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Alexander H. Nitz

Publications and source records attributed to Alexander H. Nitz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Constraints on Line-of-Sight Acceleration from O1-O4

A compact binary will experience a center-of-mass (CoM) acceleration in the vicinity of a massive third object. The line-of-sight (LOS) component of this acceleration is imprinted on gravitational waves (GWs) produced by the compact binary as a time-varying Doppler shift. The observation of a non-zero LOS acceleration may indicate the binary is in a dense environment, such as an active galactic nucleus (AGN) disk or nuclear star cluster, etc. We measure the LOS acceleration of all compact binaries observed through the first part of the fourth observing run (O1-O4a) of Advanced LIGO and Virgo in addition to select binaries from later observing runs. We introduce a new method to model the LOS acceleration by directly applying the time-varying Doppler shift in the time domain to the signal produced in the binary's frame; this method can be applied to any waveform model including those with higher order modes, eccentricity, and precession. We find the LOS acceleration for all known binaries to date is consistent with zero. We find that the effects of eccentricity and LOS acceleration are partially degenerate as observed in binaries such as GW200105. Current ground-based observatories are sensitive enough to only constrain scenarios that produce high accelerations, e.g $\sim 10^{-2~}(10^{-6})~\textrm{c}/s$ for binary black hole (BBH) (binary neutron star (BNS)) sources; however, next-generation observatories may be able to constrain the accelerations expected in some dense environments.

astro-ph.HE

Las Cumbres Observatory Gravitational-Wave Follow-up in the Third and Fourth Observing Runs: Strengths and Weaknesses of a Rapid Response Galaxy Targeted Strategy

We present a summary of gravitational-wave (GW) follow-up using the Las Cumbres Observatory global network of telescopes during the third (O3) and fourth (O4) observing runs of the GW detectors. As in O2, we implemented the Gehrels et al. 2016 galaxy-targeted strategy. Here we test its efficacy in O3 and O4 and analyze the Las Cumbres Observatory response time and depth for nine GW alerts that showed a possibility of having an electromagnetic counterpart (GW190425, GW190426_152155, S190510g, GW190728_064510, GW190814, S190822c, GW191216_213338, S240422ed and S250206dm). We find that Las Cumbres Observatory is able to begin observations in response to GW alerts within minutes of the alert, with the observations being deep enough to detect possible GW170817-like kilonovae out to a median distance of 250 Mpc. In this sense a global rapid-response network of telescopes like Las Cumbres is an excellent GW follow-up facility. However, the galaxy-targeted follow-up strategy was much less efficient in O3 and O4 than originally predicted, given the larger than assumed GW localizations. We conclude that coordination between various facilities to include both wide-field and rapid-response capabilities is required to achieve efficient and comprehensive follow-up of GW events.

astro-ph.HE

Search for Sub-Solar Mass Binaries in the First Part of LIGO's Fourth Observing Run

We report the first results of a sub-solar mass compact binary search using the data from the first part of the fourth observing run (O4a) of the Advanced LIGO detectors. Sub-solar mass neutron stars and black holes are not expected to form via standard stellar evolution, and their observation would signify a new class of astrophysical objects or the discovery of a component of dark matter. Our search covers binaries with primary masses 0.1 to 2 $M_\odot$ and secondary masses 0.1 to 1 $M_\odot$. We explicitly incorporate tidal effects up to $7\times10^5$ for extremely low mass neutron stars. Due to the recent development of efficient ratio filter de-chirping frameworks, this search consisting of 25 million templates is now computationally feasible. No statistically significant candidates are identified. We place a $90\%$ confidence upper limit on the merger rate $\mathcal{R}_{90}$ for sub-solar mass black holes to be $< 2.5\times10^4\,\textrm{Gpc}^{-3} \textrm{yr}^{-1}$ for a chirp mass of 0.2 $M_\odot$. We place the first constraints for binary neutron stars with tidal deformabilities up to $\sim 7\times10^5$ and improve the merger rate estimate by a factor $\sim 3$ in comparison to previous O3 tidal searches for tidal deformabilities $< 10^4$. The advanced sensitivity of the O4a run enables an improvement in the sub-solar mass black hole merger rate limits by more than $2 \times$ over the previous three observing runs (O1-O3) combined. We constrain the effective local dark matter fraction to be $\tilde{f}_\textrm{PBH}<0.5\%$ for 0.4 $M_{\textrm{PBH}}$, approximately 1.8 times lower than the previous O1-O3 constraints. Given our model assumptions, our local dark matter fraction constraints are 2-10 times lower than the OGLE microlensing survey for $M_{\textrm{PBH}}\ge0.25$.

astro-ph.HE

Beyond FINDCHIRP: Breaking the memory wall and optimal FFTs for Gravitational-Wave Matched-Filter Searches with Ratio-Filter Dechirping

A primary bottleneck in modern FFT-based matched-filter searches for gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences is not raw processor throughput, but available memory bandwidth. Standard frequency-domain implementations, such as the FINDCHIRP algorithm, rely on streaming long template waveforms and data from main memory, which leads to significant processor stalling when template durations exceed cache capacities. In this work, we introduce \textit{Ratio-Filter Dechirping} as a solution, an algorithmic restructuring of the matched filter that transforms the operation from a memory-bound Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) into a cache-efficient, compute-bound Finite Impulse Response (FIR) convolution. By utilizing a reference template to remove common orbital phase evolution, we produce slowly changing frequency-domain ratios that can be accurately implemented as short FIR filters. This method delivers a measured speedup of $8\times$ for the core filtering loop used in offline searches and should enable $>10\times$ for low-latency analysis. We find that this approach generalizes to a variety of searches that include physical features such as finite size effects, eccentricity, and precession. By dramatically reducing the computational cost of matched filtering, this approach enables the expansion of searches into dense or high-dimensional parameter spaces, such as those for eccentric or subsolar-mass signals, that are already limited by available computing budgets. Furthermore, this framework provides a natural path for hardware acceleration on GPU architectures.

astro-ph.IM

Potential science with GW250114 -- the loudest binary black hole merger detected to date

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 would make it three to four times louder than any other gravitational wave detected to date. GW250114 therefore offers a unique opportunity to make precise measurements of its source parameters and to test general relativity. In anticipation of its public data release, we analyze a set of simulated signals that have parameters similar to what we estimate for GW250114 and explore what new insights may be gained from this significant event. We investigate how well the component spins may be constrained, whether any eccentricity may be measured, what quasi-normal modes (QNMs) may be detected in the post-merger signal, how well the black hole area theorem may be constrained, and what constraints may be expected on sub-dominant inspiral-merger-ringdown modes. We find that it should be possible to measure a non-zero eccentricity at $20\,$Hz ($e_{20}$) if GW250114 has $e_{20} \gtrsim 0.05$. We also find that at least one overtone of the dominant QNM should be detectable in the ringdown of GW250114, with a Bayes factor of $O(10^3)$ after marginalizing over all timing uncertainties.

gr-qc

Search for gravitational waves from eccentric binary black holes with an effective-one-body template

As gravitational wave astronomy has entered an era of routine detections, it becomes increasingly important to precisely measure the physical parameters of individual events and infer population properties. Eccentricity is a key observable, suggesting that binaries form in a dense stellar environment through dynamical encounters. This work performs the first matched-filtering search for gravitational waves from eccentric binary black holes (BBHs) covering the mass range $[5, 200]~M_\odot$ and eccentricity at 20 Hz up to 0.5 with a newly developed effective-one-body waveform model. Throughout the third observation run of LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA, we identify 28 BBH events with a false alarm rate below once per 100 yr; all of which were previously reported in the GWTC-3 and 4-OGC catalogs. Additional candidates with false alarm rates between once per 1 and 100 yr are also reported. We perform an injection campaign to characterize the sensitive volume time of our search pipeline. Assuming that none of the eccentric BBH events were missed by previous searches, our results provide constraints on the event rate of eccentric BBHs in the mass range [5, 30] $M_\odot$. For a 30-30 $M_\odot$ BBH with eccentricity 0.5, the event rate is limited to less than 0.06 Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$; this marks an order of magnitude improvement for sensitive volume compared with the previous search with a minimally modeled algorithm without using templates.

