The vast majority of compact binary mergers in the Universe produce gravitational waves that are too weak to yield unambiguous detections; they are unresolved. We present a method to infer the population properties of compact binaries -- such as their merger rates, mass spectrum, and spin distribution -- using both resolved and unresolved gravitational waves. By eliminating entirely the distinction between resolved and unresolved signals, we eliminate bias from selection effects. To demonstrate this method, we carry out a Monte Carlo study using an astrophysically motivated population of binary black holes. We show that some population properties of compact binaries are well constrained by unresolved signals after about one week of observation with Advanced LIGO at design sensitivity.
The oscillations of a merger remnant forming after the coalescence of two neutron stars are very characteristic for the high-density equation of state. The dominant oscillation frequency occurs as a pronounced peak in the kHz range of the gravitational-wave spectrum. We describe how the dominant oscillation frequency of the remnant can be employed to infer the radii of non-rotating neutron stars.
With its last observing run, the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaboration has detected almost one hundred gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences. A common approach to studying the population properties of the observed binaries is to use phenomenological models to describe the spin, mass, and redshift distributions. More recently, with the aim of providing a clearer link to astrophysical processes forming the observed compact binaries coalescences, several authors have proposed to employ synthetic catalogs for population studies. In this paper, we review how to employ and interpret sy…
The properties of neutron star matter above nuclear density are not precisely known. Gravitational waves emitted from binary neutron stars during their late stages of inspiral and merger contain imprints of the neutron-star equation of state. Measuring departures from the point-particle limit of the late inspiral waveform allows one to measure properties of the equation of state via gravitational wave observations. This and a companion talk by J. S. Read reports a comparison of numerical waveforms from simulations of inspiraling neutron-star binaries, computed for equations of state with varyi…
We present a robust method to characterize the gravitational wave emission from the remnant of a neutron star coalescence. Our approach makes only minimal assumptions about the morphology of the signal and provides a full posterior probability distribution of the underlying waveform. We apply our method on simulated data from a network of advanced ground-based detectors and demonstrate the gravitational wave signal reconstruction. We study the reconstruction quality for different binary configurations and equations of state for the colliding neutron stars. We show how our method can be used to…
The recent LIGO-Virgo detection of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral event GW170817 and the discovery of its accompanying electromagnetic signals mark a new era for multimessenger astronomy. In the coming years, advanced gravitational-wave detectors are likely to detect tens to hundreds of similar events. Neutron stars in binaries can possess significant spin, which is imprinted on the gravitational waveform via the effective spin parameter $χ_\text{eff}$. We explore the astrophysical inferences made possible by gravitational-wave measurements of $χ_\text{eff}$. First, us…
We propose using radio line spectroscopy to detect molecular absorption lines (such as OH at 1.6-1.7 GHz) before and after the total eclipse of black widow (BW) and other short orbital period binary pulsars with low mass companions. The companion in such a binary may be ablated away by energetic particles and high energy radiation produced by the pulsar wind. The observations will probe the eclipsing wind being ablated by the pulsar and constrain the nature of the companion and its surroundings. Maser emission from the interstellar medium stimulated by a pulsar beam might also be detected from…
The observation of thermal emission from isolated neutron stars and the modeling of the corresponding cooling curves has been very useful to get information on the properties of matter at very high densities. More recently, the detection of quiescent thermal emission from neutron stars in low mass X-ray binary systems after active periods opened a new window to the physics of matter at lower densities. Here we analyze a few sources that have been recently monitored and we show how the models can be used to establish constraints on the crust composition and their transport properties, depending…
Inferring spin tilts at formation from gravitational wave observations of binary black holes: Interfacing precession-averaged and orbit-averaged spin evolution
Tidal interactions can play an important role as compact white dwarf (WD) binaries are driven together by gravitational waves (GWs). This will modify the strain evolution measured by future space-based GW detectors and impact the potential outcome of the mergers. Surveys now and in the near future will generate an unprecedented population of detached WD binaries to constrain tidal interactions. Motivated by this, I summarize the deviations between a binary evolving under the influence of only GW emission and a binary that is also experiencing some degree of tidal locking. I present analytic re…
