Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves
Compact binary coalescences are the most promising sources of gravitational waves (GWs) for ground-based detectors. Binary systems containing one or two spinning black holes are particularly interesting due to spin-orbit (and eventual spin-spin) interactions and the opportunity of measuring spins di...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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American Physical Society
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88643 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2700-0767 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5163-683X |
| _version_ | 1811070234858094592 |
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| author | Vitale, Salvatore Veitch, John Raymond, Vivien Sturani, Riccardo Lynch, Ryan Christopher |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Vitale, Salvatore Veitch, John Raymond, Vivien Sturani, Riccardo Lynch, Ryan Christopher |
| author_sort | Vitale, Salvatore |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Compact binary coalescences are the most promising sources of gravitational waves (GWs) for ground-based detectors. Binary systems containing one or two spinning black holes are particularly interesting due to spin-orbit (and eventual spin-spin) interactions and the opportunity of measuring spins directly through GW observations. In this Letter, we analyze simulated signals emitted by spinning binaries with several values of masses, spins, orientations, and signal-to-noise ratios, as detected by an advanced LIGO-Virgo network. We find that for moderate or high signal-to-noise ratio the spin magnitudes can be estimated with errors of a few percent (5%–30%) for neutron star–black hole (black hole–black hole) systems. Spins’ tilt angle can be estimated with errors of 0.04 rad in the best cases, but typical values will be above 0.1 rad. Errors will be larger for signals barely above the threshold for detection. The difference in the azimuth angles of the spins, which may be used to check if spins are locked into resonant configurations, cannot be constrained. We observe that the best performances are obtained when the line of sight is perpendicular to the system’s total angular momentum and that a sudden change of behavior occurs when a system is observed from angles such that the plane of the orbit can be seen both from above and below during the time the signal is in band. This study suggests that direct measurement of black hole spin by means of GWs can be as precise as what can be obtained from x-ray binaries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:33:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/88643 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T08:33:15Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | American Physical Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/886432022-09-23T12:49:47Z Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves Vitale, Salvatore Veitch, John Raymond, Vivien Sturani, Riccardo Lynch, Ryan Christopher Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research Vitale, Salvatore Lynch, Ryan Christopher Compact binary coalescences are the most promising sources of gravitational waves (GWs) for ground-based detectors. Binary systems containing one or two spinning black holes are particularly interesting due to spin-orbit (and eventual spin-spin) interactions and the opportunity of measuring spins directly through GW observations. In this Letter, we analyze simulated signals emitted by spinning binaries with several values of masses, spins, orientations, and signal-to-noise ratios, as detected by an advanced LIGO-Virgo network. We find that for moderate or high signal-to-noise ratio the spin magnitudes can be estimated with errors of a few percent (5%–30%) for neutron star–black hole (black hole–black hole) systems. Spins’ tilt angle can be estimated with errors of 0.04 rad in the best cases, but typical values will be above 0.1 rad. Errors will be larger for signals barely above the threshold for detection. The difference in the azimuth angles of the spins, which may be used to check if spins are locked into resonant configurations, cannot be constrained. We observe that the best performances are obtained when the line of sight is perpendicular to the system’s total angular momentum and that a sudden change of behavior occurs when a system is observed from angles such that the plane of the orbit can be seen both from above and below during the time the signal is in band. This study suggests that direct measurement of black hole spin by means of GWs can be as precise as what can be obtained from x-ray binaries. National Science Foundation (U.S.) Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory 2014-08-08T19:14:00Z 2014-08-08T19:14:00Z 2014-06 2014-05 2014-07-23T20:47:28Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0031-9007 1079-7114 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88643 Vitale, Salvatore, Ryan Lynch, John Veitch, Vivien Raymond, and Riccardo Sturani. “Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves.” Physical Review Letters 112, no. 25 (June 2014). © 2014 American Physical Society https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2700-0767 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5163-683X en http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.251101 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. American Physical Society application/pdf American Physical Society American Physical Society |
| spellingShingle | Vitale, Salvatore Veitch, John Raymond, Vivien Sturani, Riccardo Lynch, Ryan Christopher Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves |
| title | Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves |
| title_full | Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves |
| title_fullStr | Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves |
| title_short | Measuring the Spin of Black Holes in Binary Systems Using Gravitational Waves |
| title_sort | measuring the spin of black holes in binary systems using gravitational waves |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/88643 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2700-0767 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5163-683X |
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