Marica Minucci will join the Strong Group as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow to work on the FundBHspec project: “Fundaments of Black Hole Spectroscopy” in collaboration with Rodrigo Panosso Macedo. This project is funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions under the Horizon Europe programme and aims to combine mathematical general relativity, numerical relativity and astrophysics to advance the fundamental theory of black hole spectroscopy. 

Gravitational wave astronomy has emerged as a pivotal field, allowing us to investigate gravity in its strongest regime. Black hole spectroscopy serves as a highly effective method for extracting spacetime information from gravitational wave signals. The late-time radiation emitted by newly formed black holes is characterised by exponentially damped oscillating signals. Analysis of the decaying scales and oscillating frequencies, referred to as quasinormal modes, offers valuable insights into the black hole's background.

Theoretical predictions suggest that small perturbations around a black hole can significantly alter its quasinormal modes spectra. Thus, in dirty environments, quasinormal modes may deviate from the values expected for isolated black holes. Leveraging modern tools from differential geometry and high-precision numerical methods enables comprehension of this instability in quasinormal modes. This project seeks to establish a robust theoretical framework that, when integrated into efforts to measure quasinormal modes, will enhance the scientific gains from black hole spectroscopy in the forthcoming era of high-precision gravitational wave astronomy.