Self-introduction: Che-Yu Chen

Hi, my name is Che-Yu Chen, a Taiwanese researcher, joining RIKEN iTHEMS as an SPDR in April 2023. I got my Ph.D. in Physics from National Taiwan University in 2019. After my graduation, I stayed as a postdoc at LeCosPA-NTU (2019-2020) and then became an AS postdoc at the Institute of Physics, Academia Sinica (2020-2023), before coming to RIKEN.

My interest is mainly in gravitational physics, including modified gravity and the phenomenological aspects of quantum gravity. In particular, I'm currently working on using state-of-the-art black hole observations to test general relativity (GR), or even to probe putative non-GR physics. The direct detection of gravitational waves emitted from binary black hole mergers, and the images of supermassive black holes, have ushered in a completely new era in which directly probing spacetimes near black holes becomes possible. There are several interesting non-GR physics, some of which could even be motivated by quantum gravitational effects. These non-GR physics could induce non-trivial or even unique imprints on gravitational waveforms and black hole images, and hence can possibly be tested in the future. A better understanding of this topic can tell us how well GR describes such extreme spacetime regimes, and if it were to be modified, which direction is more observationally preferred. I'm looking forward to the fruitful discussions with the iTHEMS members in the future.