The group's research on strong gravity involves finding analytical and numerical solutions of Einstein's theory of general relativity, and many of its extensions, either in vacuum or coupled to various types of matter. For our latest developments/activities in this area, please see the listing at the end of this article.
The prime examples of (relativistic) strong gravitational systems are Black Holes. They are truly unifying objects of all physics. The understanding of their formation and dynamics requires the laws of all four fundamental forces, and their physics is relevant not only for astrophysics and cosmology but for a variety of topics within high energy physics.
See here a movie made by the COST action `Black holes in a violent universe', in which our group participates, for a visual overview of different types of black holes.
On September 14, the Fábrica Centro de Ciência Viva de Aveiro hosted a full-day event dedicated to gravitational waves and gravitation, bringing together audiences of all ages to celebrate science, discovery, and knowledge sharing.
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a consortium including our group member Hector Olivares, has revealed new detailed images of the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87 — known as M87* — which show a dynamic environment, with changing polarization patterns near the black hole. More: Video explanation, UA online, EHT website.
The XVIII edition of the Black Holes Workshop will take place at the Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal, on December 18-19, 2025.
As part of the celebrations marking 10 years of gravitational wave observations, the Aveiro outreach centre Fábrica presents the exhibition Traces of Curvature (Traços de curvatura). This artistic retrospective reflects on the scientific work in strong gravity carried out at the University of Aveiro, which now celebrates its 15th anniversary.
The 2015 Gr@v paper "Shadows of Kerr black holes with scalar hair", published in Physical Review Letters (making the cover of the publication issue), has reached 500 citations in the INSPIRE database.