Strong Gravity research at Perimeter Institute is devoted to understanding both the theoretical and observational aspects of systems in which gravity is very strong (i.e., spacetime is highly curved or dynamical],. On one hand, this means studying extreme astrophysical systems, like black holes and neutron stars, as well as making and testing predictions for existing and forthcoming gravitational wave detectors, electromagnetic telescopes, and particle astrophysics experiments. On the other hand, it also includes a range of non-astrophysical topics, such as the instabilities of higher-dimensional black holes or the dynamics of strongly-coupled quantum field theories (via holography). The goal of strong gravity researcher is to test the validity of Einstein's theory of gravity, constrain proposed alternatives, understand the most extreme astrophysical systems, and investigate the ways in which highly curved or dynamical spacetimes are linked with a range of other problems in fundamental physics.
Format results
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8 talks-Collection NumberC19032
Talk
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PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity (East)
15 talks-Collection NumberC19008Talk
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PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity - Lecture 1
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity - Lecture 2
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity - Lecture 4
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity - Lecture 5
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity - Lecture 6
Luis Lehner Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity - Lecture 7
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity - Lecture 8
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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Path to Kilohertz Gravitational-Wave Astronomy
17 talks-Collection NumberC18014Talk
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Hitting the High Notes: The High Frequency Dynamics of Neutron Star Mergers
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
PIRSA:18060045 -
Post-Merger Gravitational Wave Emission
Andreas Bauswein Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA), Garching
PIRSA:18060046 -
Searching for Ultralight Particles with Gravitational Waves
Masha Baryakhtar University of Washington
PIRSA:18060047 -
3G Detectors, Voyager
Rana Adhikari California Institute of Technology (Caltech) - Division of Physics Mathematics & Astronomy
PIRSA:18060048 -
Discussion Session
PIRSA:18060049 -
Gravitational Wave Telescopes: Some Cosmological Considerations
Latham Boyle University of Edinburgh
PIRSA:18060050 -
Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational-Wave Population Inference
Eric Thrane Monash University - Department of Physics
PIRSA:18060051
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Searching for New Particles with Black Hole Superradiance
11 talks-Collection NumberC18010Talk
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Searching for Light Bosons with Black Hole Superradiance
Savas Dimopoulos Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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Superradiant instabilities and rotating black holes
Sam Dolan University of Southampton
PIRSA:18050028 -
Superradiant instabilities and rotating black holes
Avery Broderick University of Waterloo
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Measuring Stellar-Mass Black Hole Spins via X-ray Spectroscopy
James Steiner Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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Superradiance Beyond the Linear Regime
Frans Pretorius Princeton University
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Characterization of compact objects with present and future ground-based gravitational-wave detectors
Salvatore Vitale Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
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LIGO and Virgo continuous wave searches - Overview and all-sky searches
keith Riles University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
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Directed and targeted searches for continuous gravitational waves
Sylvia Zhu Albert Einstein Institute
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Quantum Black Holes in the Sky?
34 talks-Collection NumberC17055Talk
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Quantifying the evidence for black holes with GW and EM probes
Paolo Pani Instituto Superior Tecnico - Departamento de Física
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Echoes from the Abyss: Tentative Evidence for Planck-Scale Structure at Black Hole Horizons
Jahed Abedi University of Stavanger (UiS)
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Improvements on the methods for searching echoes
Julian Westerweck Albert Einstein Institute
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A model-independent search for gravitational-wave echoes
Archisman Ghosh Institucio Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avancats (ICREA) - Universitat de Barcelona
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An alternative significance estimation for the evidence for echoes
Alex Nielsen Albert Einstein Institute
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Discussion: Evidence for Echoes
PIRSA:17110074 -
Inspiral Tests of Strong-field Gravity and Ringdown Tests of Quantum Black Holes
Kent Yagi University of Virginia
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A Recipe for Echoes
Aaron Zimmerman The University of Texas at Austin
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity (Turok)
15 talks-Collection NumberC17036Talk
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity - Lecture 1
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity - Lecture 2
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity - Lecture 3
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity - Lecture 4
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity - Lecture 5
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity - Lecture 6
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity - Lecture 7
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity - Lecture 8
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity (Turok)
14 talks-Collection NumberC16010Talk
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PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity - Lecture 1
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity - Lecture 2
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity - Lecture 3
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity - Lecture 4
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity - Lecture 5
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity - Lecture 6
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity - Lecture 7
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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EHT 2014
54 talks-Collection NumberC14041Talk
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Welcome to Perimeter Institute and the EHT 2014 Conference
Neil Turok University of Edinburgh
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Growth of supermassive black holes and their relationships to their host galaxies
Marta Volonteri Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
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Polarized emission from Black Hole Accretion Disks and Jets
Jonathan McKinney University of Maryland, College Park
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Stellar Orbits at the Galactic Center
Andrea Ghez University of California, Los Angeles
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Particle Acceleration and Non-thermal Emission in Radiatively Inefficient Accretion Flows
Eliot Quataert University of California, Berkeley
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Particle Acceleration in Magnetically-Dominated Turbulence
Rostom Mbarek University of Maryland, College Park
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Lecture - Strong Gravity, PHYS 777
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics
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PSI 2019/2020 - Classical Physics (Kubiznak)
8 talks-Collection NumberC19032PSI 2019/2020 - Classical Physics (Kubiznak) -
PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity (East)
15 talks-Collection NumberC19008PSI 2018/2019 - Strong Field Gravity (East) -
Path to Kilohertz Gravitational-Wave Astronomy
17 talks-Collection NumberC18014We are entering an exponentially growing phase of gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy excitingly represented by the Nobel Prize in Physics last year - only two years after the first detection. The successful multi-messenger detection of binary neutron star merger in last August has triggered increasing interests to probe the neutron star post-merger gravitational radiations as they will give more decisive and informative description of the post-merger object itself and the GW/electromagnetic emission mechanism. As the post-merger GWs mainly lie in the 1kHz-4kHz band it becomes necessary and important to think about possible third-generation GW detectors that are primarily sensitive to the high frequency band. In this workshop we shall focus on possible science case and detector configuration for kHz high-frequency detectors. We will have several invited talks while leaving more time for free discussions. We hope this workshop can serve as a seed for much broader discussions in the GW astronomy community and help promote high frequency detectors as one of the development directions of third-generation GW detectors.
