arXiv subjects

Lionel London

Publications and source records attributed to Lionel London.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Properties of natural polynomials for Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes

The quasi-normal modes of black holes play various important roles in gravitational wave theory, signal modeling, and data analysis; however, there remain open questions about their mathematical properties. Aspects of classical polynomial theory have been proposed as a framework to investigate quasinormal mode orthogonality and completeness. We have recently presented a class of polynomials that are "natural" to quasi-normal modes in that they are restricted by the quasi-normal mode boundary conditions, and exactly tridiagonalize Teukolsky's radial equation. In turn, these polynomials may be useful for better understanding the vector space properties of quasi-normal mode solutions to that equation. Here, we provide an overview of these polynomials' analytic properties: their 3-term recurrence relation, ladder operators and governing differential equation. We demonstrate that the natural polynomials for Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes are Pollaczek-Jacobi polynomials with complex valued parameters. Along the way, we observe a novel property that is particular to Schwarzschild: the polynomials' 3-term recurrence relation always peaks at the physical overtone index. This work supports the broader application of these polynomials, as well as their extension to black hole spacetimes beyond Schwarzschild and Kerr.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

Natural polynomials for Kerr quasi-normal modes

We present a polynomial basis that exactly tridiagonalizes Teukolsky's radial equation for quasi-normal modes. These polynomials naturally emerge from the radial problem, and they are canonical in that they possess key features of classical polynomials. Our canonical polynomials may be constructed using various methods, the simplest of which is the Gram-Schmidt process. In contrast with other polynomial bases, our polynomials allow for Teukolsky's radial equation to be represented as a simple matrix eigenvalue equation. We expect that our polynomials will be useful for better understanding the Kerr quasinormal modes' properties, particularly their prospective spatial completeness and orthogonality. We show that our polynomials are closely related to the confluent Heun and Pollaczek-Jacobi type polynomials. Consequently, our construction of polynomials may be used to tridiagonalize other instances of the confluent Heun equation. We apply our polynomials to a series of simple examples, including: (1) the high accuracy numerical computation of radial eigenvalues, (2) the evaluation and validation of quasinormal mode solutions to Teukolsky's radial equation, and (3) the use of Schwarzschild radial functions to represent those of Kerr. Along the way, a potentially new concept, polynomial/non-polynomial duality, is encountered and applied to show that some quasinormal mode separation constants are well approximated by confluent Heun polynomial eigenvalues. We briefly discuss the implications of our results on various topics, including the prospective spatial completeness of Kerr quasinormal modes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2026

A radial scalar product for Kerr quasinormal modes

A scalar product for quasinormal mode solutions to Teukolsky's homogeneous radial equation is presented. Evaluation of this scalar product can be performed either by direct integration, or by evaluation of a confluent hypergeometric functions. The related scalar product will be useful for better understanding analytic solutions to Teukolsky's radial equation, particularly the quasi-normal modes, their potential spatial completeness, and whether the quasi-normal mode overtone excitations may be estimated by spectral decomposition, rather than fitting. With that motivation, the scalar product is applied to confluent Heun polynomials where it is used to derive their peculiar orthogonality and eigenvalue properties. A potentially new relationship is derived between the confluent Heun polynomials' scalar products and eigenvalues. Using these results, it is shown for the first time that Teukolsky's radial equation (and perhaps similar confluent Heun equations) are, in principle, exactly tri-diagonalizable. To this end, "canonical" confluent Heun polynomials are conjectured.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Testing general relativity with amplitudes of subdominant gravitational-wave modes

We present an improved subdominant-mode amplitude (SMA) test of general relativity (GR), which probes amplitude-level deviations in the higher-order modes of gravitational-wave (GW) signals from binary black hole mergers while keeping the dominant quadrupole mode fixed. Using a comprehensive parameter-estimation campaign, we benchmark the test against Gaussian noise fluctuations, waveform modeling systematics, and physical effects such as spin precession and orbital eccentricity. When applied to numerical-relativity simulations, the SMA test performs reliably for aligned-spin and mildly precessing systems but exhibits measurable biases for strongly precessing or eccentric binaries. Although designed to detect amplitude deviations, the test also responds coherently to phase perturbations, yielding apparent GR violations when applied to phase-modified waveforms. Applied to recent GW detections, we report the strongest constraint on the hexadecapolar $(4,4)$ mode amplitude deviation, $\delta A_{44} = -0.30^{+1.16}_{-3.45}$, consistent with GR. With these results, this work establishes the SMA test as a robust and broadly sensitive null test of general relativity and demonstrates a systematic approach for assessing the robustness of GW tests of GR.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

PhenomXPNR: An improved gravitational wave model linking precessing inspirals and NR-calibrated merger-ringdown

