Nonlinearities in Gravity: Gravitational Wave Ringdown

TL;DR

This paper reviews recent advances in modeling nonlinear quadratic effects in gravitational wave ringdown, which could be detected with future detectors to test general relativity.

Contribution

It summarizes the main properties and latest developments of quadratic nonlinear effects in gravitational wave ringdown models.

Findings

Quadratic effects in ringdown are expected to be detectable with next-generation detectors.

Nonlinear effects can provide new tests of general relativity.

Recent developments enhance understanding of black hole perturbations.

Abstract

The modeling of gravitational wave ringdown has traditionally relied on linear perturbation theory, which mainly describes the late-time behavior of a perturbed black hole after a binary merger. However, the need for more accurate ringdown models has motivated the understanding of nonlinear gravitational effects. In this paper, we summarize the main properties and latest developments of quadratic effects in ringdown models, which are expected to be detectable with next-generation gravitational wave detectors, and will allow for new consistency tests of general relativity.