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Searching for New Particles with Black Hole Superradiance
11 talks-Collection NumberC18010Black hole superradiance is a fascinating process in general relativity and a unique window on ultralight particles beyond the standard model. Bosons -- such as axions and dark photons -- with Compton wavelengths comparable to size of astrophysical black holes grow exponentially to form large clouds spinning down the black hole in the process and produce monochromatic continuous gravitational wave radiation. In the era of gravitational wave astronomy and increasingly sensitive observations of astrophysical black holes and their properties superradiance of new light particles is a promising avenue to search for new physics in regimes inaccessible to terrestrial experiments. This workshop will bring together theorists data analysts and observers in particle physics gravitational wave astronomy strong gravity and high energy astrophysics to explore the signatures of black hole superradiance and to study the current and future possibilities of searching for new particles with black holes.
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Quantum Black Holes in the Sky?
34 talks-Collection NumberC17055The past decade has witnessed significant breakthroughs in understanding the quantum nature of black holes, with insights coming from quantum information theory, numerical relativity, and string theory. At the same time, astrophysical and gravitational wave observations can now provide an unprecedented window into the phenomenology of black hole horizons. This workshop seeks to bring together leading experts in these fields to explore new theoretical and observational opportunities and synergies that could improve our physical understanding of quantum black holes.
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PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity (Turok)
15 talks-Collection NumberC17036PSI 2017/2018 - Relativity (Turok) -
PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity (Turok)
14 talks-Collection NumberC16010PSI 2016/2017 - Relativity (Turok) -
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Particle Acceleration in Magnetically-Dominated Turbulence
Rostom Mbarek University of Maryland, College Park
Building on recent advancements in understanding particle transport in magnetized media, we present a first-principles scaling law for the formation of non-thermal tails in particle spectra within mildly and strongly magnetized turbulent plasmas. This scaling is validated using results from kinetic Particle-In-Cell simulations, which show excellent agreement with our theoretical predictions. Finally, we discuss the astrophysical implications of these findings, particularly for the proton spectra in the coronae of supermassive black holes. -
Fast radio bursts as precursor radio emission from monster shocks
Amir LevinsonIt has been proposed recently that the breaking of MHD waves in the inner magnetosphere of strongly magnetized neutron stars can power different types of high-energy transients. We have studied the steepening and dissipation of a strongly magnetized fast magnetosonic wave propagating in a declining background magnetic field, by means of particle-in-cell simulations that encompass MHD scales. Our analysis confirms the formation of a monster shock as $B^2-E^2$ approaches zero, that dissipates about half of the fast magnetosonic wave energy, and reveals, for the first time, the generation of a high-frequency precursor wave at the monster shock, carrying a fraction of 0.001 of the total energy dissipated at the shock. The spectrum of the precursor wave exhibits several sharp harmonic peaks, with frequencies in the GHz band under conditions anticipated in magnetars. Such signals may appear as fast radio bursts. -
Modeling X-ray emission in radiation-rich magnetar magnetospheres
Jens Mahlmann Dartmouth College
Neutron star magnetospheres are a source of abundant X-ray activity. They have transients observed in different bands, like the fast radio burst (FRB) and associated hard X-ray flare from the Galactic magnetar SGR 1935+2154. We present global models for magnetar X-ray emission, including a landmark first-principle radiative particle-in-cell simulation of the twisted magnetar magnetosphere with the GPU-PIC code Entity. In one scenario, plasma particles accelerated by surface-motion-induced discharges interact resonantly with thermal background photons. Our GPU-accelerated particle-in-cell simulations track up-scattered high-energy photons that drive secondary pair production and ignite a magnetospheric circuit that persistently generates X-rays. We divulge the plasma properties of such a magnetospheric circuit, including densities and velocities, and give an outlook on alternative ignition scenarios for persistent magnetar X-ray emission. -
Lecture - Strong Gravity, PHYS 777
William East Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics