Is the Gravitational-Wave Ringdown a Probe of the Event Horizon?
Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › Research › peer-review
Documents
- PhysRevLett.116.171101
Final published version, 374 KB, PDF document
It is commonly believed that the ringdown signal from a binary coalescence provides a conclusive proof for the formation of an event horizon after the merger. This expectation is based on the assumption that the ringdown waveform at intermediate times is dominated by the quasinormal modes of the final object. We point out that this assumption should be taken with great care, and that very compact objects with a light ring will display a similar ringdown stage, even when their quasinormal-mode spectrum is completely different from that of a black hole. In other words, universal ringdown waveforms indicate the presence of light rings, rather than of horizons. Only precision observations of the late-time ringdown signal, where the differences in the quasinormal-mode spectrum eventually show up, can be used to rule out exotic alternatives to black holes and to test quantum effects at the horizon scale.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 171101 |
Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 116 |
Issue number | 17 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISSN | 0031-9007 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 27 Apr 2016 |
Externally published | Yes |
- QUASI-NORMAL MODES, BLACK-HOLES, NONRADIAL OSCILLATIONS, ASTROPHYSICS, STAR
Research areas
ID: 299820008