Strong lensing of gravitational waves is more likely for distant sources but predicted event rates are highly uncertain with many astrophysical origins proposed. Here we open a new avenue to estimate the event rate of strongly lensed systems by exploring the amplitude of the stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB). This method can provide a direct upper bound on the high redshift binary coalescing rates, which can be translated into an upper bound on the expected rate of strongly lensed systems. We show that from the ongoing analysis of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Obser…
Radio sirens: inferring $H_0$ with binary black holes and neutral hydrogen in the era of the Einstein Telescope and the SKA Observatory
Marietta Blau Institute - Austrian Academy of Sciences（玛丽亚·布劳研究所 - 奥地利科学院）；INFN, Sezione di Roma（罗马国家核物理研究所）；Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Laboratoire Lagrange（蔚蓝海岸天文台，拉格朗日实验室）；Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of the Western Cape（西开普大学物理与天文学系）；INAF - Institute of Radioastronomy (IRA)（意大利国家天体物理研究所射电天文研究所）；Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI)（格兰萨索科学研究所）；INFN - Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS)（意大利国家核物理研究所格兰萨索国家实验室）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Cagliari（卡利亚里大学物理系）；INFN, Sezione di Cagliari（卡利亚里国家核物理研究所）；INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari（意大利国家天体物理研究所卡利亚里天文台）
We show that the maximum and the minimum mass of merging neutron stars can be estimated with upcoming gravitational wave observations. We simulate populations of binary neutron star signals and model their mass distribution including upper and lower cutoffs. The lower(upper) limit can be measured to $\sim 0.2(0.1)\text{M}_{\odot}$ with $50$ detections if the mass distribution supports neutron stars with masses close to the cutoffs. The upper mass limit informs about the high density properties of the neutron star equation of state, while the lower limit signals the divide between neutron stars…
Supermassive black hole binaries are the most promising source of gravitational-waves in the frequency band accessible to pulsar timing arrays. Most of these binaries will be too distant to detect individually, but together they will form an approximately stochastic background that can be detected by measuring the correlation pattern induced between pairs of pulsars. A small number of nearby and especially massive systems may stand out from this background and be detected individually. Analyses have previously been developed to search for stochastic signals and isolated signals separately. Her…
Inferring the role of binary neutron star mergers in r-process nucleosynthesis with multi-messenger observations using Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope
Institute of Physics, University of Greifswald（格赖夫斯瓦尔德大学物理研究所）；Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research（塔塔基础研究院天文学与天体物理学系）
Gravitational wave (GW) measurements provide the most robust constraints of the mass of astrophysical black holes. Using state-of-the-art GW signal models and a unique parameter estimation technique, we infer the source parameters of the loudest marginal trigger, GW170502, found by LIGO from 2015 to 2017. If this trigger is assumed to be a binary black hole merger, we find it corresponds to a total mass in the source frame of $157^{+55}_{-41}~\rm{M}_\odot$ at redshift $z=1.37^{+0.93}_{-0.64}$. The primary and secondary black hole masses are constrained to $94^{+44}_{-28}~\rm{M}_{\odot}$ and $6…
A Joint Optimal Search for Gravitational Waves from Resolved and Unresolved Supermassive Binary Black Holes with Pulsar Timing Arrays
Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)（马克斯·普朗克引力物理研究所（爱因斯坦研究所））；Leibniz Universität Hannover（汉诺威莱布尼茨大学）；School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study（普林斯顿高等研究院自然科学学院）
Inferring the population properties of galactic binaries from LISA's stochastic foreground
Universitá degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca（米兰-比可卡大学）；INFN, Sezione di Milano-Bicocca（意大利国家核物理研究所米兰-比可卡分部）；Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)（马克斯·普朗克引力物理研究所（爱因斯坦研究所））；Aristotle University of Thessaloniki（萨洛尼加亚里士多德大学）；Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens（雅典国立天文台天文学、天体物理学、空间应用与遥感研究所）
The gravitational-wave GW170817 is associated to the inspiral phase of a binary neutron star coalescence event. The LIGO-Virgo detectors sensitivity at high frequencies was not sufficient to detect the signal corresponding to the merger and post-merger phases. Hence, the question whether the merger outcome was a prompt black hole formation or not must be answered using either the pre-merger gravitational wave signal or electromagnetic counterparts. In this work we present two methods to infer the probability of prompt black hole formation, using the analysis of the inspiral gravitational-wave …
Because all neutron stars share a common equation of state, tidal deformability constraints from the compact binary coalescence GW170817 have implications for the properties of neutron stars in other systems. Using equation-of-state insensitive relations between macroscopic observables like moment of inertia ($I$), tidal deformability ($Λ$) and stellar compactness, we derive constraints on these properties as a function of neutron-star mass based on the LIGO-Virgo collaboration's canonical deformability measurement, $Λ_{1.4} = 190^{+390}_{-120}$. Specific estimates of $Λ$, $I$, dimensionless s…
Ambient magnetic fields are thought to play a critical role in black hole jet formation. Furthermore, dual electromagnetic signals could be produced during the inspiral and merger of binary black hole systems. However, due to the absence of theoretical models, the physical status of binary black hole arrays with dual jets has remained unresolved. In this paper, we derive the exact solution for the electromagnetic field occurring when a static, axisymmetric binary black hole system is placed in the field of two magnetic or electric monopoles. As a by-product of this derivation, we also find the…
