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Related papers: The gravitational-wave memory effect

200 papers

We present the first computation of the nonlinear gravitational memory waveform for the scattering of two compact objects in General Relativity at leading order in the post-Minkowskian expansion. We use the scattering-amplitudes-based…

High Energy Physics - Theory · Physics 2025-06-27 Alessandro Georgoudis , Vasco Goncalves , Carlo Heissenberg , Julio Parra-Martinez

The gravitational-wave (GW) memory effect is a strong-field relativistic phenomenon that is associated with a persistent change in the GW strain after the passage of a GW. The nonlinear effect arises from interactions of GWs themselves in…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2025-04-01 Arwa Elhashash , David A. Nichols

In this study, we investigate the role of the non-linear memory effect in gravitational wave (GW) parameter estimation, particularly we explore its capability to break the degeneracy between luminosity distance and inclination angle in…

We compute the non-linear memory contributions to the gravitational-wave amplitudes for compact binaries in eccentric orbits at the third post-Newtonian (3PN) order in general relativity. These contributions are hereditary in nature as they…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2019-10-22 Michael Ebersold , Yannick Boetzel , Guillaume Faye , Chandra K. Mishra , Bala R. Iyer , Philippe Jetzer

Gravitational-wave memory is a low-frequency, non-oscillatory signal that provides a promising probe of strong-field gravity. We present the first computation of memory from full inspiral--merger--ringdown waveforms in a theory beyond GR,…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2026-05-11 Silvia Gasparotto

Gravitational-wave memory is a low-frequency, non-oscillatory component of the radiation field that provides a potentially powerful but as yet undetected probe of strong-field gravity. We present the first calculation of gravitational…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2026-04-13 Silvia Gasparotto , Jann Zosso , Llibert Aresté Saló , Daniela D. Doneva , Stoytcho S. Yazadjiev

The nonlinear memory effect is a fascinating prediction of general relativity (GR), in which oscillatory gravitational-wave (GW) signals are generically accompanied by a monotonically-increasing strain which persists in the detector long…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2021-07-23 Alexander C. Jenkins , Mairi Sakellariadou

Numerical relativists can now produce gravitational waveforms with memory effects routinely and accurately. The gravitational-wave memory effect contains very low-frequency components, including a persistent offset. The presence of these…

The usual gravitational wave memory effect can be understood as a change in the separation of two initially comoving observers due to a burst of gravitational waves. Over the past few decades, a wide variety of other, "persistent"…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2024-07-30 Alexander M. Grant

Gravitational-wave memory is a non-linear effect predicted by general relativity that remains undetected. We apply a Bayesian analysis framework to search for gravitational-wave memory using binary black hole mergers in LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2024-04-19 Shun Yin Cheung , Paul D. Lasky , Eric Thrane

We investigate new optical effects of nonlinear gravitational waves that arise from hereditary effects. Firstly, we show that the amplitude of continuous plane waves has a hereditary effect that grows with distance. This can make the…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2025-01-22 Yu-Qiang Liu , Yu-Qi Dong , Yu-Xiao Liu

In the first paper in this series, we introduced "persistent gravitational wave observables" as a framework for generalizing the gravitational wave memory effect. These observables are nonlocal in time and nonzero in the presence of…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2020-05-20 Éanna É. Flanagan , Alexander M. Grant , Abraham I. Harte , David A. Nichols

Gravitational memory is a zero-frequency effect associated with a permanent change in the asymptotic spacetime metric induced by radiation. Although its universal manifestation is a net change in the proper distances between freely falling…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2026-05-06 Jann Zosso , Lorena Magaña Zertuche , Silvia Gasparotto , Adrien Cogez , Henri Inchauspé , Milo Jacobs

With the multitude of gravitational wave observations that have been made in the past ten years, probing the dynamical and nonlinear nature of strong gravity is becoming more and more feasible. One promising way to test the nonlinear nature…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2026-05-28 Keefe Mitman , Maximiliano Isi , Will M. Farr

The memory effect in gravitational waves is a direct prediction of general relativity. The presence of the memory effect in gravitational wave signals not only serves as a test for general relativity but also establishes connections between…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2024-01-23 Shuo Sun , Changfu Shi , Jian-dong Zhang , Jianwei Mei

A gravitational wave pulse, while passing through spacetime, brings about a change in the relative separation between free particles. This `memory effect' serves as one of the signatures of gravitational waves. In this paper, we consider…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2023-07-13 Sucheta Datta , Sarbari Guha , Deeshani Mitra

The nonlinear gravitational-wave (GW) memory effect$\unicode{x2014}$a permanent shift in the GW strain that arises from nonlinear GW interactions in the wave zone$\unicode{x2014}$is a prediction of general relativity which has not yet been…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2025-12-01 Arwa Elhashash , David A. Nichols

We revisit the issue of memory effects, i.e. effects giving rise to a net cumulative change of the configuration of test particles, using a toy model describing the emission of radiation by a compact source and focusing on the scalar, hence…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2021-03-10 Hebertt Leandro , Riccardo Sturani

Gravitational wave memory is said to arise when a gravitational wave burst produces changes in a physical system that persist even after that wave has passed. This paper analyzes gravitational wave bursts in plane wave spacetimes, deriving…

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology · Physics 2025-01-15 Abraham I. Harte , Thomas B. Mieling , Marius A. Oancea , Elisabeth Steininger

Gravitational waves are predicted by the general theory of relativity. In [6] D. Christodoulou showed that gravitational waves have a nonlinear memory. We proved in [3] that the electromagnetic field contributes at highest order to the…

Differential Geometry · Mathematics 2011-06-10 Lydia Bieri , PoNing Chen , Shing-Tung Yau