Compact binary merger events recently discovered by the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations offer us excellent testbeds for probing fundamental physics. In this talk, I first briefly review the tests of General Relativity performed by the LIGO/Virgo Collaborations using the observed gravitational wave events. I will then focus on two theory agnostic tests, namely (i) parameterized tests and (ii) inspiral-merger-ringdown consistency tests. For each case, I describe the current status and explain how such tests will improve in the future. I will also present how such model-independent tests can be applied to specific modified theories of gravity, such as those inspired by string theory.
Kent Yagi received his PhD from Kyoto University in 2012. He then became a postdoctoral researcher at Montana State University. In 2015, he received a JSPS fellowship and moved to Princeton to do his second postdoc. In 2017, he joined University of Virginia as an assistant professor. His research focuses on probing fundamental physics with black holes and neutron stars. His research includes tests of General Relativity with gravitational waves and probing nuclear physics using universal relations (such as "I-Love-Q" relations) among neutron star observables.
More details on Kent's research can be found here.