Testing Einstein-dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet gravity with the reflection spectrum of accreting black holes

Abstract

Einstein-dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet gravity is a theoretically well-motivated alternative theory of gravity emerging as a low-energy four-dimensional model from heterotic string theory. Its rotating black hole solutions are known numerically and can have macroscopic deviations from the Kerr black holes of Einstein's gravity. Einstein-dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet gravity can thus be tested with observations of astrophysical black holes. In the present paper, we simulate observations of the reflection spectrum of thin accretion disks with present and future x-ray facilities to understand whether x-ray reflection spectroscopy can distinguish the black holes in Einstein-dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet gravity from those in Einstein's gravity. We find that this is definitively out of reach for present x-ray missions, but it may be achieved with the next generation of facilities.