Learning about Black Hole Binaries from their Ringdown Spectra
© 2019 American Physical Society. The coalescence of two black holes generates gravitational waves that carry detailed information about the properties of those black holes and their binary configuration. The final coalescence cycles are in the form of a ringdown: a superposition of quasinormal mode...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society (APS)
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136506 |
| _version_ | 1826216367448129536 |
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| author | Hughes, Scott A Apte, Anuj Khanna, Gaurav Lim, Halston |
| author_facet | Hughes, Scott A Apte, Anuj Khanna, Gaurav Lim, Halston |
| author_sort | Hughes, Scott A |
| collection | MIT |
| description | © 2019 American Physical Society. The coalescence of two black holes generates gravitational waves that carry detailed information about the properties of those black holes and their binary configuration. The final coalescence cycles are in the form of a ringdown: a superposition of quasinormal modes of the merged remnant black hole. Each mode has an oscillation frequency and decay time that in general relativity is determined by the remnant's mass and spin. Measuring the frequency and decay time of multiple modes makes it possible to measure the remnant's mass and spin, and to test the waves against the predictions of gravity theories. In this Letter, we show that the relative amplitudes of these modes encode information about a binary's geometry. Focusing on the large mass-ratio limit, which provides a simple-to-use tool for effectively exploring parameter space, we demonstrate how a binary's geometry is encoded in the relative amplitudes of these modes, and how to parametrize the modes in this limit. Although more work is needed to assess how well this carries over to less extreme mass ratios, our results indicate that measuring multiple ringdown modes from coalescence may aid in measuring important source properties, such as the misalignment of its members' spins and orbit. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:46:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/136506 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:46:32Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | American Physical Society (APS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1365062021-10-28T03:06:31Z Learning about Black Hole Binaries from their Ringdown Spectra Hughes, Scott A Apte, Anuj Khanna, Gaurav Lim, Halston © 2019 American Physical Society. The coalescence of two black holes generates gravitational waves that carry detailed information about the properties of those black holes and their binary configuration. The final coalescence cycles are in the form of a ringdown: a superposition of quasinormal modes of the merged remnant black hole. Each mode has an oscillation frequency and decay time that in general relativity is determined by the remnant's mass and spin. Measuring the frequency and decay time of multiple modes makes it possible to measure the remnant's mass and spin, and to test the waves against the predictions of gravity theories. In this Letter, we show that the relative amplitudes of these modes encode information about a binary's geometry. Focusing on the large mass-ratio limit, which provides a simple-to-use tool for effectively exploring parameter space, we demonstrate how a binary's geometry is encoded in the relative amplitudes of these modes, and how to parametrize the modes in this limit. Although more work is needed to assess how well this carries over to less extreme mass ratios, our results indicate that measuring multiple ringdown modes from coalescence may aid in measuring important source properties, such as the misalignment of its members' spins and orbit. 2021-10-27T20:35:43Z 2021-10-27T20:35:43Z 2019 2021-06-25T13:42:41Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136506 en 10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.123.161101 Physical Review Letters 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. application/pdf American Physical Society (APS) APS |
| spellingShingle | Hughes, Scott A Apte, Anuj Khanna, Gaurav Lim, Halston Learning about Black Hole Binaries from their Ringdown Spectra |
| title | Learning about Black Hole Binaries from their Ringdown Spectra |
| title_full | Learning about Black Hole Binaries from their Ringdown Spectra |
| title_fullStr | Learning about Black Hole Binaries from their Ringdown Spectra |
| title_full_unstemmed | Learning about Black Hole Binaries from their Ringdown Spectra |
| title_short | Learning about Black Hole Binaries from their Ringdown Spectra |
| title_sort | learning about black hole binaries from their ringdown spectra |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/136506 |
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