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arXiv · 2505.17743

Time-frequency structure in the post-merger binary black hole gravitational wave signal

Chad Henshaw·Alice Heranval·Laura Cadonati
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Abstract

Gravitational wave signals from asymmetric binary black hole systems have been shown to exhibit additional chirps beyond the primary merger chirp in the post-merger region of the time-frequency domain. These secondary post-merger chirps correlate to the evolving geometry of the common horizon that forms as the binary merges and were previously studied through numerical relativity simulation in a zero-spin regime. In this work, we investigate the post-merger time-frequency structure in systems with both aligned and precessing spin using widely available waveform models. We find that the inclusion of strong aligned spin $\left(\xi = 0.75\right)$ induces further post-merger time-frequency peaks. Additionally we show that even mild precessing spin $\left(\chi_p = 0.25\right)$ strongly affects the distribution of post-merger radiative power across the celestial sky of the final black hole. Our results support the theory of a correlation between the post-merger signal and horizon geometry.

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Chad Henshaw, Alice Heranval, Laura Cadonati. 2025-05-23. Time-frequency structure in the post-merger binary black hole gravitational wave signal. https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.17743

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