We present the frequency-domain quasi-circular precessing binary-black-hole model PhenomXPNR. This model combines the most precise available post-Newtonian description of the evolution of the precession dynamics through inspiral with merger-ringdown model informed by numerical relativity. This, along with a phenomenological model of the dominant multipole asymmetries, results in the most accurate and complete representation of the physics of precessing binaries natively in the frequency-domain to date. All state-of-the-art precessing models show bias when inferring binary parameters in certain regions of the parameter space. We demonstrate that the developments presented ensure that for some precessing systems PhenomXPNR shows the least degree of bias. Further, as a phenomenological, frequency-domain model, PhenomXPNR remains one of the most computationally efficient models available and is therefore well-suited to the era of gravitational-wave astronomy with its ever growing rate of detected signals.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2025

Black hole spectroscopy: from theory to experiment

The "ringdown" radiation emitted by oscillating black holes has great scientific potential. By carefully predicting the frequencies and amplitudes of black hole quasinormal modes and comparing them with gravitational-wave data from compact binary mergers we can advance our understanding of the two-body problem in general relativity, verify the predictions of the theory in the regime of strong and dynamical gravitational fields, and search for physics beyond the Standard Model or new gravitational degrees of freedom. We summarize the state of the art in our understanding of black hole quasinormal modes in general relativity and modified gravity, their excitation, and the modeling of ringdown waveforms. We also review the status of LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA ringdown observations, data analysis techniques, and the bright prospects of the field in the era of LISA and next-generation ground-based gravitational-wave detectors.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

PhenomXO4a: a phenomenological gravitational-wave model for precessing black-hole binaries with higher multipoles and asymmetries

In this work we introduce PhenomXO4a, the first phenomenological, frequency-domain gravitational waveform model to incorporate multipole asymmetries and precession angles tuned to numerical relativity. We build upon the modeling work that produced the PhenomPNR model and incorporate our additions into the IMRPhenomX framework, retuning the coprecessing frame model and extending the tuned precession angles to higher signal multipoles. We also include, for the first time in frequency-domain models, a recent model for spin-precession-induced multipolar asymmetry in the coprecessing frame to the dominant gravitational-wave multipoles. The accuracy of the full model and its constituent components is assessed through comparison to numerical relativity and numerical relativity surrogate waveforms by computing mismatches and performing parameter estimation studies. We show that, for the dominant signal multipole, we retain the modeling improvements seen in the PhenomPNR model. We find that the relative accuracy of current full IMR models varies depending on location in parameter space and the comparison metric, and on average they are of comparable accuracy. However, we find that variations in the pointwise accuracy do not necessarily translate into large biases in the parameter estimation recoveries.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

A catalogue of precessing black-hole-binary numerical-relativity simulations

We present a public catalogue of numerical-relativity binary-black-hole simulations. The catalogue contains datasets from 80 distinct configurations of precessing binary-black-hole systems, with mass ratios up to $m_2/m_1 = 8$, dimensionless spin magnitudes on the larger black hole up to $|\vec{S}_2|/m_2^2 = 0.8$ (the small black hole is non-spinning), and a range of five values of spin misalignment for each mass-ratio/spin combination. We discuss the physical properties of the configurations in our catalogue, and assess the accuracy of the initial configuration of each simulation and of the gravitational waveforms. We perform a careful analysis of the errors due to the finite resolution of our simulations and the finite distance from the source at which we extract the waveform data and provide a conservative estimate of the mismatch accuracy. We find that the upper limit on the mismatch uncertainty of our waveforms is $0.4\%$. In doing this we present a consistent approach to combining mismatch uncertainties from multiple error sources. We compare this release to previous catalogues and discuss how these new simulations complement the existing public datasets. In particular, this is the first catalogue to uniformly cover this parameter space of single-spin binaries and there was previously only sparse coverage of the precessing-binary parameter space for mass ratios $\gtrsim 5$. We discuss applications of these new data, and the most urgent directions for future simulation work. The public dataset can be accessed online at https://data.cardiffgravity.org/bam-catalogue/.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Ringdown frequencies in black holes formed from precessing black-hole binaries

We present a simple formula for the effective ringdown frequencies of the gravitational-wave signal of a precessing black-hole binary in the co-precessing frame. This formula requires only knowledge of the quasi-normal mode frequencies of the system and the value of the precession angle $β$ during ringdown. Such a formula will be useful in modelling precessing systems. We also provide a comprehensive description of the oscillations in the ringdown frequency in an inertial frame where the spin of the final black hole is in the $z$-direction. These oscillations arise due to the superposition of the prograde and retrograde frequencies. Our understanding of these oscillations can be used to extract the ratio of the amplitudes of the prograde and retrograde frequencies from numerical data. Alternatively, knowledge of this ratio of the amplitudes can be used to produce a simple model of the time domain oscillations in the ringdown frequency.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Bi-orthogonal harmonics for the decomposition of gravitational radiation I: angular modes, completeness, and the introduction of adjoint-spheroidal harmonics

