Archisman Ghosh

Conformal invariance and the four point scalar correlator in slow-roll inflation

A bstractWe calculate the four point correlation function for scalar perturbations in the canonical model of slow-roll inflation. We work in the leading slow-roll approximation where the calculation can be done in de Sitter space. Our calculation uses techniques drawn from the AdS/CFT correspondence to find the wave function at late times and then calculate the four point function from it. The answer we get agrees with an earlier result in the literature, obtained using different methods. Our analysis reveals a subtlety with regard to the Ward identities for conformal invariance, which arises in de Sitter space and has no analogue in AdS space. This subtlety arises because in de Sitter space the metric at late times is a genuine degree of freedom, and hence to calculate correlation functions from the wave function of the Universe at late times, one must fix gauge completely. The resulting correlators are then invariant under a conformal transformation accompanied by a compensating coordinate transformation which restores the gauge.

Testing general relativity using golden black-hole binaries

The coalescences of stellar-mass black-hole binaries through their inspiral, merger, and ringdown are among the most promising sources for ground-based gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. If a GW signal is observed with sufficient signal-to-noise ratio, the masses and spins of the black holes can be estimated from just the inspiral part of the signal. Using these estimates of the initial parameters of the binary, the mass and spin of the final black hole can be uniquely predicted making use of general-relativistic numerical simulations. In addition, the mass and spin of the final black hole can be independently estimated from the merger-ringdown part of the signal. If the binary black-hole dynamics is correctly described by general relativity (GR), these independent estimates have to be consistent with each other. We present a Bayesian implementation of such a test of general relativity, which allows us to combine the constraints from multiple observations. Using kludge modified GR waveforms, we demonstrate that this test can detect sufficiently large deviations from GR and outline the expected constraints from upcoming GW observations using the second-generation of ground-based GW detectors.

Dissipative Nonlinear Dynamics in Holography

We look at the response of a nonlinearly coupled scalar eld in an asymptotically AdS black brane geometry and nd a behavior very similar to that of known dissipative nonlinear systems like the chaotic pendulum. Transition to chaos proceeds through a series of period-doubling bifurcations. The presence of dissipation, crucial to this behavior, arises naturally in a black hole background from the ingoing conditions imposed at the horizon. AdS/CFT translates our solution to a chaotic response ofO, the operator dual to the scalar eld. Our setup can also be used to study quenchlike behavior in strongly coupled nonlinear systems.

Testing general relativity using gravitational wave signals from the inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary black holes

Advanced LIGOs recent observations of gravitational waves (GWs) from merging binary black holes have opened up a unique laboratory to test general relativity (GR) in the highly relativistic regime. One of the tests used to establish the consistency of the first LIGO event with a binary black hole merger predicted by GR was the inspiral-merger-ringdown consistency test. This involves inferring the mass and spin of the remnant black hole from the inspiral (low-frequency) part of the observed signal and checking for the consistency of the inferred parameters with the same estimated from the post-inspiral (high-frequency) part of the signal. Based on the observed rate of binary black hole mergers, we expect the advanced GW observatories to observe hundreds of binary black hole mergers every year when operating at their design sensitivities, most of them with modest signal to noise ratios (SNRs). Anticipating such observations, this paper shows how constraints from a large number of events with modest SNRs can be combined to produce strong constraints on deviations from GR. Using kludge modified GR waveforms, we demonstrate how this test could identify certain types of deviations from GR if such deviations are present in the signal waveforms. We also study the robustness of this test against reasonable variations of a variety of different analysis parameters.

Parametrized tests of the strong-field dynamics of general relativity using gravitational wave signals from coalescing binary black holes: Fast likelihood calculations and sensitivity of the method

Thanks to the recent discoveries of gravitational wave signals from binary black hole mergers by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory and Advanced Virgo, the genuinely strong-field dynamics of spacetime can now be probed, allowing for stringent tests of general relativity (GR). One set of tests consists of allowing for parametrized deformations away from GR in the template waveform models and then constraining the size of the deviations, as was done for the detected signals in previous work. In this paper, we construct reduced-order quadratures so as to speed up likelihood calculations for parameter estimation on future events. Next, we explicitly demonstrate the robustness of the parametrized tests by showing that they will correctly indicate consistency with GR if the theory is valid. We also check to what extent deviations from GR can be constrained as information from an increasing number of detections is combined. Finally, we evaluate the sensitivity of the method to possible violations of GR.

Geographic and Annual Influences on Optical Follow-up of Gravitational Wave Events

We investigate the effects of observatory locations on the probability of discovering optical/infrared counterparts of gravitational wave sources. We show that for the LIGO--Virgo network, the odds of discovering optical/infrared (OIR) counterparts show some latitude dependence, but weak or no longitudinal dependence. A stronger effect is seen to arise from the timing of LIGO/Virgo observing runs, with northern OIR observatories having better chances of finding the counterparts in northern winters. Assuming identical technical capabilities, the tentative mid-2017 three-detector network observing favors southern OIR observatories for discovery of EM counterparts.