Testing General Relativity with NuSTAR Data of Galactic Black Holes
Ashutosh Tripathi, Yuexin Zhang, Askar B. Abdikamalov, Dimitry Ayzenberg, Cosimo Bambi, Jiachen Jiang, Honghui Liu, Menglei Zhou
Abstract
Abstract Einstein’s theory of General Relativity predicts that the spacetime metric around astrophysical black holes is described by the Kerr solution. In this work, we employ state-of-the-art relativistic reflection modeling to analyze a selected set of NuSTAR spectra of Galactic black holes to obtain the most robust and precise constraints on the Kerr black hole hypothesis possible today. Our constraints are much more stringent than those from other electromagnetic techniques and, with some sources, we find stronger constraints than those currently available from gravitational waves.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsGeneral relativityBlack hole (networking)Numerical relativitySpacetimeBinary black holeKerr metricMetric (unit)Theory of relativityTests of general relativityGravitational waveGravitationAstrophysicsTheoretical physicsSupermassive black holeReflection (computer programming)Stellar black holeIntermediate-mass black holeEinsteinEinstein field equationsRotating black holeGravitational collapseUniverseSet (abstract data type)Classical mechanicsAstronomyCosmologyAstrophysical Phenomena and ObservationsPulsars and Gravitational Waves ResearchRelativity and Gravitational Theory