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Astrophysics, Relativity, and Cosmology Seminar - Fatemeh Taherasghari (UIUC) "Probing Gravitational Lorentz Invariance: Einstein-Aether Theory and Compact Binary Dynamics in Post-Minkowskian Framework"

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Department of Physics
Location
Loomis 464
Virtual
wifi event
Date
Nov 6, 2024   12:00 pm  
Speaker
Fatemeh Taherasghari
Contact
Deanna Frye
E-Mail
ddebord@illinois.edu
Views
26
Originating Calendar
Physics - Astrophysics, Relativity, and Cosmology Seminar

In this study, we investigate Einstein-Aether (AE) theories of gravity using the post-Minkowskian approach. These theories extend the spacetime metric by adding a dynamical, long-range vector field with a fixed norm. We focus on a three-parameter subclass of AE theories in which the speed of tensor gravitational waves is the same as the speed of light, a fact established to extraordinary precision by the observation of gravitational waves and gamma ray bursts from the neutron star inspiral event GW 170817. We apply the formalism of post-Minkowskian theory and the Direct Integration of the Relaxed Einstein Equations (DIRE) to AE gravity, with the goal of deriving equations of motion and gravitational waveforms for compact binary systems to high orders in a post-Newtonian expansion. Our analysis incorporates Eardley's method to parameterize how variations in the aether field affect the mass of self-gravitating bodies. This approach sets the stage for future high-order calculations and lays the foundation for testing gravitational Lorentz invariance through precise observations of compact binaries, potentially revealing new insights into deviations from general relativity in strong-field regimes.

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