Quasinormal modes of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet-dilaton black holes

Abstract: We study quasinormal modes of static Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet-dilaton black holes. Both axial and polar perturbations are considered and studied from $l=0$ to $l=3$. We emphasize the difference in the spectrum between the Schwarzschild solutions and dilatonic black holes. At large Gauss-Bonnet coupling constant a small secondary branch of black holes is present, when the dilaton coupling is sufficiently strong. The modes of the primary branch can differ from the Schwarzschild modes up to $10\%$. The secondary branch is unstable and possesses long-lived modes. We address the possible effects of these modes on future observations of gravitational waves emitted during the ringdown phase of astrophysical black holes.