Testing General Relativity with Gravitational Waves: An Overview

TL;DR

This paper reviews how gravitational wave detections from compact binary mergers enable tests of Einstein's general relativity in strong gravitational fields, summarizing current methods and future prospects.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of GW-based tests of GR performed by LIGO-Virgo, categorizing methods and discussing future improvements with new detectors.

Findings

No deviations from GR detected in current GW observations

Four categories of tests: consistency, parametrized, remnant, polarization

Future detectors will enhance the sensitivity of GR tests

Abstract

The detections of gravitational-wave (GW) signals from compact binary coalescence by ground-based detectors have opened up the era of GW astronomy. These observations provide opportunities to test Einstein's general theory of relativity at the strong-field regime. Here we give a brief overview of the various GW-based tests of General Relativity (GR) performed by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration on the detected GW events to date. After providing details for the tests performed in four categories, we discuss the prospects for each test in the context of future GW detectors. The four categories of tests include the consistency tests, parametrized tests for GW generation and propagation, tests for the merger remnant properties, and GW polarization tests.