Multiparameter multipolar test of general relativity with gravitational waves

Amplitude and phase of the gravitational waveform from compact binary systems can be decomposed in terms of their mass- and current-type multipole moments. In a modified theory of gravity, one or more of these multipole moments could deviate from general theory of relativity. In this work, we show that a waveform model that parametrizes the amplitude and phase in terms of the multipole moments of the binary can facilitate a novel multiparameter test of general relativity with exquisite precision. Using a network of next-generation gravitational-wave observatories, simultaneous deviation in the leading seven multipoles of a GW190814-like binary can be bounded to within 6%-40% depending on the multipole order, while supermassive black hole mergers observed by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna achieve a bound of 0.3%-2%. We further argue that bounds from multipoles can be uniquely mapped onto other parametrized tests of general relativity and have the potential to become a downstream analysis from which bounds of other parametric tests of general relativity can be derived. The set of multipole parameters, therefore, provides an excellent basis to carry out precision tests of general relativity.