gr-qc

Multiband parameter estimation with phase coherence and extrinsic marginalization: Extracting more information from low-SNR CBC signals in LISA data

This paper presents a novel coherent multiband analysis framework for characterizing stellar- and intermediate-mass binary black holes using LISA and next-generation ground-based detectors (ET and CE), leveraging the latest developments in the \texttt{PyCBC} pipeline. Given the population parameters inferred from LVK results and LISA's sensitivity limits at high frequencies, most stellar-mass binary black holes would likely have SNRs below 5 in LISA, but the most state-of-the-art multiband parameter estimation methods, such as those using ET and CE posteriors as priors for LISA, typically struggle to analyze sources with a LISA SNR less than 5. We present a novel coherent multiband parameter estimation method that directly calculates a joint likelihood, which is highly efficient; this efficiency is enabled by multiband marginalization of the extrinsic parameter space, implemented using importance sampling, which can work robustly even when the LISA SNR is as low as 3. Having an SNR of $\sim 3$ allows LISA to contribute nearly double the number of multiband sources. Even if LISA only observes for one year, most of the multiband detector-frame chirp mass's 90\% credible interval (less than $10^{-4} \mathrm{M}_\odot$) is still better than that of the most accurately measured events for ET+2CE network in 7.5 years of observation, by at least one order of magnitude. For the first time, we show efficient multiband Bayesian parameter estimation results on the population scale, which paves the way for large-scale astrophysical tests using multibanding.

gr-qc

Mining the Alerts: A Preliminary Catalog of Compact Binaries from the Fourth Observing Run

We present a preliminary catalog of compact binary merger candidates from the ongoing fourth observing run (O4) of Advanced LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA, based on an analysis of public alerts distributed through GraceDB as of May 2025. We developed and applied methods to estimate the source-frame chirp mass for each candidate by utilizing information from public data products, including source classification probabilities, sky localizations, and observatory status. Combining our O4 analysis with previous catalogs, we provide updated estimates for the local merger rate density. For sources with chirp mass characteristic of binary neutron stars ($[1, 1.5]\,M_\odot$), we find a rate of $56^{+99}_{-40}$ $\textrm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\textrm{yr}^{-1}$. For systems in the expected neutron star--black hole chirp mass range ($[1.5, 3.5]\,M_\odot$), the rate is $36^{+32}_{-20}$ $\textrm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\textrm{yr}^{-1}$, and for heavier binary black holes ($[3.5, 100]\,M_\odot$), we estimate a rate of $19^{+4}_{-2}$ $\textrm{Gpc}^{-3}\,\textrm{yr}^{-1}$. This work provides an early glimpse into the compact binary population being observed in O4; we identify a number of high-value candidates up to signal-to-noise $\sim 80$, which we expect to enable precision measurements in the future.

astro-ph.HE

A gating-and-inpainting perspective on GW150914 ringdown overtone: understanding the data analysis systematics

We revisit the recent debate on the evidence for an overtone in the black hole ringdown of GW150914 using an independent data-analysis pipeline. By gating and inpainting the data, we discard the contamination from earlier parts of the gravitational wave signal before ringdown. This enables parameter estimation to be conducted in the frequency domain, which is mathematically equivalent to the time domain method. We keep the settings as similar as possible to the previous studies by Cotesta et al. arXiv:2201.00822 and Isi et al. arXiv:1905.00869 arXiv:2202.02941 which yielded conflicting results on the Bayes factor of the overtone. Our aim is to understand how different data analysis systematics, including sampling rates, erroneous timestamps, and the frequency resolution of the noise power spectrum, would influence the statistical significance of an overtone. Our main results indicate the following: (i) a low-resolution estimation of the noise power spectrum tends to diminish the significance of overtones, (ii) adjusting the start time to a later digitized point reduces the significance of overtones, and (iii) overtone evidence varies with different sampling rates if the start time is too early, indicating that the overtone is a poor model, hence we propose a convergence test to verify the validity of an overtone model. With these issues addressed, we find the Bayes factors for the overtone to range from $10$ to $26$ in a range of times centered at the best-fit merger time of GW150914, which supports the existence of an overtone in agreement with the conclusions of Isi et al. arXiv:1905.00869 arXiv:2202.02941. These results are obtained by keeping the start time and sky location fixed, enabling a direct comparison with other work. Marginalizing over these parameters would lower the Bayes factor to 1 for the evidence of an overtone.

