We show how the model of pseudo-complex general relativity can be tested using gravitational wave signals from coalescing compact objects. The model, which agrees with Einstein gravity in the weak-field limit, diverges dramatically in the near-horizon regime, with certain parameter ranges excluding the existence of black holes. We show that simple limits can be placed on the model in both the inspiral and ringdown phase of coalescing compact objects. We discuss further how these bounds relate to current observational limits. In particular, for minimal scenarios previously considered in the literature, gravitational wave observations are able to constrain pseudo-complex general relativity parameters to values that require the existence of black hole horizons.
Detection of gravitational waves has provided a new way to test black hole (BH) models. We show how simple constraints can be obtained for models that go beyond vacuum Einstein gravity solutions of binary BH mergers. Generic stationary metrics, termed dirty BHs in the literature, are not vacuum solutions of the Einstein equations. These models are, however, general enough to describe BHs surrounded by matter fields. Gravitational wave constraints already rule out certain parts of parameter space for these solutions, including certain parameters describing objects without horizons that have recently been studied in the context of pseudo-complex general relativity.
KEYWORDgravitational waves -black hole physics -methods: observational -relativistic processes -binaries: general 1 How to cite this article: Nielsen AB, Birnholz O. Gravitational wave bounds on dirty black holes. Astron. Nachr. 2019;340:116-120.
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