Gravitational Wave Probes of Fundamental Physics, Amsterdam 2019

Gravitational-wave echoes

Waveforms and templates @ http://www.DarkGRA.org/gw-echo-catalogue.html

There’s a crack in everything – that’s how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen

Paolo Pani
Sapienza University of Rome & INFN Roma1
https://web.uniroma1.it/gmunu
 Testing BHs, why should we care?
The observational status of black holes (BHs) is now more solid than ever
[LIGO-Virgo Collaboration (2016-now)]
(Classical) BHs in GR are very economical:

Arbitrary mass

Compactness M/R ~ 1 (G=c=1 units henceforth)

Sound formation mechanism

Linearly (at least mode) stable

[Dafermos & Rodnianski; Clay Math. Proc. (2013)]

Consistent with all observations

[EHT Collaboration. (2019)]

So why questioning the BH picture and

testing exotic compact objects (ECOs)?
P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 2/16
Testing BHs, why should we care?
New species of compact objects?

Lesson from timeline of particle physics discovery

The dark matter connection

Can ECOs form (part of) the dark matter? (es. boson/axion stars)

Quantifying the evidence for BHs

Lessons from tests of the WEP, etc, how to even formulate the problem?

Problems on the horizon

BH exterior is fine, interior is not → singularities, Cauchy horizons, CTCs…

BHs are required for self consistency of General Relativity [Cosmic Censorship]

Drawbacks: Huge entropy, unitarity loss, thermodynamical instability [Hawking 1972]

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 3/16

Testing BHs, why should we care?
Resolution of Hawking’s paradox might require drastic changes at the horizon:

New physics at the horizon (e.g. firewalls, nonlocality) [Almheri+, Giddings+, 2012-2017]

Regular, horizonless compact objects (e.g. fuzzballs) [Mathur, 2007-, Bena+ 2015, Turton, Warner]

singularity regular

Tunneling probability to quantum state:

small amplitude →

but huge phase space →

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 4/16

Exotic compact objects (ECOs)
Cardoso & Pani, Living Rev Relativ (2019) 22:4

Several models/proposals

Different levels of “robustness” and open problems

Equilibrium sols? Stability? Formation? Coalescence?

Phenomenologically:

“Good” ECOs [fluid stars, anisotropic stars, boson stars, oscillatons, ...]

“Bad” ECOs [fuzzballs, gravastars, wormholes, firewalls…]

Two approaches:

Model-dependent and from first principles

Phenomenological and agnostic on the model

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 5/16

GW-based tests of ECOs
Slide concept by T. Hinderer and A. Maselli

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 6/16

 GW spectroscopy
Post-merger signal → superposition of QNMs
[e.g. Kokkotas & Schmidt (1999), Berti, Cardoso, Starinets (2009)]

QNMs of Kerr BH in GR depends only mass and spin [no hair] (2+ modes needed)

Mode shift (due to different object, different dynamics, or couplings)

Extra ringdown modes (e.g., extra polarizations, fields, matter) → amplitudes?

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 7/16

 QNMs of exotic compact objects

photon sphere
[e.g. Kokkotas & Schmidt (1999), Berti, Cardoso, Starinets (2009)]

QNMs exponentially sensitive to

boundary conditions

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 8/16

 QNMs of exotic compact objects

photon sphere
[e.g. Kokkotas & Schmidt (1999), Berti, Cardoso, Starinets (2009)]

QNMs exponentially sensitive to

boundary conditions

Ultracompact stars generically

support trapped modes
Chandrasekhar & Ferrari PRSLA (1991)
?
No horizon → QNM spectrum dramatically different

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 8/16

 QNM spectrum of an UCO
Cardoso, Franzin, Pani, PRL (2016)

BH QNMs

it
l im
BH

Generic feature: low-frequency, long-lived QNMs in the BH limit

QNM spectrum dramatically different → ringdown?

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 9/16

 GW echoes

Ringdown of a Schwarzschild BH
(Gaussian perturbation)

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 10/16

 GW echoes
Cardoso & PP, Nature Astronomy (2017)

Prompt ringdown is identical,

but GW “echoes” at late time
Kokkotas 1996; Ferrari & Kokkotas, PRD 2000
Cardoso, Franzin, PP, PRL (2016), Cardoso+ PRD (2016)

Delay time → log dependence

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 10/16

 GW echoes
Cardoso & PP, Nature Astronomy (2017)

Prompt ringdown is identical,

but GW “echoes” at late time
Kokkotas 1996; Ferrari & Kokkotas, PRD 2000
Cardoso, Franzin, PP, PRL (2016), Cardoso+ PRD (2016)

Delay time → log dependence

Even Planck-scale corrections near horizon are within reach!