gr-qc

Search for eccentric NSBH and BNS mergers in the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo

The possible formation histories of neutron star binaries remain unresolved by current gravitational-wave catalogs. The detection of an eccentric binary system could be vital in constraining compact binary formation models. We present the first search for aligned spin eccentric neutron star-black hole binaries (NSBH) and the most sensitive search for aligned-spin eccentric binary neutron star (BNS) systems using data from the third observing run of the advanced LIGO and advanced Virgo detectors. No new statistically significant candidates are found; we constrain the local merger rate for specific astrophysical models to be less than 150 $\text{Gpc}^{-3}\text{yr}^{-1}$ for binary neutron stars in the field, and, 50, 100, and 70 $\text{Gpc}^{-3}\text{yr}^{-1}$ for neutron star-black hole binaries in globular clusters, hierarchical triples and nuclear clusters, respectively, at the 90$\%$ confidence level if we assume that no sources have been observed from these populations. We predict the capabilities of upcoming and next-generation observatory networks; we investigate the ability of three LIGO ($\text{A}^{\#}$) detectors and Cosmic Explorer CE (20km) + CE (40km) to use eccentric binary observations for determining the formation history of neutron star binaries. We find that 2 -- 100 years of observation with three $\text{A}^{\#}$ observatories are required before we observe clearly eccentric NSBH binaries; this reduces to only 10 days -- 1 year with the CE detector network. CE will observe tens to hundreds of measurably eccentric binaries from each of the formation models we consider.

astro-ph.HE

Parameter Estimation with Nonstationary Noise in Gravitational-wave Data

The sensitivity of gravitational-wave (GW) detectors is characterized by their noise curves, which determine the detector's reach and ability to measure the parameters of astrophysical sources accurately. The detector noise is typically modeled as stationary and Gaussian for many practical purposes and is characterized by its Power Spectral Density (PSD). However, due to environmental and instrumental factors, physical changes in the state of detectors may introduce non-stationarity into the noise. Misestimation of the noise behavior directly impacts the posterior width of the signal parameters. It becomes an issue for studies that depend on accurate localization volumes, such as i) probing cosmological parameters (e.g., Hubble constant) using cross-correlation methods with galaxies, ii) doing electromagnetic follow-up using localization information from parameter estimation (PE) done from pre-merger data. We study the effects of dynamical noise on the PE of the GW events. We develop a new method to correct dynamical noise by estimating a locally valid pseudo-PSD normalized along a potential signal's time-frequency track. We do simulations by injecting binary neutron star (BNS) merger signals in various scenarios where the detector goes through a period of non-stationarity with reference noise curves of third-generation detectors (Cosmic Explorer, Einstein telescope). As an example, for a source where mis-modeling of the noise biases the signal-to-noise estimate by even $10\%$, one would expect the estimated sky localization to be either under or over-reported by $\sim 20\%$; errors like this, especially in low-latency, could potentially cause follow-up campaigns to miss the actual source location.

astro-ph.IM

A Search for Low-Mass Neutron Stars in the Third Observing Run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo

Most observed neutron stars have masses around 1.4 $M_\odot$, consistent with current formation mechanisms. To date, no sub-solar mass neutron star has been observed. Observing a low-mass neutron star would be a significant milestone, providing crucial constraints on the nuclear equation of state, unveiling a new population of neutron stars, and advancing the study of their formation processes and underlying mechanisms. We present the first targeted search for tidally deformed sub-solar mass binary neutron stars (BNS), with primary masses ranging from 0.1 to 2 $M_\odot$ and secondary masses from 0.1 to 1 $M_\odot$, using data from the third observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. We account for the tidal deformabilities of up to $O(10^4)$ of these systems, as low-mass neutron stars are more easily distorted by their companions' gravitational forces. Previous searches that neglect tidal deformability lose sensitivity to low-mass sources, potentially missing more than $\sim30\%$ of detectable signals from a system with a chirp mass of 0.6 $M_\odot$ binaries. No statistically significant detections were made. In the absence of a detection, we place a $90\%$ confidence upper limit on the local merger rate for sub-solar mass BNS systems, constraining it to be $< 6.4\times10^4$ Gpc$^{-3}$Yr$^{-1}$ for a chirp mass of 0.2 $M_\odot$ and $< 2.2\times 10^3$ Gpc$^{-3}$Yr$^{-1}$ for 0.7 $M_\odot$. With future upgrades to detector sensitivity, development of next-generation detectors, and ongoing improvements in search pipelines, constraints on the minimum mass of neutron stars will improve, providing the potential to constrain the nuclear equation of state, reveal new insights into neutron star formation channels, and potentially identify new classes of stars.

astro-ph.HE

Efficient Stochastic Template Bank using Inner Product Inequalities

Gravitational wave searches are crucial for studying compact sources like neutron stars and black holes. Many sensitive modeled searches use matched filtering to compare gravitational strain data to a set of waveform models known as template banks. We introduce a new stochastic placement method for constructing template banks, offering efficiency and flexibility to handle arbitrary parameter spaces, including orbital eccentricity, tidal deformability, and other extrinsic parameters. This method can be computationally limited by the ability to compare proposal templates with the accepted templates in the bank. To alleviate this computational load, we introduce the use of inner product inequalities to reduce the number of required comparisons. We also introduce a novel application of Gaussian Kernel Density Estimation to enhance waveform coverage in sparser regions. Our approach has been employed to search for eccentric binary neutron stars, low-mass neutron stars, primordial black holes, supermassive black hole binaries. We demonstrate that our method produces self-consistent banks that recover the required minimum fraction of signals. For common parameter spaces, our method shows comparable computational performance and similar template bank sizes to geometric placement methods and stochastic methods, while easily extending to higher-dimensional problems. The time to run a search exceeds the time to generate the bank by a factor of $\mathcal{O}(10^5)$ for dedicated template banks, such as geometric, mass-only stochastic, and aligned spin cases, $\mathcal{O}(10^4)$ for eccentric and $\mathcal{O}(10^3)$ for the tidal deformable bank. With the advent of efficient template bank generation, the primary area for improvement is developing more efficient search methodologies.

astro-ph.HE

Estimating False Alarm Rates of Sub-Dominant Quasi-normal Modes in GW190521

A major aim of gravitational wave astronomy is to test observationally the Kerr nature of black holes. The strongest such test, with minimal additional assumptions, is provided by observations of multiple ringdown modes, also known as black hole spectroscopy. For the gravitational wave merger event GW190521, we have previously claimed the detection of two ringdown modes emitted by the remnant black hole. In this paper we provide further evidence for the detection of multiple ringdown modes from this event. We analyse the recovery of simulated gravitational wave signals designed to replicate the ringdown properties of GW190521. We quantify how often our detection statistic reports strong evidence for a sub-dominant $(\ell,m,n)=(3,3,0)$ ringdown mode, even when no such mode is present in the simulated signal. We find this only occurs with a probability $\sim 0.02$, which is consistent with a Bayes factor of $t_{\rm ref} + 6\,\mathrm{ms}$ (1$σ$ uncertainty) found for GW190521. We also quantify our agnostic analysis of GW190521, in which no relationship is assumed between ringdown modes, and find that only 1 in 250 simulated signals without a $(3,3,0)$ mode yields a result as significant as GW190521. Conversely, we verify that when simulated signals do have an observable $(3,3,0)$ mode they consistently yield a strong evidence and significant agnostic results. We also find that constraints on deviations from the $(3,3,0)$ mode on GW190521-like signals with a $(3,3,0)$ mode are consistent with what was obtained from our previous analysis of GW190521. Our results support our previous conclusion that the gravitational wave signal from GW190521 contains an observable sub-dominant $(\ell,m,n)=(3,3,0)$ mode.

gr-qc

Hierarchical searches for subsolar-mass binaries and the third-generation gravitational wave detector era

