Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap

doi:10.15161/oar.it/dz84k-qee41

Published June 13, 2018 | Version v1

Preprint Open

Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap

The grand challenges of contemporary fundamental physics---dark matter, darkenergy, vacuum energy, inflation and early universe cosmology, singularitiesand the hierarchy problem---all involve gravity as a key component. And of allgravitational phenomena, black holes stand out in their elegant simplicity,while harbouring some of the most remarkable predictions of General Relativity:event horizons, singularities and ergoregions. The hitherto invisible landscapeof the gravitational Universe is being unveiled before our eyes: the historicaldirect detection of gravitational waves by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration marksthe dawn of a new era of scientific exploration. Gravitational-wave astronomywill allow us to test models of black hole formation, growth and evolution, aswell as models of gravitational-wave generation and propagation. It willprovide evidence for event horizons and ergoregions, test the theory of GeneralRelativity itself, and may reveal the existence of new fundamental fields. Thesynthesis of these results has the potential to radically reshape ourunderstanding of the cosmos and of the laws of Nature. The purpose of this workis to present a concise, yet comprehensive overview of the state of the art inthe relevant fields of research, summarize important open problems, and lay outa roadmap for future progress.

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