TAPIR Seminar

Einstein's theory has passed all tests to date in the quasi-stationary weak-field, where gravitational dynamics are weak and quadrupolar, while velocities are small relative to the speed of light. The highly non-linear and dynamical regime of the gravitational interaction, however, remains mostly unexplored. The future detection of gravitational waves will open a window into this regime that will allow us to confront Einstein's predictions to unprecedented levels. In particular, gravitational waves emitted during the late inspiral and coalescence of compact objects will provide detailed information about black holes, neutron stars, and the conservative and dissipative sectors of the gravitational interaction. In this talk, I will review
what type of gravitational wave "hard facts" can be extracted from future detections to constrain (or detect?) deviations from General Relativity.