High Energy Physics Seminar

The gravitational multipole structure is an elementary aspect of astrophysical black holes that is firmly within observational reach and that is expected to be measured precisely in the not-too-distant future, even beyond the mass (monopole moment) and spin (dipole moment). In addition, the multipole structure of black holes is highly constrained and particularly simple in general relativity while its interpretation remains meaningful for compact objects and theories of gravity in general. This makes it a useful tool to test (elements of) our understanding of astrophysical black holes. After sketching the context of current observational and formal developments relating to gravitational multipole moments, I will revisit the potential of the space-based gravitational wave detector LISA to measure the multipole moments of supermassive black holes with extreme mass ratio inspirals. Specifically, I focus on the set of multipoles that vanish for rotating black holes in general relativity on account of a symmetry of these black holes. Based on arXiv:2201.03569 in collaboration with Daniel Mayerson.

The talk is in 469 Lauritsen.

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