The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) from coalescing compact binaries has become routine with ground-based detectors like LIGO and Virgo. However, beyond standard sources such as binary black holes and neutron stars and neutron star black holes, no exotic sources revealing new physics have been discovered. Detecting ultra-compact objects, such as subsolar mass (SSM) compact objects, offers a promising opportunity to explore diverse astrophysical populations. However, searching for these objects using standard matched-filtering techniques is computationally intensive due to the dense parameter space involved. This increasing computational demand not only challenges current search methodologies but also poses significant obstacles for third-generation (3G) ground-based GW detectors. In the 3G era, signals may last tens of minutes, and detection rates could reach one per minute, requiring efficient search strategies to manage the computational load of long-duration signals. In this paper, we demonstrate a hierarchical search strategy designed to address the challenges of searching for long-duration signals, such as those from SSM compact binaries, and the anticipated issues with 3G detectors. We show that by adopting optimization techniques in a two-stage hierarchical approach, we can efficiently search for the SSM compact object in the current LIGO detectors. Our preliminary results show that conducting matched filtering at a lower frequency of 35 Hz improves the signal-to-noise ratio by 6% and enhances the detection volume by 10-20%, compared to the standard two-detector PyCBC search. This improvement is achieved while reducing computational costs by a factor of 2.5.

gr-qc

A Tale of Two Black Holes: Multiband Gravitational-Wave Measurement of Recoil Kicks

The non-linear dynamics of General Relativity leave their imprint on remnants of black hole mergers in the form of a recoil ``kick''. The kick has profound astrophysical implications across the black hole mass range from stellar to super-massive. However, a robust measurement of the kick for generic binaries from gravitational-wave observations has proved so far to be extremely challenging. In this \emph{letter}, we demonstrate the prospects of measuring black hole kicks through a multiband gravitational-wave network consisting of space mission LISA, the current earth-based detector network and a third-generation detector. For two distinct cases of remnant black hole kick (68 km/s, 1006 km/s) emerging from near identical pre-merger configuration of GW190521 -- the first confirmed intermediate-mass black hole -- we find that the multiband network will recover with 90\% credible level the projection of the kick vector relative to the orbital plane within tens of km/s accuracy. Such precise measurement of the kick offer a new set of multi-messenger follow-ups and unprecedented tests of astrophysical formation channels.

gr-qc

Multi-messenger Astrophysics of Black Holes and Neutron Stars as Probed by Ground-based Gravitational Wave Detectors: From Present to Future

The ground-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors LIGO and Virgo have enabled the birth of multi-messenger GW astronomy via the detection of GWs from merging stellar-mass black holes (BHs) and neutron stars (NSs). GW170817, the first binary NS merger detected in GWs and all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, is an outstanding example of the impact that GW discoveries can have on multi-messenger astronomy. Yet, GW170817 is only one of the many and varied multi-messenger sources that can be unveiled using ground-based GW detectors. In this contribution, we summarize key open questions in the astrophysics of stellar-mass BHs and NSs that can be answered using current and future-generation ground-based GW detectors, and highlight the potential for new multi-messenger discoveries ahead.

astro-ph.HE

Measuring Neutron Star Radius with second and third generation Gravitational Wave Detector Networks

The next generation of ground-based interferometric gravitational wave detectors will observe mergers of black holes and neutron stars throughout cosmic time. A large number of the binary neutron star merger events will be observed with extreme high fidelity, and will provide stringent constraints on the equation of state of nuclear matter. In this paper, we investigate the systematic improvement in the measurability of the equation of state with increase in detector sensitivity by combining constraints obtained on the radius of a $1.4 \, \mathrm{M}_{\odot}$ neutron star from a simulated source population. Since the measurability of the equation of state depends on its stiffness, we consider a range of realistic equations of state that span the current observational constraints. We show that a single 40km Cosmic Explorer detector can pin down the neutron star radius for a soft, medium and stiff equation of state to an accuracy of 10m within a decade, whereas the current generation of ground-based detectors like the Advanced LIGO-Virgo network would take $\mathcal{O}(10^5)$ years to do so for a soft equation of state.

astro-ph.HE