The estimation of radiative modes is a central problem in gravitational wave theory, with essential applications in signal modeling and data analysis. This problem is complicated by most astrophysically relevant systems' not having modes that are analytically tractable. A ubiquitous workaround is to use not modes, but multipole moments defined by spin weighted spherical harmonics. However, spherical multipole moments are only related to the modes of systems without angular momentum. As a result, they can obscure the underlying physics of astrophysically relevant systems, such as binary black hole merger and ringdown. In such cases, spacetime angular momentum means that radiative modes are not spherical, but spheroidal in nature. Here, we work through various problems related to spheroidal harmonics. We show for the first time that spheroidal harmonics are not only capable of representing arbitrary gravitational wave signals, but that they also possess a kind of orthogonality not used before in general relativity theory. Along the way we present a new class of spin weighted harmonic functions dubbed ``adjoint-spheroidal" harmonics. These new functions may be used for the general estimation of spheroidal multipole moments via complete bi-orthogonal decomposition (in the angular domain). By construction, adjoint-spheroidal harmonics suppress mode-mixing effects known to plague spherical harmonic decomposition; as a result, they better approximate a system's true radiative modes. We discuss potential applications of these results. Lastly, we briefly comment on the challenges posed by the analogous problem with Teukolsky's radial functions

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

The final twist: A model of gravitational waves from precessing black-hole binaries through merger and ringdown

We present PhenomPNR, a frequency-domain phenomenological model of the gravitational-wave (GW) signal from binary-black-hole mergers that is tuned to numerical relativity (NR) simulations of precessing binaries. In many current waveform models, e.g., the "Phenom" and "EOBNR" families that have been used extensively to analyse LIGO-Virgo GW observations, analytic approximations are used to add precession effects to models of non-precessing (aligned-spin) binaries, and it is only the aligned-spin models that are fully tuned to NR results. In PhenomPNR we incorporate precessing-binary NR results in two ways: (i) we produce the first NR-tuned model of the signal-based precession dynamics through merger and ringdown, and (ii) we extend a previous aligned-spin model, PhenomD, to include the effects of misaligned spins on the signal in the co-precessing frame. The NR calibration has been performed on 40 simulations of binaries with mass ratios between 1:1 and 1:8, where the larger black hole has a dimensionless spin magnitude of 0.4 or 0.8, and we choose five angles of spin misalignment with the orbital angular momentum. PhenomPNR has a typical mismatch accuracy within 0.1% up to mass-ratio 1:4, and within 1% up to mass-ratio 1:8.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Effect of two parallel intruders on net work during granular penetrations

The impact of single passive intruders into granular particles has been studied in detail. However, the impact force produced by multiple intruders separated at a distance from one another, and hence the effect of their presence in close proximity to one another, is largely unexplored. Here, we use numerical simulations and laboratory experiments to study the force response of two parallel rods intruding vertically into granular media while varying the gap spacing between them. We also explored the effect of variations in friction, intruder size, and particle size on the force response. The net work ($W$) of the two rods over the depth of intrusion was measured, and the instantaneous velocities of particles over the duration of intrusion were calculated by simulations. We found that the work done by the intruders changes with distance between them. We observed a peak in $W$ at a gap spacing of $\sim$3 particle diameters, which was up to 25% greater than $W$ at large separation (\textgreater 11 particle diameters), beyond which the net work plateaued. This peak was likely due to less particle flow between intruders as we found a larger number of strong forces---identified as force chains---in the particle domain at gaps surrounding the peak force. Although higher friction caused greater force generation during intrusion, the gap spacing between the intruders at which the peak work was generated remained unchanged. Larger intruder sizes resulted in greater net work with the peak in $W$ occurring at slightly larger intruder separations. Taken together, our results show that peak work done by two parallel intruders remained within a narrow range, remaining robust to most other tested parameters.

