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arXiv · 2606.17137

Improving low-latency multi-messenger follow-up of neutron star-black hole mergers with mode-by-mode filtering

Francesco Iacovelli·Digvijay Wadekar·Javier Roulet·Emanuele Berti·Alessandra Corsi
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Abstract

Rapid parameter estimation for neutron star-black hole (NSBH) mergers is essential for deciding whether, where, and how electromagnetic facilities should follow up gravitational-wave alerts. Current low-latency analyses typically use only the dominant quadrupole harmonic, leaving strong degeneracies among luminosity distance, inclination, and intrinsic binary parameters. We show that mode-by-mode filtering of the $(2,2)$, $(3,3)$, and $(4,4)$ signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) time series enables low-latency marginalization over higher-order-mode information at a computational cost comparable to quadrupole-only analyses. Applied to simulated NSBH detections in a LIGO-Virgo network at design sensitivity, our method improves constraints on luminosity distance, viewing angle, localization volume, and source-frame secondary mass, thereby sharpening crucial estimates of electromagnetic detectability and host-galaxy association. We also validate the approach on public data for previously detected NSBH events, finding the largest improvement for the asymmetric, higher-SNR event GW190814.

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Francesco Iacovelli, Digvijay Wadekar, Javier Roulet, Emanuele Berti, Alessandra Corsi. 2026-06-15. Improving low-latency multi-messenger follow-up of neutron star-black hole mergers with mode-by-mode filtering. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.17137

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