIRSA:26030081 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
}

Abstract

The detection of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers enables us to observe the behavior of spacetimes in the strong-field, highly dynamical regime. The LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA collaboration has now observed hundreds of such events, offering several exciting candidates with differing properties. In this talk I will discuss recent results using these gravitational wave observations to test general relativity and probe the spacetime near black holes. I will present the first confident detection of an overtone in the ringdown signal during the postmerger phase of the binary black hole signal. I will also discuss the “direct wave” signal, a recently proposed model for the merger portion of the waveform that depends on the physics close to the black hole horizon. Finally, I will present the first results from applying this model to real data, using it to analyze the loudest gravitational wave event ever detected.

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