We present results obtained by scattering a scalar field off the curved background of a coalescing binary black hole system. A massless scalar field is evolved on a set of fixed backgrounds, each provided by a spatial hypersurface generated numerically during a binary black hole merger. We show that the scalar field scattered from the merger region exhibits quasinormal ringing once a common apparent horizon surrounds the two black holes. This occurs earlier than the onset of the perturbative regime as measured by the start of the quasinormal ringing in the gravitational waveforms. We also use the scalar quasinormal frequencies to associate a mass and a spin with each hypersurface, and observe the compatibility of this measure with the horizon mass and spin computed from the dynamical horizon framework.
The observation of gravitational-waves from merging supermassive black holes will be transformative: the detection of a low-frequency gravitational-wave background can tell us if and how supermassive black holes merge, inform our knowledge of galaxy merger rates and supermassive black hole masses, and enable the possibility of detecting new physics at nanohertz frequencies. All we have to do is time pulsars.
We consider the spatial clustering of massive black hole (MBH) mergers, and discuss possible ways to use gravitational wave observations in the LISA and DECIGO/BBO range for obtaining cosmological and cosmogonical information. Constraints on large scale structure (LSS) and merger histories may be possible by detections of an alignment of the GW polarization direction with principal axes of the LSS. Constraints on the merger physics and the reionization epoch may be obtained by GW measurements of MBH correlation lengths, in the case when the MBH angular momentum loss occurs through gas drag. Su…
The gravitational wave signal emitted during the coalescence of two neutron stars carries information about the stars' internal structure. During the long inspiral phase the main matter observable is the tidal interaction between the binary components, an effect that can be parametrically modeled with compact-binary solutions to General Relativity. After the binary merger the main observable is frequency modes of the remnant, most commonly giving rise to a short-duration signal accessible only through numerical simulations. The complicated morphology and the decreasing detector sensitivity in …
The extreme-gravity collisions between black holes allow us to probe the underlying theory of gravity. We apply the theory-agnostic inspiral-merger-ringdown consistency test to an example theory beyond general relativity for the first time. Here we focus on the string-inspired Einstein-dilaton Gauss-Bonnet gravity and modify the inspiral, ringdown, and remnant black hole properties of the gravitational waveform. We found that future multiband observations allow us to constrain the theory stronger than current observations by an order of magnitude. The formalism developed here can easily be app…
In this technical note, we study the possibility of using networks of ground-based detectors to directly measure gravitational-wave polarizations using signals from compact binary coalescences. We present a simple data analysis method to partially achieve this, assuming presence of a strong signal well-captured by a GR template.
The strong version of the nonviolent nonlocality proposal of Giddings predicts "strong but soft" quantum metric fluctuations near black hole horizons in an attempt to resolve the information paradox. To study observable signatures of this proposal, we numerically solve Einstein's equations modified by these fluctuations and analyze the gravitational wave signal from the inspiral and merger of two black holes. In a model of evolution for such fluctuations, we show that they lead to significant deviations in the observed waveform, even when the black holes are still well separated, and could pot…
We find strong numerical evidence for a new phenomenon in a binary black hole spacetime, namely the merger of marginally outer trapped surfaces (MOTSs). By simulating the head-on collision of two non-spinning unequal mass black holes, we observe that the MOTS associated with the final black hole merges with the two initially disjoint surfaces corresponding to the two initial black holes. This yields a connected sequence of MOTSs interpolating between the initial and final state all the way through the non-linear binary black hole merger process. In addition, we show the existence of a MOTS wit…
We present the first results of the search for nonlinear memory from subsolar mass binary black hole (BBH) mergers during the second observing run (O2) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. The oscillatory chirp signal from the inspiral and merger of low mass BBHs ($M_\mathrm{Tot} \leq 0.4 M_\odot$) are at very high frequencies and fall outside the sensitivity band of the current ground-based detectors. However, the non-oscillatory memory signal during the merger saturates towards the lower frequencies and can be detected for those proposed BBHs. We show in this work that the morphology of the memo…
We present an investigation into how sensitive the last orbits and merger of binary black hole systems are to the presence of spurious radiation in the initial data. Our numerical experiments consist of a binary black hole system starting the last couple of orbits before merger with additional spurious radiation centered at the origin and fixed initial angular momentum. As the energy in the added spurious radiation increases, the binary is invariably hardened for the cases we tested, i.e. the merger of the two black holes is hastened. The change in merger time becomes significant when the addi…
We perform binary neutron star merger simulations using a newly derived set of finite-temperature equations of state in the Brueckner-Hartree-Fock approach. We point out the important and opposite roles of finite temperature and rotation for stellar stability and systematically investigate the gravitational-wave properties, matter distribution, and ejecta properties in the postmerger phase for the different cases. The validity of several universal relations is also examined and the most suitable EOSs are identified.
Based on the rate of gravitational-wave (GW) detections by Advanced LIGO and Virgo, we expect these detectors to observe hundreds of binary black hole mergers as they achieve their design sensitivities (within a few years). A small fraction of them can undergo strong gravitational lensing by intervening galaxies, resulting in multiple images of the same signal. To a very good approximation, the lensing magnifies/de-magnifies these GW signals without affecting their frequency profiles. We develop a Bayesian inference technique to identify pairs of strongly lensed images among hundreds of binary…
Gravitational wave interactions with a viscous fluid: Core collapse supernova, binary neutron star merger, and accretion around a black hole merger
Rhodes University（罗德斯大学）；National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences (NITheCS)（国家理论与计算科学研究所）；University of South Africa（南非大学）；Luleå tekniska universitet（吕勒奥理工学院）
Gravitational radiation is properly defined only at future null infinity ($\scri$), but in practice it is estimated from data calculated at a finite radius. We have used characteristic extraction to calculate gravitational radiation at $\scri$ for the inspiral and merger of two equal mass non-spinning black holes. Thus we have determined the first unambiguous merger waveforms for this problem. The implementation is general purpose, and can be applied to calculate the gravitational radiation, at $\scri$, given data at a finite radius calculated in another computation.
Recent detections by the gravitational wave facilities LIGO/Virgo have opened a window to study the internal structure of neutron stars through the gravitational waves emitted during their coalescence. In this work we explore, through numerical simulations, the gravitational radiation produced by the merger of binary neutron stars with dark matter particles trapped on their interior, focusing on distinguishable imprints produced by these dark matter cores. Our results reveal the presence of a strong m = 1 mode in the waveforms during the post-merger stage, together with other relevant features…
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics（大学间天文学与天体物理中心）；International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（塔塔基础研究所国际理论科学中心）；Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI)（格兰萨索科学研究所）；INFN, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso（意大利国家核物理研究所格兰萨索国家实验室）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University（华盛顿州立大学物理与天文系）；School of Physics and Astronomy and Institute for Gravitational Wave Astronomy, University of Birmingham（伯明翰大学物理与天文学院及引力波天文研究所）
The short gravitational wave signal from the merger of compact binaries encodes a surprising amount of information about the strong-field dynamics of merger into frequencies accessible to ground-based interferometers. In this paper we describe a previously-unknown "precession" of the peak emission direction with time, both before and after the merger, about the total angular momentum direction. We demonstrate the gravitational wave polarization encodes the orientation of this direction to the line of sight. We argue the effects of polarization can be estimated nonparametrically, directly from …
We present a method to search for gravitational waves from coalescing supermassive binary black holes in LISA data. The search utilizes the $\mathcal{F}$-statistic to maximize over, and determine the values of, the extrinsic parameters of the binary system. The intrinsic parameters are searched over hierarchically using stochastically generated multi-dimensional template banks to recover the masses and sky locations of the binary. We present the results of this method applied to the mock LISA data Challenge 1B data set.
Numerical simulations of Scalar Dark Matter Around Binary Neutron Star mergers
Universität Potsdam（波茨坦大学）；Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)（马克斯·普朗克引力物理研究所（爱因斯坦研究所））；Queen Mary University of London（伦敦大学玛丽女王学院）
Recent observations and stellar dynamics simulations suggest that thousand solar mass black holes can form in compact massive young star clusters. Any such clusters in the bulge of their host galaxy will spiral to the center within a few hundred million years, where their intermediate-mass black holes are likely to merge eventually with the galaxy's supermassive black hole. If such mergers are common, then future space-based gravitational wave detectors such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna will detect them with such a high signal to noise ratio that towards the end of the inspiral th…
We present a proof-of-concept study, based on numerical-relativity simulations, of how gravitational waves (GWs) from neutron star merger remnants can probe the nature of matter at extreme densities. Phase transitions and extra degrees of freedom can emerge at densities beyond those reached during the inspiral, and typically result in a softening of the equation of state (EOS). We show that such physical effects change the qualitative dynamics of the remnant evolution, but they are not identifiable as a signature in the GW frequency, with the exception of possible black-hole formation effects.…
Recently, it has been shown that with the inclusion of overtones, the post-merger gravitational waveform at infinity of a binary black hole system is well-modelled using pure linear theory. However, given that a binary black hole merger is expected to be highly non-linear, where do these non-linearities, which do not make it out to infinity, go? We visualize quantities measuring non-linearity in the strong-field region of a numerical relativity binary black hole merger in order to begin to answer this question.
We study the orbital evolution of black hole (BH) binaries in quadruple systems, where the tertiary binary excites large eccentricity in the BH binary through Lidov-Kozai (LK) oscillations, causing the binary BHs to merge via gravitational radiation. For typical BH binaries with masses $m_{1,2}\simeq 20M_\odot-30M_\odot$ and initial semimajor axis $a_0\sim100$ AU (such that the binaries have no chance of merging by themselves within $\sim10^{10}$ yrs), we show that binary-binary interactions can significantly increase the LK window for mergers (the range of companion inclinations that allows t…
We present a novel universal relation for binary neutron star mergers with long-lived neutron star remnants: inspired by recent work based on numerical relativity simulations, we propose a novel approach using perturbative calculations that allow us to relate the pre-merger neutron star binary tidal deformability to the effective compactness of the post-merger remnant. Our results allow for the prediction of the stellar parameters of a long-lived remnant neutron star from the study of gravitational waves emitted during the pre-merger phase.
A remarkable series of breakthroughs in numerical relativity modeling of black hole binary mergers has occurred over the past few years. This paper provides a general overview of these exciting developments, focusing on recent progress in merger simulations and calculations of the resulting gravitational waveforms.
We demonstrate that in binary black hole mergers there is a direct correlation between the frequency of the gravitational wave at peak amplitude and the mass and spin of the final black hole. This correlation could potentially assist with the analysis of gravitational wave observations from binary black hole mergers.
The parameterized post-Einsteinian framework modifies inspiral waveform models to incorporate effects beyond General Relativity. We extend the existing model into the merger-ringdown regime. The modification introduced here adds a single degree of freedom that corresponds to a change in the binary coalescence time. Other merger properties remain as predicted by GR. We discuss parameter estimation with this model, and how it can be used to extract information from beyond-GR waveforms.
One of the goals of gravitational-wave astronomy is to quantify the evolution of the compact binary merger rate with redshift. The redshift distribution of black hole mergers would offer considerable information about their evolutionary history, including their progenitor formation rate, the dependence of black hole formation on stellar metallicity, and the time delay distribution between formation and merger. Efforts to measure the binary redshift distribution are currently limited, however, by the detection range of existing instruments, which can individually resolve compact binary merger e…
Many proposed scenarios for black hole (BH) mergers involve a tertiary companion that induces von Zeipel-Lidov-Kozai (ZLK) eccentricity cycles in the inner binary. An attractive feature of such mechanisms is the enhanced merger probability when the octupole-order effects, also known as the eccentric Kozai mechanism, are important. This can be the case when the tertiary is of comparable mass to the binary components. Since the octupole strength [$\propto (1-q)/(1+q)$] increases with decreasing binary mass ratio $q$, such ZLK-induced mergers favor binaries with smaller mass ratios. We use a comb…
We present the second Open Gravitational-wave Catalog (2-OGC) of compact-binary coalescences, obtained from the complete set of public data from Advanced LIGO's first and second observing runs. For the first time we also search public data from the Virgo observatory. The sensitivity of our search benefits from updated methods of ranking candidate events including the effects of non-stationary detector noise and varying network sensitivity; in a separate targeted binary black hole merger search we also impose a prior distribution of binary component masses. We identify a population of 14 binary…
The increase in the sensitivity of gravitational wave interferometers will bring additional detections of binary black hole and double neutron star mergers. It will also very likely add many merger events of black hole - neutron star binaries. Distinguishing mixed binaries from binary black holes mergers for high mass ratios could be challenging because in this situation the neutron star coalesces with the black hole without experiencing significant disruption. To investigate the transition of mixed binary mergers into those behaving more like binary black hole coalescences, we present results…
Black hole (BH) mergers driven by gravitational perturbations of external companions constitute an important class of formation channels for merging BH binaries detected by LIGO. We have studied the orbital and spin evolution of binary BHs in triple systems, where the tertiary companion excites large eccentricity in the inner binary through Lidov-Kozai oscillations, causing the binary to merge via gravitational radiation. Using the single-orbital-averaged and double-orbital-averaged secular dynamics equations of triples, we determine the merger window (the range of companion inclinations that …
Calculations of the final merger stage of binary black hole evolution can only be carried out using full scale numerical relativity simulations. This article provides a general overview of these calculations, highlighting recent progress and current challenges.
Gravitational waves from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers can constrain nuclear matter models predicting the neutron star's equation of state (EOS). Matter effects on the inspiral-merger signal are encoded in the multipolar tidal polarizability parameters, whose leading order combination is sufficient to capture to high accuracy the key features of the merger waveform (e.g.~the merger frequency). Similar EOS-insensitive relations exist for the post-merger signal and can be used to model the emission from the remnant. Several works suggested that the appearance of new degrees of freedom or pha…
We introduce the Merger Entropy Index ($\mathcal{I}_\mathrm{BBH}$), a new parameter to measure the efficiency of entropy transfer for any generic binary black hole merger in General Relativity. We find that $\mathcal{I}_\mathrm{BBH}$ is bounded between an asymptotic maximum and minimum. For the observed population of mergers detected by LIGO and Virgo, we find that $\mathcal{I}_\mathrm{BBH}$ is $\lesssim30\%$ of its theoretical maximum. By imposing the thermodynamical consistency between the pre- and post-merger states through $\mathcal{I}_\mathrm{BBH}$, we showcase BRAHMA -- a novel framework…
Gravitational-wave detections of black hole mergers in binary systems offer an excellent opportunity to test the 2nd law of black hole thermodynamics. In this paper, we review how the entropy of any astrophysical black hole is calculated and we use LIGO and VIRGO's mass and spin data measurements from black hole merger events detected over the past years to perform entropy calculations and numerically test the generalized 2nd law of thermodynamics. Besides, we analyze the mathematical correlation between the black hole merger event's initial parameters to prove and conclude that the theorem wi…
We study the general relativitic (GR) effects induced by a spinning supermassive black hole on the orbital and spin evolution of a merging black hole binary (BHB) in a hierarchical triple system. A sufficiently inclined outer orbit can excite Lidov-Kozai eccentricity oscillations in the BHB and induce its merger. These GR effects generate extra precessions on the BHB orbits and spins, significantly increasing the inclination window for mergers and producing a wide range of spin orientations when the BHB enters LIGO band. This "GR-enhanced" channel may play an important role in BHB mergers.
We discuss the possibility of receiving a radio signal from extra-Galactic intelligence, around the time when we observe a binary neutron star merger in their galaxy. High-precision measurements of the binary parameters allow them to send the signal ~ $10^4$ years before they themselves observe the merger signal. Using the SKA, we might receive ~ $10^4$ bits of data, transmitted from 40 Mpc distance with the output power of ~ 1 TW. We also discuss related topics for GW170817 and mention potential roles of future gravitational wave detectors in relation to this transmission scheme.
The population of binary black hole mergers identified through gravitational waves has uncovered unexpected features in the intrinsic properties of black holes in the universe. One particularly surprising and exciting result is the possible existence of black holes in the pair-instability mass gap, $\sim50-120~M_\odot$. Dense stellar environments can populate this region of mass space through hierarchical mergers, with the retention efficiency of black hole merger products strongly dependent on the escape velocity of the host environment. We use simple toy models to represent hierarchical merg…
With the first observation of a binary neutron star merger through gravitational waves and light GW170817, compact binary mergers have now taken the center stage in nuclear astrophysics. They are thought to be one of the main astrophysical sites of production of r-process elements, and merger observations have become a fundamental tool to constrain the properties of matter. Here, we review our current understanding of the dynamics of neutron star mergers, in general, and of GW170817 in particular. We discuss the physical processes governing the inspiral, merger, and postmerger evolution, and w…
Binary supermassive black holes form naturally in galaxy mergers, but their long-term evolution is uncertain. In spherical galaxies, N-body simulations show that binary evolution stalls at separations much too large for significant emission of gravitational waves (the "final parsec problem"). Here, we follow the long-term evolution of a massive binary in more realistic, triaxial and rotating galaxy models. We find that the binary does not stall. The binary hardening rates that we observe are sufficient to allow complete coalescence of binary SBHs in 10 Gyr or less, even in the absence of colli…
In this work we study the formation of the first two black hole-neutron star (BHNS) mergers detected in gravitational waves (GW200115 and GW200105) from massive stars in wide isolated binary systems - the isolated binary evolution channel. We use 560 BHNS binary population synthesis model realizations from Broekgaarden et al. (2021a) and show that the system properties (chirp mass, component masses and mass ratios) of both GW200115 and GW200105 match predictions from the isolated binary evolution channel. We also show that most model realizations can account for the local BHNS merger rate dens…