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 10/16

 Model-independent signatures
Only a (classical) horizon absorbs everything!

Reflectivity arises in many contexts:

Stellar-like regular interior
“Fuzziness”
Quantum emission from horizon
Can be modelled by frequency-dependent reflectivity coefficient

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 11/16

GW searches for echoes with LIGO/Virgo
Tentative evidence in LIGO O1 [Abedi+, 2017, Conklin+ 2018]
d=100 M, M=30 Msun, D=400 Mpc
Contrasting results [Abedi+ 2017-2018, Ashton+ 2017, Westerweck+ 2018,
Conklin+ 2019]

Tentative detection of ~72 Hz echoes @4.2 σ in

GW170817 [Abedi & Afshordi 1803.10454]

Absence of statistical evidence in O1 and O2

confirmed by recent analyses [Uchikata+ 1906.00838, Tsang+ 1906.11168]

Near-horizon quantum (?) structures within reach!

Negative searches also important → constrain/rule out ECO models

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 12/16

 Potential inferences from echoes
→ Remnant has photon sphere but ~ no horizon → neither GR BH nor ordinary NS
PP & Ferrari, CQG Letters (2018) Anisotropic stars

Raposo+, Phys. Rev. D 99, 104050 (2019)

Echoes in GW170817-like system would be compatible with

Near-horizon quantum structures [Cardoso+ 2016, Abedi+ 2017, Wang+ 2019, ...]

NS with very exotic matter [Pani-Ferrari 2018, Mannarelli & Tonelli, PRD 2018])

Modified theories of gravity [Conklin+ 2017, Buoninfante+ 2019, Delhom+ 2019]

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 GW echo modeling
Signal is rich: amplitude/frequency modulation, spin effects, reflectivity…

Re-processing through a transfer function [Mark+ PRD96 084002 (2017)]

Progress in modeling [Nakano+ 2017; Mark+ 2017; Maselli+ 2017, Bueno+ 2018, Wang & Afshordi PRD 2018,
Tsang+ 2018-2019, Testa & PP 2018, Wang+ 2019, Uchikata+ 2019, Maggio+ 2019… ]

Other strategies:
Dyson series (potential as a perturbation) [Correia & Cardoso 2018]

Resonances (in the transfer function) [Conklin+ 2018-2019]

Model-agnostic “wavelets” burst searches [Tsang+ PRD 2018, 1906.11168]

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 Echo modeling & detectability
[Testa & PP 180604253, Maggio+ 1907.03091]

Physically-motivated, analytical template:

Reflectivity can be complex!

Mixing of polarizations

Spin-dependent modulation

Large reflectivity crucial for detection

Waveforms, templates, and movies available @ http://www.DarkGRA.org/gw-echo-catalogue.html

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 Conclusion & Outlook

Cardoso, Pani - CERN Courier, Jan 2017

Gravity community is undergoing a revolution

Probing fundamental physics with gravitational observations

Testing quantum gravity? In the search of a log...

Better understanding/modeling is needed (especially of IMR signal)

Current observations put new constraints on ECO models

Mimicking BHs is extremely challenging → observational & theoretical issues

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Backup slides
“Nothing is More Necessary than
the Unnecessary” [cit.]

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019

Echoes VS LISA noise curve
[Testa & PP (to appear)]

P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019

 The role of the photon sphere
Cardoso, Hopper, Macedo, Palenzuela, Pani; PRD94 084031 (2016)

[Credits: Seth Hopper]

Generic features for ultracompact ECOs (wormholes, gravastars,ultracompact stars, ...)

[Ferrari & Kokkotas, PRD 2000]

The ringdown of ECOs without light ring is qualitatively different

[Chirenti & Rezzolla, PRD 2016]

GW observations can rule out less compact ECOs without light ring
P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019 10/23
P. Pani - GW Echoes @ Amsterdam 11/11/2019
 Searching for the absence
When testing BHs we don’t look for something, but for the absence thereof

Surface / internal structure

Radiation from the object

Hair / multipolar structure

Tidal Love numbers

BHs are unique yet simple

BHs in GR+SM described by 3 parameters → multiple consistency tests

Need models and framework to go beyond null tests

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