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GAnG - Prof Pau Figueras

Gravitational waves from Effective Field Theories of Gravity

Supervisor: Professor Pau Figueras

Project description:

 The direct observations of gravitational waves produced in mergers of compact objects have revolutionized the study of gravity. Now we have access to a new strong field regime of gravity, which allows us to carry out new tests of general relativity, the currently accepted classical theory of gravity. With the scheduled upgrades of the current detectors and new generations of detectors planned for the 2030s, we will soon be able to carry out precision tests of gravity with gravitational waves. However, to carry out such tests it would be desirable to have the corresponding predictions from alternative theories of gravity. Obtaining such predictions for a large class of alternative theories of gravity is the goal of this project.  

The theory of general relativity can be understood as a low energy effective field theory of gravity. As such,  on general grounds, it is expected that it should receive corrections from a more fundamental theory of quantum gravity. These corrections appear as new higher derivative terms in the action. In general, theories with higher derivative terms in the action have higher than second order equations of motion and, until very recently, it was not known how to formulate the initial value problem for such theories in a mathematically well-posed manner. Without a well-posed initial value problem, one cannot extract the predictions of a classical theory. In a recent breakthrough, we managed to formulate the initial value problem for higher derivative theories of gravity and the goal of this project is to simulate, using numerical relativity tools, black hole binary mergers in these theories and compute the corresponding gravitational waveforms.  

References:

  • P. Figueras, A. Kovacs and S. Yao, "Stable non-linear evolution in regularised higher derivative effective field theories," JHEP 25, 150 (2020) [arXiv:2505.00082 [hep-th]].
  • P.Figueras, A.Held and A. D. Kovacs, "Well-posed initial value formulation of general effective field theories of gravity," [arXiv:2407.08775 [gr-qc]]. 

Funding Notes:

This project is open to candidates applying for CSC Studentships and self-funded candidates.

Further information: 
How to apply 
Entry requirements 
Fees and funding

PhD Information Session 2026:
On Wednesday 14 January, we will be holding a short information session about PhD studies in Mathematics at QMUL. For full details about the event, please visit: https://www.qmul.ac.uk/maths/postgraduate/postgraduate-research/phd-information-session-2026/

 

As one of the UK’s most diverse universities, QMUL fosters an inclusive and supportive academic community.

The School of Mathematical Sciences is committed to the equality of opportunities and to advancing women’s careers. As holders of a Bronze Athena SWAN award, we offer family-friendly benefits and support part-time study.  

 

 

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