Related papers: Polarization Analysis of Ringdown Signals
We construct a template to model the post-merger phase of a binary black hole coalescence in the presence of a remnant $U(1)$ charge. We include the quasi-normal modes typically dominant during a binary black hole coalescence, $(\ell,m,n) =…
On January 14, 2025 the LIGO interferometers detected a gravitational wave from the merger of two black holes, GW250114. Using publicly available information, we estimate that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of GW250114 was $\sim 80$. This…
The event horizon of a black hole in general relativity absorbs all infalling radiation. Any observation of the contrary would immediately challenge the expectation that astrophysical black holes are described by the vacuum Kerr geometry.…
Numerical relativity has recently yielded a plethora of results about kicks from spinning mergers which has, in turn, vastly increased our knowledge about the spin interactions of black hole systems. In this work we use black hole…
We develop an analytical ringdown waveform model, including both the fundamental and the overtone quasinormal modes, for charged black holes and show that it is precise enough to analyze current gravitational wave data. Applying this…
It is commonly believed that the ringdown signal from a binary coalescence provides a conclusive proof for the formation of an event horizon after the merger. This expectation is based on the assumption that the ringdown waveform at…
We derive an analytic phenomenological expression that predicts the final mass of the black-hole remnant resulting from the merger of a generic binary system of black holes on quasi-circular orbits. Besides recovering the correct…
Polarization holonomy is analytically determined for a class of closed, spherical trajectories of light transiting a black hole in the Kerr metric. The leading order geometric optics approximation admits a closed-form expression of such…
The spin orientations of spinning binary black hole (BBH) mergers detected by ground-based gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO and Virgo can provide important clues about the formation of such binaries. However, these spin tilts,…
Perturbed Kerr black holes emit gravitational radiation, which (for the practical purposes of gravitational-wave astronomy) consists of a superposition of damped sinusoids termed quasi-normal modes. The frequencies and time-constants of the…
The properties of precessing, coalescing binary black holes are presently inferred through comparison with two approximate models of compact binary coalescence. In this work we show these two models often disagree substantially when…
Binary systems of massive black holes will be detectable by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) throughout the entire Universe. Observations of gravitational waves from this class of sources will have important repercussions on…
We examine recent claims that evidence for an overtone in the ringdown of the GW150914 binary black hole merger was a result of noise anomalies. We cannot reproduce these claims, finding that our previous analysis of this event is robust to…
The spins of binary black holes measured with gravitational waves provide insights about the formation, evolution, and dynamics of these systems. However, interpreting these measurements-especially for heavy black holes-remains an open…
Spin precession in merging black-hole binaries is a treasure trove for both astrophysics and fundamental physics. There are now well-established strategies to infer from gravitational-wave data whether at least one of the two black holes is…
Ringdown signals from perturbed black holes (BHs) offer a clean window into BH spacetime, strong-field gravity, and fundamental physics. Presently the quasi-normal modes of stellar-mass BH ringdowns have been successfully extracted in the…
Inaccurate modeling of gravitational-wave signals can introduce systematic biases in the inferred source parameters. As detector sensitivities improve and signals become louder, mitigating such waveform-induced systematics becomes…
We obtain stringent constraints on near-horizon deviations of a black hole from the Kerr geometry by performing a long-duration Bayesian analysis of the gravitational-wave data immediately following GW150914. GW150914 was caused by a binary…
Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes currently rely on theoretical models that predict the dominant multipoles (l,m) of the radiation during inspiral, merger and ringdown. We introduce a simple method to include the…
Pulsar timing arrays are sensitive to gravitational wave perturbations produced by individual supermassive black hole binaries during their early inspiral phase. Modified gravity theories allow for the emission of gravitational dipole…