Quantum gravity

Tests of general relativity

Physics

Gravitation

Spacetime

Aerospace engineering

Integrable system

Symmetry (geometry)

Mathematics

Mathematical physics

Quantum field theory in curved spacetime

General relativity

Engineering

Solving the geodesic equations

Mathematical analysis

Mass ratio

Geodesic

Compact star

Gravitational wave

Neutron star

Orbit (dynamics)

Geometry

Astrophysics

Quantum mechanics

Spacetime symmetries

Numerical relativity

Classical mechanics

Quantum

Physical Review Letters

The Kerr geometry admits the Carter symmetry, which ensures that the geodesic equations are integrable. It is shown that gravitational waveforms associated with extreme-mass-ratio inspirals involving a non-integrable compact object display `glitch' phenomena, where the frequencies of gravitational waves increase abruptly, when the orbit crosses certain spacetime regions known as Birkhoff islands. The presence or absence of these features in data from upcoming space-borne detectors will therefore allow not only for tests of general relativity, but also of fundamental spacetime symmetries.

Gravitational Wave Glitches in Chaotic Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals