We observed the effect of radiation pressure on the angular sensing and control system of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) interferometer's core optics at LIGO Hanford Observatory. This is the first measurement of this effect in a complete gravitational wave interferometer. Only one of the two angular modes survives with feedback control, since the other mode is suppressed when the control gain is sufficiently large. We developed a mathematical model to understand the physics of the system. This model matches well the dynamics that we observe.
We present the analysis of undesirable effect of parametric oscillatory instability in signal recycled LIGO interferometer. The basis for this effect is the excitation of the additional (Stokes) optical mode, with frequency $ω_1$, and the mirror elastic mode, with frequency $ω_m$, when optical energy stored in the main FP cavity mode, with frequency $ω_0$, exceeds the certain threshold and the frequencies are related as $ω_0\simeq ω_1+ω_m$. We show that possibility of parametric instability in this interferometer is relatively small due to stronger sensitivity to detuning. We propose to ``scan…
We present the analysis of a nonlinear effect of parametric oscillatory instability in power recycled LIGO interferometer with the Fabry-Perot (FP) cavities in the arms. The basis for this effect is the excitation of the additional (Stokes) optical mode and the mirror elastic mode, when the optical energy stored in the main FP cavity main mode exceeds the certain threshold and the frequencies are related so that sum of frequencies of Stokes and elastic modes are approximately equal to frequencyof main mode. The presence of anti-Stokes modes (with frequency approximately equal to sum of frequen…
Sidles and Sigg have shown that advanced LIGO interferometers will encounter a serious tilt instability, in which symmetric tilts of the mirrors of an arm cavity cause the cavity's light beam to slide sideways, so its radiation pressure exerts a torque that increases the tilt. Sidles and Sigg showed that the strength T of this torque is 26.2 times greater for advanced LIGO's baseline cavities -- nearly flat spherical mirrors which support Gaussian beams (``FG'' cavities), than for nearly concentric spherical mirrors which support Gaussian beams with the same diffraction losses as the baseline …
By probing the population of binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected by LIGO-Virgo, we can infer properties about the underlying black hole formation channels. A mechanism known as pair-instability (PI) supernova is expected to prevent the formation of black holes from stellar collapse with mass greater than $\sim 40-65\,M_\odot$ and less than $\sim 120\,M_\odot$. Any BBH merger detected by LIGO-Virgo with a component black hole in this gap, known as the PI mass gap, likely originated from an alternative formation channel. Here, we firmly establish GW190521 as an outlier to the stellar-mass B…
Advanced LIGO's present baseline design uses arm cavities with Gaussian light beams supported by spherical mirrors. Because Gaussian beams have large intensity gradients in regions of high intensity, they average poorly over fluctuating bumps and valleys on the mirror surfaces, caused by random thermal fluctuations (thermoelastic noise). Flat-topped light beams (mesa beams) are being considered as an alternative because they average over the thermoelastic fluctuations much more effectively. However, the proposed mesa beams are supported by nearly flat mirrors, which experience a very serious t…
Recently, it was shown that differential rotation is an unavoidable feature of nonlinear r-modes. We investigate the influence of this differential rotation on the detectability of gravitational waves emitted by a newly born, hot, rapidly-rotating neutron star, as it spins down due to the r-mode instability. We conclude that gravitational radiation may be detected by the advanced laser interferometer detector LIGO if the amount of differential rotation at the time the r-mode instability becomes active is not very high.
The instability in the r-modes of rotating neutron stars can (in principle) emit substantial amounts of gravitational radiation (GR) which might be detectable by LIGO and similar detectors. Estimates are given here of the detectability of this GR based the non-linear simulations of the r-mode instability by Lindblom, Tohline and Vallisneri. The burst of GR produced by the instability in the rapidly rotating 1.4 solar mass neutron star in this simulation is fairly monochromatic with frequency near 960 Hz and duration about 100 s. A simple analytical expression is derived here for the optimal S/…
We have examined gravitational wave echo signals for nine binary black hole merger events observed by Advanced LIGO and Virgo during the first and second observation runs. To construct an echo template, we consider Kerr spacetime, where the event horizon is replaced by a reflective membrane. We use frequency-dependent reflection rate at the angular potential barrier, which is fitted to the numerical data obtained by solving Teukolsky equations. This reflection rate gives a frequency-dependent transmission rate that is suppressed at lower frequencies in the template. We also take into account t…
Our understanding of the formation and evolution of binary black holes (BBHs) is significantly impacted by the recent discoveries made by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration. Of utmost importance is the detection of the most massive BBH system, GW190521. Here we investigate what it takes for field massive stellar binaries to account for the formation of such massive BBHs. Whether the high mass end of the BH mass function is populated by remnants of massive stars that either formed at extremely low metallicities and avoid the pair-instability mass gap or increase their birth mass beyond the pair-insta…
The first direct detection of neutron-star-black-hole binaries will likely be made with gravitational-wave observatories. Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo will be able to observe neutron-star-black-hole mergers at a maximum distance of 900Mpc. To acheive this sensitivity, gravitational-wave searches will rely on using a bank of filter waveforms that accurately model the expected gravitational-wave signal. The angular momentum of the black hole is expected to be comparable to the orbital angular momentum. This angular momentum will affect the dynamics of the inspiralling system and alter the ph…
We study the development and saturation of the $m=1$ one-armed spiral instability in remnants of binary neutron star mergers by means of high-resolution long-term numerical relativity simulations. Our results suggest that this instability is a generic outcome of neutron stars mergers in astrophysically relevant configurations; including both "stiff" and "soft" nuclear equations of state. We find that, once seeded at merger, the $m=1$ mode saturates within $\sim 10\ \mathrm{ms}$ and persists over secular timescales. Gravitational waves emitted by the $m=1$ instability have a peak frequency arou…
We show that gravitational radiation drives an instability in hot young rapidly rotating neutron stars. This instability occurs primarily in the l=2 r-mode and will carry away most of the angular momentum of a rapidly rotating star by gravitational radiation. On the timescale needed to cool a young neutron star to about T=10^9 K (about one year) this instability can reduce the rotation rate of a rapidly rotating star to about 0.076Ω_K, where Ω_K is the Keplerian angular velocity where mass shedding occurs. In older colder neutron stars this instability is suppressed by viscous effects, allowin…
Studies have shown that emission of gravitational wave drives an instability in the $r$-modes of young rapidly rotating neutron stars carrying away most of the angular momentum through gravitational wave emission in the first year or so after their formation. Magnetic field plays a crucial role in the evolution of these $r$-modes and hence the evolution of the neutron star itself. An attempt is made here to investigate the role of magnetic field in the evolution of $r$-mode instability and detectibility of gravitational waves emitted by a newly born, hot and rapidly and differentially rotating…
The binary black hole mergers observed by LIGO-Virgo gravitational-wave detectors pose two major challenges: (i) how to produce these massive black holes from stellar processes; and (ii) how to bring them close enough to merge within the age of the universe? We derive a fundamental constraint relating the binary separation and the available stellar budget in the universe to produce the observed black hole mergers. We find that $\lesssim 14\%$ of the entire budget contributes to the observed merger rate of $(30 + 30)~\mathrm{M}_\odot$ black holes, if the separation is around the diameter of the…
We develop a detailed anisotropic model for the astrophysical gravitational-wave background, including binary mergers of two stellar-mass black holes, two neutron stars, or one of each, which are expected to be the strongest contributions in the LIGO-Virgo frequency band. The angular spectrum of the anisotropies, quantified by the $C_\ell$ components, is calculated using two complementary approaches: (i) a simple, closed-form analytical expression, and (ii) a detailed numerical study using an all-sky mock light cone galaxy catalogue from the Millennium simulation. The two approaches are in exc…
Gravitational radiation drives an instability in the r-modes of young rapidly rotating neutron stars. This instability is expected to carry away most of the angular momentum of the star by gravitational radiation emission, leaving a star rotating at about 100 Hz. In this paper we model in a simple way the development of the instability and evolution of the neutron star during the year-long spindown phase. This allows us to predict the general features of the resulting gravitational waveform. We show that a neutron star formed in the Virgo cluster could be detected by the LIGO and VIRGO gravita…
Dynamical instability is shown to occur in differentially rotating polytropes with N = 3.33 and $T/|W| \gtrsim 0.14$. This instability has a strong m=1 mode, although the m=2, 3, and 4 modes also appear. Such instability may allow a centrifugally-hung core to begin collapsing to neutron star densities on a dynamical timescale. The gravitational radiation emitted by such unstable cores may be detectable with advanced ground-based detectors, such as LIGO II. If the instability occurs in a supermassive star, it may produce gravitational radiation detectable by the space-based detector LISA.
We present numerical results on the hydrodynamic stability of coalescing binary stars in the first post Newtonian(1PN) approximation of general relativity. We pay particular attention to the hydrodynamical instability of corotating binary stars in equilibrium states assuming the stiff polytropic equation of state with the adiabatic constant $Γ=3$. In previous 1PN numerical studies on corotating binary stars in equilibrium states, it was found that along the sequence of binary stars as a function of the orbital separation, they have the energy and/or angular momentum minima where the secular in…
Scorpius X-1 (Sco X-1) and X-ray transient (XTE) J1751-305 are Low-Mass X-ray Binaries (LMXBs) that may emit continuous gravitational waves detectable in the band of ground-based interferometric observatories. Neutron stars in LMXBs could reach a torque-balance steady-state equilibrium in which angular momentum addition from infalling matter from the binary companion is balanced by angular momentum loss, conceivably due to gravitational-wave emission. Torque-balance predicts a scale for detectable gravitational-wave strain based on observed X-ray flux. This paper describes a search for Sco X-1…
We study the nature of non-axisymmetric dynamical instabilities in differentially rotating stars with both linear eigenmode analysis and hydrodynamic simulations in Newtonian gravity. We especially investigate the following three types of instability; the one-armed spiral instability, the low T/|W| bar instability, and the high T/|W| bar instability, where T is the rotational kinetic energy and W is the gravitational potential energy. The nature of the dynamical instabilities is clarified by using a canonical angular momentum as a diagnostic. We find that the one-armed spiral and the low T/|W|…
Laser interferometers with high circulating power and suspended optics, such as the LIGO gravitational wave detectors, experience an optomechanical coupling effect known as a parametric instability: the runaway excitation of a mechanical resonance in a mirror driven by the optical field. This can saturate the interferometer sensing and control systems and limit the observation time of the detector. Current mitigation techniques at the LIGO sites are successfully suppressing all observed parametric instabilities, and focus on the behaviour of the instabilities in the Fabry-Perot arm cavities of…
Utilizing gravitational-wave (GW) lensing opens a new way to understand the small-scale structure of the universe. We show that, in spite of its coarse angular resolution and short duration of observation, LIGO can detect the GW lensing induced by compact structures, in particular by compact dark matter (DM) or primordial black holes of $10 - 10^5 \, M_\odot$, which remain interesting DM candidates. The lensing is detected through GW frequency chirping, creating the natural and rapid change of lensing patterns: \emph{frequency-dependent amplification and modulation} of GW waveforms. As a highe…
Searching for gravitational waves (GWs) from binary black holes (BBHs) with LIGO and Virgo involves matched-filtering data against a set of representative signal waveforms --- a template bank --- chosen to cover the full signal space of interest with as few template waveforms as possible. Although the component black holes may have significant angular momenta (spin), previous searches for BBHs have filtered LIGO and Virgo data using only waveforms where both component spins are zero. This leads to a loss of signal-to-noise ratio for signals where this is not the case. Combining the best availa…
Using a quantum mechanical approach, we show that in a gravitational-wave interferometer composed of arm cavities and a signal recycling cavity, e.g., the LIGO-II configuration, the radiation-pressure force acting on the mirrors not only disturbs the motion of the free masses randomly due to quantum fluctuations, but also and more fundamentally, makes them respond to forces as though they were connected to an (optical) spring with a specific rigidity. This oscillatory response gives rise to a much richer dynamics than previously known, which enhances the possibilities for reshaping the LIGO-II…
A population of binary black hole mergers has now been observed in gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO and Virgo. The masses of these black holes appear to show evidence for a pile-up between $30$--$45$ $M_\odot$ and a cut-off above $\sim 45$ $M_\odot$. One possible explanation for such a pile-up and subsequent cut-off are pulsational pair-instability supernovae (PPISNe) and pair-instability supernovae (PISNe) in massive stars. We investigate the plausibility of this explanation in the context of isolated massive binaries. We study a population of massive binaries using the rapid population s…
Several recent surprises appear dramatically to have improved the likelihood that the spin of rapidly rotating, newly formed neutron stars (and, possibly, of old stars spun up by accretion) is limited by a nonaxisymmetric instability driven by gravitational waves. Except for the earliest part of the spin-down, the axial l=m=2 mode (an r-mode) dominates the instability, and the emitted waves may be observable by detectors with the sensitivity of LIGO II. A review of these hopeful results is followed by a discussion of constraints on the instability set by dissipative mechanisms, including visco…
Gravitational waves radiated by the coalescence of compact-object binaries containing a neutron star and a black hole are one of the most interesting sources for the ground-based gravitational-wave observatories Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. Advanced LIGO will be sensitive to the inspiral of a $1.4\, M_\odot$ neutron star into a $10\,M_\odot$ black hole to a maximum distance of $\sim 900$ Mpc. Achieving this sensitivity and extracting the physics imprinted in observed signals requires accurate modeling of the binary to construct template waveforms. In a NSBH binary, the black hole may have…
We study the nature of non-axisymmetric dynamical instabilities in differentially rotating stars with both linear eigenmode analysis and hydrodynamic simulations in Newtonian gravity. We especially investigate the following three types of instability; the one-armed spiral instability, the low T/|W| bar instability, and the high T/|W| bar instability, where T is the rotational kinetic energy and W is the gravitational potential energy. The nature of the dynamical instabilities is clarified by using a canonical angular momentum as a diagnostic. We find that the one-armed spiral and the low T/|W|…
We present results from a comprehensive number of relativistic, time-dependent, axisymmetric simulations of the runaway instability of non-constant angular momentum thick discs around black holes. This second paper extends earlier results where only constant angular momentum discs were considered. All relevant aspects of the theory of stationary thick discs around rotating black holes, necessary to build the initial state in our simulations, are presented in great detail. The angular momentum of the discs is assumed to increase outwards with the radial distance according to a power law. The ma…
A detailed simulation of Advanced LIGO test mass optical cavities shows that parametric instabilities will excite acoustic modes in the test masses in the frequency range 28-35 kHz and 64-72 kHz. Using nominal Advanced LIGO optical cavity parameters with fused silica test masses, parametric instability excites 7 acoustic modes in each test mass, with parametric gain R up to 7. For the alternative sapphire test masses only 1 acoustic mode is excited in each test mass with R ~ 2. Fine tuning of the test mass radii of curvature cause the instabilities to sweep through various modes with R as high…
With an enlighting analysis, Baskaran and Grishchuk have recently shown the presence and importance of the so-called ``magnetic'' components of gravitational waves (GWs), which have to be taken into account in the context of the total response functions of interferometers for GWs propagating from arbitrary directions. In this paper more detailed angular and frequency dependences of the response functions for the magnetic components are given in the approximation of wavelength much larger than the linear dimensions of the interferometer, with a specific application to the parameters of the LIGO…
We integrate the entire, publicly available, Advanced LIGO (ALIGO) data set to obtain maximum-likelihood constraint maps of the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background (SGWB). From these we derive limits on the energy density of the stochastic background $Ω_{\rm GW}$, and its anisotropy. We find 95% confident limits $Ω_{\rm GW} < 5.2\times 10^{-8}$ at $50$ Hz for a spectral index $α=2/3$ consistent with a stochastic background due to inspiral events and $Ω_{\rm GW} < 3.2\times 10^{-7}$ for a scale (frequency) invariant spectrum. We also report upper limits on the angular power spectra $C_\ell…
Extended sources of the stochastic gravitational backgrounds have been conventionally searched on the spherical harmonics bases. The analysis during the previous observing runs by the ground-based gravitational wave detectors, such LIGO and Virgo, have yielded the constraints on the angular power spectrum $C_\ell$, yet it lacks the capability of estimating model parameters. In this paper, we introduce an alternative Bayesian formalism to search for such stochastic signals with a particular distribution of anisotropies on the sky. This approach provides a Bayesian posterior of model parameters …
In accretion disks with large-scale ordered magnetic fields, the magnetorotational instability (MRI) is marginally suppressed, so other processes may drive angular momentum transport leading to accretion. Accretion could then be driven by large-scale magnetic fields via magnetic braking, but large-scale magnetic flux can build-up onto the black hole and within the disk leading to a magnetically-arrested disk (MAD). Such a MAD state is unstable to the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability, which itself leads to vigorous turbulence and the emergence of low-density highly-magnetized bubbles. …
The dynamical instability of new-born neutron stars is studied by evolving the linearized hydrodynamical equations. The neutron stars considered in this paper are those produced by the accretion induced collapse of rigidly rotating white dwarfs. A dynamical bar-mode (m=2) instability is observed when the ratio of rotational kinetic energy to gravitational potential energy $β$ of the neutron star is greater than the critical value $β_d \approx 0.25$. This bar-mode instability leads to the emission of gravitational radiation that could be detected by gravitational wave detectors. However, these …
A thermodynamic argument is presented suggesting that near-extremal spinning D1-D5-P black strings become unstable when their angular momentum exceeds $J_{crit} = {3Q_1Q_5}/2\sqrt{2}$. In contrast, the dimensionally reduced black holes are thermodynamically stable. The proposed instability involves a phase in which the spin angular momentum above $J_{crit}$ is transferred to gyration of the string in space; i.e., to orbital angular momentum of parts of the string about the mean location in space. Thus the string becomes a rotating helical coil. We note that an instability of this form would yi…
Rapidly spinning neutron stars are known to harbour pulsation modes that may become unstable and grow in amplitude by emitting gravitational radiation. Among the various stellar modes, the f-mode is the one typically considered as a promising source of gravitational radiation for ground-based detectors such as LIGO and VIRGO. Improving the existing work in Newtonian stellar models, we present the first calculation of the basic properties of the f-mode instability in rapidly rotating relativistic neutron stars, adopting the Cowling approximation. Using a relativistic polytropic stellar model, w…
Rossby waves (r-modes) in rapidly rotating neutron stars are unstable because of the emission of gravitational radiation. We study saturation of this instability by nonlinear transfer of energy to stellar "inertial" oscillation modes. We present detailed calculations of stellar inertial modes in the WKB limit, their linear damping by bulk and shear viscosity, and the nonlinear coupling forces among these modes. The saturation amplitude is derived in the extreme limits of strong or weak driving by radiation reaction, as compared to the damping rate of low order inertial modes. We find the satur…
Dyson (2013) argued that the extraordinarily large number of gravitons in a gravitational wave makes them impossible to be resolved as individual particles. While true, it is shown in this paper that a LIGO interferometric detector also undergoes frequent and {\it discrete} quantum interactions with an incident gravitational wave, in such a way as to allow the exchange of energy and momentum between the wave and the detector. This opens the door to another way of finding gravitons. The most basic form of an interaction is the first order Fermi acceleration (deceleration) of a laser photon as i…
We study the instability of higher-dimensional rotating anti-de Sitter black holes through fragmentation. Fragmentation occurs when black holes rotate too fast to sustain their horizon, and then the black holes are broken into small pieces. Using this process, we test the stability of AdS black holes and discover the dynamical upper bounds of the angular momentum and the cosmological constant. We show that AdS black holes can exist stably within limited parameter ranges in the general dimensions. The parameter ranges are obtained numerically in terms of angular momentum and cosmological consta…
We present results from a numerical study of the runaway instability of thick discs around black holes. This instability is an important issue for most models of cosmic gamma-ray bursts, where the central engine responsible for the initial energy release is such a system consisting of a thick disc surrounding a black hole. We have carried out a comprehensive number of time-dependent simulations aimed at exploring the appearance of the instability. Our study has been performed using a fully relativistic hydrodynamics code. The general relativistic hydrodynamic equations are formulated as a hype…
We analyze the gravitational wave signatures of a network of metastable cosmic strings. We consider the case of cosmic string instability to breakage, with no primordial population of monopoles. This scenario is well motivated from GUT and string theoretic models with an inflationary phase below the GUT/string scale. The network initially evolves according to a scaling solution, but with breakage events resulting from confined monopoles (beads) being pair produced and accelerated apart. We find these ultra-relativistic beads to be a potent source of gravitational waves bursts, detectable by In…
We investigate the generation of gravitational waves due to the gravitational instability of primordial density perturbations in an early matter-dominated era which could be detectable by experiments such as LIGO and LISA. We use relativistic perturbation theory to give analytic estimates of the tensor perturbations generated at second order by linear density perturbations. We find that large enhancement factors with respect to the naive second-order estimate are possible due to the growth of density perturbations on sub-Hubble scales. However very large enhancement factors coincide with a bre…
Perturbations of rotating relativistic stars can be classified by their behavior under parity. For axial perturbations (r-modes), initial data with negative canonical energy is found with angular dependence $e^{imϕ}$ for all values of $m\geq 2$ and for arbitrarily slow rotation. This implies instability (or marginal stability) of such perturbations for rotating perfect fluids. This low $m$-instability is strikingly different from the instability to polar perturbations, which sets in first for large values of $m$. The timescale for the axial instability appears, for small angular velocity $Ω$, …
The late collapse, core bounce, and the early postbounce phase of rotating core collapse leads to a characteristic gravitational wave (GW) signal. The precise shape of the signal is governed by the interplay of gravity, rotation, nuclear equation of state (EOS), and electron capture during collapse. We explore the dependence of the signal on total angular momentum and its distribution in the progenitor core by means of a large set of axisymmetric general-relativistic core collapse simulations in which we vary the initial angular momentum distribution in the core. Our simulations include a micr…
Gravitational memory is an important prediction of classical General Relativity, which is intimately related to asymptotic symmetries at null infinity and the so-called soft graviton theorem first shown by Weinberg. For a given transient astronomical event, the angular distributions of energy and angular momentum flux uniquely determine the displacement and spin memory effect in the sky. We investigate the possibility of using the binary black hole merger events detected by Advanced LIGO/Virgo to test the relation between source energy emissions and gravitational memory measured on earth, as p…
We report for the first time general geometrical expressions for the angular resolution of an arbitrary network of interferometric gravitational-wave (GW) detectors when the arrival-time of a GW is unknown. We show explicitly elements that decide the angular resolution of a GW detector network. In particular, we show the dependence of the angular resolution on areas formed by projections of pairs of detectors and how they are weighted by sensitivities of individual detectors. Numerical simulations are used to demonstrate the capabilities of the current GW detector network. We confirm that the …
We find a new instability in the four-dimensional Reissner-Nordstrom-de Sitter black holes against charged scalar perturbations with vanishing angular momentum, $l=0$. We show that such an instability is caused by superradiance. The instability does not occur for an larger angular index, as explicitely proven for $l=1$. Our results are obtained from a numerical investigation of the time domain profiles of the perturbations.
We present the first calculations of the gravitational radiation produced by nonaxisymmetric dynamical instability in a rapidly rotating compact star. The star deforms into a bar shape, shedding $\sim 4\%$ of its mass and $\sim 17\%$ of its angular momentum. The gravitational radiation is calculated in the quadrupole approximation. For a mass $M \sim 1.4$ M$_{\odot}$ and radius $R \sim 10$ km, the gravitational waves have frequency $\sim 4$ kHz and amplitude $h \sim 2 \times 10^{-22}$ at the distance of the Virgo Cluster. They carry off energy $ΔE/M \sim 0.1\%$ and radiate angular momentum $ΔJ…
Gravitational waves from binary black holes have the potential to yield information on both of the intrinsic parameters that characterize the compact objects: their masses and spins. While the component masses are usually resolvable, the component spins have proven difficult to measure. This limitation stems in great part from our choice to inquire about the spins of the most and least massive objects in each binary, a question that becomes ill-defined when the masses are equal. In this paper we show that one can ask a different question of the data: what are the spins of the objects with the …
We consider a rotating neutron star with the presence of hyperons in its core, using an equation of state in an effective chiral model within the relativistic mean field approximation. We calculate the hyperonic bulk viscosity coefficient due to nonleptonic weak interactions. By estimating the damping timescales of the dissipative processes, we investigate its role in the suppression of gravitationally driven instabilities in the $r$-mode. We observe that $r$-mode instability remains very much significant for hyperon core temperature of around $10^8 $K, resulting in a comparatively larger inst…
LIGO's successful detection of gravitational waves has revitalized the theoretical understanding of the angular momentum carried away by gravitational radiation. An infinite dimensional supertranslation ambiguity has presented an essential difficulty for decades of study. Recent advances were made to address and quantify the supertranslation ambiguity in the context of compact binary coalescence. Here we present the first definition of angular momentum in general relativity that is completely free from supertranslation ambiguity. The new definition was derived from the limit of the quasilocal …