All strong gravitational field observations are indistinguishable from general relativity.
The troublesome cases are in weak gravitational fields in very large systems like galaxies that are usually modeled with simple Newtonian gravity because the math necessary to calculate their behavior in full GR is too hard and is assumed by good arguments, but without actual calculations that could capture non-perturbative effects, to be insignificant.
The signals from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA network of gravitational-wave (GW) detectors allow us to perform sensitive tests of general relativity (GR) in the dynamical and strong-field regime of gravity.
We present the results of seven tests of GR using the observed binary signals in the fifth GW Transient Catalog (GWTC-5.0), i.e., up to and including the second part of the fourth observing run (O4b). We restrict our analysis to the confident signals, henceforth called events, observed by at least two detectors that have estimated false alarm rates ≤ 10^−3 yr^−1. These include 72 events from O4b and five events from the first part of the fourth observing run that are now analyzed due to their increased significance from updated search results, bringing the total number of events for tests of GR in the cumulative GWTC to 168.
After subtracting the best-fit waveforms, we find the residuals are consistent with detector noise for all events considered. We also find no strong evidence for additional polarizations beyond those predicted by GR.
We perform tests of GW generation, improving the constraints on deviations from the GR post-Newtonian coefficients by factors of 1.2-2.6.
Finally, we find overall consistency of the remnants with GR using both time- and frequency-domain methods. For GW240621_195059, postmerger data are consistent with the dominant quadrupolar (ℓ = |m| = 2) mode of a Kerr black hole and its first overtone, with spurious high-frequency content preventing a spectroscopic constraint of GR. In the frequency-domain ringdown analysis, the GR prediction lies in the tails of the combined results, possibly due to the limited catalog size.
However, the combined results indicate improved consistency with GR over GWTC-4.0, owing to the contribution of GW250114 with a network matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 76.9. Overall, we find no evidence for physics beyond GR.
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration, the KAGRA Collaboration, "GWTC-5.0: Tests of General Relativity" arXiv:2607.19293 (report number LIGO-P2500781) (July 21, 2026).
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