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Testing Gravity Where It Is Strong
Lecturer
Prajwal Hassan Puttasiddappa (UFES, Brazil
and
U. Oslo, Norway)
Language
English
Schedule
14–18 Jul 2025 (5 classes)
Time
10h00 (BRT)/13h00 (UTC)
Workload
10h
Topics
What is strong-gravity regime?
What are the observables in this regime?
What are the tools to analyze the data?
Are these tools independent of assumptions?
What can we tell about the nature of gravity very close to black holes?
Overview
We explore modern techniques available for tests of gravity using stellar orbits and photon dynamics near the Galactic Center. We will analyze stellar motion and infer orbital parameters using both traditional Bayesian statistics and neural networks. We will also look at the possibility of using black hole shadow measurements to constrain deviations from Schwarzschild geometry. We will learn through hands-on exercises.
Prerequisites
Introductory astronomy, basic Python and Mathematica.
Bibliography
Detailed notes and codes, along with other references will be provided during the lectures.
Stellar Orbits around galactic center: We will use data from the paper "An Update on Monitoring Stellar Orbits in the Galactic Center" or through the catalog at this URL.
S. Gillessen,
P. M. Plewa,
F. Eisenhauer,
R. Sari,
I. Waisberg,
M. Habibi,
O. Pfuhl,
E. George,
J. Dexter,
S. von Fellenberg,
T. Ott, and
R. Genzel. “An Update on Monitoring Stellar Orbits in the Galactic Center”.
The Astrophysical Journal837, 30 (2017).
arXiv: 1611.09144 [astro-ph.GA].