Thesis

Black holes as engines of discovery

• Call:

  PT-CERN Call 2021/2

• Academic Year:

  2021

• Domain:

  Astroparticle Physics

• Supervisor:

  Vitor Cardoso

• Co-Supervisor:

  Paulo Garcia

• Institution:

  Instituto Superior Técnico (Universidade de Lisboa)

• Host Institution:

  CENTRA - Center for astrophysics and gravitation

• Abstract:

  The detection of gravitational waves opened a new window onto the universe and became a powerful tool to understand dynamical astrophysical phenomena such as collisions of black holes. Together with observations of the Event Horizon Telescope and astrometric measurements of GRAVITY, gravitational waves have started to turn gravity research into a data-driven field and providing much needed insights about fundamental physics. The goal of this project will be to investigate the phenomenology of gravity theories to probe the spacetime geometry at extreme conditions in the cosmos. This will be done focusing on the impact of tidal fields on the stability and the shape of accretion disks, studying the effects of nontrivial galactic content, such as dark matter, in the motion of stars close to the galactic center and finally testing the black holes nature comparing the relaxation stage of compact geometries not having an horizon with experimental data.