Possible Causes of False General Relativity Violations in Gravitational Wave Observations
Reviewed by Pithpith:DQCECPKKopen to challenge →
read the original abstract
General relativity (GR) has proven to be a highly successful theory of gravity since its inception. The theory has thrivingly passed numerous experimental tests, predominantly in weak gravity, low relative speeds, and linear regimes, but also in the strong-field and very low-speed regimes with binary pulsars. Observable gravitational waves (GWs) originate from regions of spacetime where gravity is extremely strong, making them a unique tool for testing GR, in previously inaccessible regions of large curvature, relativistic speeds, and strong gravity. Since their first detection, GWs have been extensively used to test GR, but no deviations have been found so far. Given GR's tremendous success in explaining current astronomical observations and laboratory experiments, accepting any deviation from it requires a very high level of statistical confidence and consistency of the deviation across GW sources. In this paper, we compile a comprehensive list of potential causes that can lead to a false identification of a GR violation in standard tests of GR on data from current and future ground-based GW detectors. These causes include detector noise, signal overlaps, gaps in the data, detector calibration, source model inaccuracy, missing physics in the source and in the underlying environment model, source misidentification, and mismodeling of the astrophysical population. We also provide a rough estimate of when each of these causes will become important for tests of GR for different detector sensitivities. We argue that each of these causes should be thoroughly investigated, quantified, and ruled out before claiming a GR violation in GW observations.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
Forward citations
Cited by 12 Pith papers
-
A New Spin on Dissipative Tides: First-Post-Newtonian Effects in Compact Binary Inspirals
Spin-induced tidal dissipation in compact binaries enters the gravitational-wave phase at 2.5 post-Newtonian order with a logarithmic frequency dependence.
-
Accurate waveforms for generic planar-orbit binary black holes: The multipolar effective-one-body model SEOBNRv6EHM
SEOBNRv6EHM is a multipolar EOB model for eccentric planar-orbit BBHs calibrated to NR simulations, showing low waveform mismatches up to eccentricity 0.9.
-
Realistic Time-Domain Synthesis of Gravitational-Wave Detector Glitches using Class-Conditional Derivative Generative Adversarial Networks
GlitchGAN generates class-conditioned time-domain glitches that pass Gravity Spy classification and show UMAP overlap with real samples while running at high speed.
-
Realistic Time-Domain Synthesis of Gravitational-Wave Detector Glitches using Class-Conditional Derivative Generative Adversarial Networks
GlitchGAN uses class-conditional derivative GANs to synthesize realistic time-domain gravitational-wave detector glitches from seven O3 classes, validated via Gravity Spy classification and UMAP overlap with real samples.
-
A New Spin on Dissipative Tides: First-Post-Newtonian Effects in Compact Binary Inspirals
Dissipative electric-quadrupolar tides in spinning compact binaries enter the gravitational-wave phase at 2.5PN order with a logarithmic frequency dependence, making them non-degenerate with the coalescence phase.
-
Toward claiming a detection of gravitational memory
A framework using scale separation in the Isaacson description defines observable gravitational memory rise for compact binary coalescences, providing a basis for hypothesis testing in LISA data.
-
A Gaussian process framework for testing general relativity with gravitational waves
A Gaussian process framework with a localized-deviation kernel is used to test general relativity on simulated and GWTC-3 binary black hole signals, finding no evidence for deviations and limiting strain deviations to...
-
Agnostically decoding gravitational wave model deficiencies in GWTC-3
No evidence for a mass-scale dependent model deficiency is found in the highest-SNR GWTC-3 events.
-
Probing modified gravitational-wave dispersion with bursts from eccentric black-hole binaries
Applies parameterized dispersion to eccentric BBH burst waveforms, deriving a 2.5PN time-delay correction and Bessel amplitude modulation, then uses Fisher matrix to project LIGO constraints that are stronger than cur...
-
Tests of General Relativity with GW230529: a neutron star merging with a lower mass-gap compact object
Parameterized inspiral tests on GW230529 find consistency with GR, with |δφ̂_{-2}| ≲ 8×10^{-5} and ℓ_GB ≲ 0.51 M_⊙ in ESGB theories.
-
Rapid data quality investigations of gravitational-wave events with the Data Quality Report Builder toolkit
DQRbuild toolkit automates data quality vetting for gravitational-wave events, recovering 96% of human-identified issues from O3 with a 24% false alarm rate.
-
The Early Career Workshop of GR-Amaldi 2025
The paper reports on the aims, activities, and conclusions of an early-career workshop focused on scientific overviews, transferable skills, and networking in gravitational physics.
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.