Impact of the tidal p−g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars

Recent studies suggest that coalescing neutron stars are subject to a fluid instability involving the nonlinear coupling of the tide to p modes and g modes. Its influence on the inspiral dynamics and thus the gravitational wave signal is, however, uncertain because we do not know precisely how the i...

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Main Authors: Essick, Reed Clasey, Vitale, Salvatore, Weinberg, Nevin N.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106209
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8196-9267
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2700-0767
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9194-2084
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author Essick, Reed Clasey
Vitale, Salvatore
Weinberg, Nevin N.
author2 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
author_facet Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Essick, Reed Clasey
Vitale, Salvatore
Weinberg, Nevin N.
author_sort Essick, Reed Clasey
collection MIT
description Recent studies suggest that coalescing neutron stars are subject to a fluid instability involving the nonlinear coupling of the tide to p modes and g modes. Its influence on the inspiral dynamics and thus the gravitational wave signal is, however, uncertain because we do not know precisely how the instability saturates. Here we construct a simple, physically motivated model of the saturation that allows us to explore the instability’s impact as a function of the model parameters. We find that for plausible assumptions about the saturation, current gravitational wave detectors might miss >70% of events if only point particle waveforms are used. Parameters such as the chirp mass, component masses, and luminosity distance might also be significantly biased. On the other hand, we find that relatively simple modifications to the point particle waveform can alleviate these problems and enhance the science that emerges from the detection of binary neutron stars.
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spelling mit-1721.1/1062092022-09-30T08:34:36Z Impact of the tidal p−g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars Essick, Reed Clasey Vitale, Salvatore Weinberg, Nevin N. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research LIGO (Observatory : Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Essick, Reed Clasey Vitale, Salvatore Weinberg, Nevin N. Recent studies suggest that coalescing neutron stars are subject to a fluid instability involving the nonlinear coupling of the tide to p modes and g modes. Its influence on the inspiral dynamics and thus the gravitational wave signal is, however, uncertain because we do not know precisely how the instability saturates. Here we construct a simple, physically motivated model of the saturation that allows us to explore the instability’s impact as a function of the model parameters. We find that for plausible assumptions about the saturation, current gravitational wave detectors might miss >70% of events if only point particle waveforms are used. Parameters such as the chirp mass, component masses, and luminosity distance might also be significantly biased. On the other hand, we find that relatively simple modifications to the point particle waveform can alleviate these problems and enhance the science that emerges from the detection of binary neutron stars. United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (ATP Grant NNX14AB40G) National Science Foundation (U.S.) Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory 2017-01-05T19:07:06Z 2017-01-05T19:07:06Z 2016-11 2016-09 2016-11-28T23:00:07Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2470-0010 2470-0029 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106209 Essick, Reed, Salvatore Vitale, and Nevin N. Weinberg. “Impact of the Tidal P − G Instability on the Gravitational Wave Signal from Coalescing Binary Neutron Stars.” Physical Review D 94.10 (2016): n. pag. © 2016 American Physical Society https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8196-9267 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2700-0767 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9194-2084 en http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.94.103012 Physical Review D Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. American Physical Society application/pdf American Physical Society American Physical Society
spellingShingle Essick, Reed Clasey
Vitale, Salvatore
Weinberg, Nevin N.
Impact of the tidal p−g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars
title Impact of the tidal p−g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars
title_full Impact of the tidal p−g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars
title_fullStr Impact of the tidal p−g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars
title_full_unstemmed Impact of the tidal p−g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars
title_short Impact of the tidal p−g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars
title_sort impact of the tidal p g instability on the gravitational wave signal from coalescing binary neutron stars
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106209
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8196-9267
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2700-0767
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9194-2084
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