We introduce an efficient and straightforward technique for rapidly detecting gravitational waves from compact binary mergers. We show that this method achieves the low latencies required to alert electromagnetic partners of candidate binary mergers, aids in data monitoring, and makes use of multidetector networks for sky localization. This approach was instrumental to the analysis of gravitational-wave candidates during the second observing run of Advanced LIGO, including the period of coincident operation with Advanced Virgo, and in particular the analysis of the first observed binary neutro…
We present the third Open Gravitational-wave Catalog (3-OGC) of compact-binary coalescences, based on the analysis of the public LIGO and Virgo data from 2015 through 2019 (O1, O2, O3a). Our updated catalog includes a population of 57 observations, including four binary black hole mergers that had not previously been reported. This consists of 55 binary black hole mergers and the two binary neutron star mergers GW170817 and GW190425. We find no additional significant binary neutron star or neutron star--black hole merger events. The most confident new detection is the binary black hole merger …
The recent localization of some short-hard gamma ray bursts (GRBs) in galaxies with low star formation rates has lent support to the suggestion that these events result from compact object binary mergers. We discuss how new simulations in general relativity are helping to identify the central engine of short-hard GRBs. Motivated by our latest relativistic black hole-neutron star merger calculations, we discuss a scenario in which these events may trigger short-hard GRBs, and compare this model to competing relativistic models involving binary neutron star mergers and the delayed collapse of hy…
We study dynamical capture binary neutron star mergers as may arise in dense stellar regions such as globular clusters. Using general-relativistic hydrodynamics, we find that these mergers can result in the prompt collapse to a black hole or in the formation of a hypermassive neutron star, depending not only on the neutron star equation of state but also on impact parameter. We also find that these mergers can produce accretion disks of up to a tenth of a solar mass and unbound ejected material of up to a few percent of a solar mass. We comment on the gravitational radiation and electromagneti…
High-accuracy numerical relativity simulations of binary neutron star mergers are a necessary ingredient for constructing gravitational waveform templates to analyze and interpret observations of compact object mergers. Numerical convergence in the post-merger phase of such simulations is challenging to achieve with many modern codes. In this paper, we study two ways of improving the convergence properties of binary neutron star merger simulations within the Baumgarte-Shapiro-Shibata-Nakamura formulation of Einstein's equations. We show that discontinuities in a particular constraint damping s…
We study the dynamical signatures of black hole (BH) and neutron star (NS) binary mergers via Lidov-Kozai oscillations induced by tertiary companions in hierarchical triple systems. For each type of binaries (BH-BH and BH-NS), we explore a wide range of binary/triple parameters that lead to binary mergers, and determine the distributions of eccentricity ($e_\mathrm{m}$) and spin-orbit misalignment angle ($θ_\rm {sl}^\rm f$) when the binary enters the LIGO/VIRGO band. We use the double-averaged (over both orbits) and single-averaged (over the inner orbit) secular equations, as well as N-body in…
We have evolved mergers of equal-mass binary quark stars, the total mass of which is close to the mass shedding limit of uniformly rotating configurations, in fully general relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, aimed at investigating the post-merger outcomes. In particular, we have identified the threshold mass for prompt black hole formation after the merger, by tracing the minimum lapse function as well as the amount of ejected material during the merger simulation. A semi-analytical investigation based on the angular momentum contained in the merger remnant is also performed to verify the …
Recent Advanced LIGO detections of binary black hole mergers have prompted multiple studies investigating the possibility that the heavy GW150914 binary system was of primordial origin, and hence could be evidence for dark matter in the form of black holes. We compute the stochastic background arising from the incoherent superposition of such primordial binary black hole systems in the universe and compare it to the similar background spectrum due to binary black hole systems of stellar origin. We investigate the possibility of detecting this background with future gravitational wave detectors…
Using concomitantly the Generalized Second Law of black hole thermodynamics and the holographic Bekenstein entropy bound embellished by Loop Quantum Gravity corrections to quantum black hole entropy, we show that the boundary cross sectional area of the postmerger remnant formed from the compact binary merger in gravitational wave detection experiments like GW150914, is bounded from below. This lower bound is more general than the bound from application of the classical area theorem for black holes, since it does not depend on whether the inspiralling compact binary pair or the postmerger remn…