cond-mat.soft↗

arXiv2019

On the properties of the massive binary black hole merger GW170729

We present a detailed investigation into the properties of GW170729, the gravitational wave with the most massive and distant source confirmed to date. We employ an extensive set of waveform models, including new improved models that incorporate the effect of higher-order waveform modes which are particularly important for massive systems. We find no indication of spin-precession, but the inclusion of higher-order modes in the models results in an improved estimate for the mass ratio of $(0.3-0.8)$ at the 90\% credible level. Our updated measurement excludes equal masses at that level. We also find that models with higher-order modes lead to the data being more consistent with a smaller effective spin, with the probability that the effective spin is greater than zero being reduced from $99\%$ to $94\%$. The 90\% credible interval for the effective spin parameter is now $(-0.01-0.50)$. Additionally, the recovered signal-to-noise ratio increases by $\sim0.3$ units compared to analyses without higher-order modes. We study the effect of common spin priors on the derived spin and mass measurements, and observe small shifts in the spins, while the masses remain unaffected. We argue that our conclusions are robust against systematic errors in the waveform models. We also compare the above waveform-based analysis which employs compact-binary waveform models to a more flexible wavelet- and chirplet-based analysis. We find consistency between the two, with overlaps of $\sim 0.9$, typical of what is expected from simulations of signals similar to GW170729, confirming that the data are well-described by the existing waveform models. Finally, we study the possibility that the primary component of GW170729 was the remnant of a past merger of two black holes and find this scenario to be indistinguishable from the standard formation scenario.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

The US Program in Ground-Based Gravitational Wave Science: Contribution from the LIGO Laboratory

Recent gravitational-wave observations from the LIGO and Virgo observatories have brought a sense of great excitement to scientists and citizens the world over. Since September 2015,10 binary black hole coalescences and one binary neutron star coalescence have been observed. They have provided remarkable, revolutionary insight into the "gravitational Universe" and have greatly extended the field of multi-messenger astronomy. At present, Advanced LIGO can see binary black hole coalescences out to redshift 0.6 and binary neutron star coalescences to redshift 0.05. This probes only a very small fraction of the volume of the observable Universe. However, current technologies can be extended to construct "$3^\mathrm{rd}$ Generation" (3G) gravitational-wave observatories that would extend our reach to the very edge of the observable Universe. The event rates over such a large volume would be in the hundreds of thousands per year (i.e.tens per hour). Such 3G detectors would have a 10-fold improvement in strain sensitivity over the current generation of instruments, yielding signal-to-noise ratios of 1000 for events like those already seen. Several concepts are being studied for which engineering studies and reliable cost estimates will be developed in the next 5 years.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

Empirical tests of the black hole no-hair conjecture using gravitational-wave observations

We show that second-generation gravitational-wave detectors at their design sensitivity will allow us to directly probe the ringdown phase of binary black hole coalescences. This opens the possibility to test the so-called black hole no-hair conjecture in a statistically rigorous way. Using state-of-the-art numerical relativity-tuned waveform models and dedicated methods to effectively isolate the quasi-stationary perturbative regime where a ringdown description is valid, we demonstrate the capability of measuring the physical parameters of the remnant black hole, and subsequently determining parameterized deviations from the ringdown of Kerr black holes. By combining information from $\mathcal{O}(5)$ binary black hole mergers with realistic signal-to-noise ratios achievable with the current generation of detectors, the validity of the no-hair conjecture can be verified with an accuracy of $\sim 1.5\%$ at $90\%$ confidence.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Testing general relativity using gravitational wave signals from the inspiral, merger and ringdown of binary black holes

Advanced LIGO's recent observations of gravitational waves (GWs) from merging binary black holes have opened up a unique laboratory to test general relativity (GR) in the highly relativistic regime. One of the tests used to establish the consistency of the first LIGO event with a binary black hole merger predicted by GR was the inspiral-merger-ringdown consistency test. This involves inferring the mass and spin of the remnant black hole from the inspiral (low-frequency) part of the observed signal and checking for the consistency of the inferred parameters with the same estimated from the post-inspiral (high-frequency) part of the signal. Based on the observed rate of binary black hole mergers, we expect the advanced GW observatories to observe hundreds of binary black hole mergers every year when operating at their design sensitivities, most of them with modest signal to noise ratios (SNRs). Anticipating such observations, this paper shows how constraints from a large number of events with modest SNRs can be combined to produce strong constraints on deviations from GR. Using kludge modified GR waveforms, we demonstrate how this test could identify certain types of deviations from GR if such deviations are present in the signal waveforms. We also study the robustness of this test against reasonable variations of a variety of different analysis parameters.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

First higher-multipole model of gravitational waves from spinning and coalescing black-hole binaries

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 subdominant multipoles to binary black hole gravitational waveforms, given a frequency-domain model for the dominant multipoles. The amplitude and phase of the original model are appropriately stretched and rescaled using post-Newtonian results (for the inspiral), perturbation theory (for the ringdown), and a smooth transition between the two. No additional tuning to numerical-relativity simulations is required. We apply a variant of this method to the non-precessing PhenomD model. The result, PhenomHM, constitutes the first higher-multipole model of spinning black-hole binaries, and currently includes the (l,m) = (2,2), (3,3), (4,4), (2,1), (3,2), (4,3) radiative moments. Comparisons with numerical-relativity waveforms demonstrate that PhenomHM is more accurate than dominant-multipole-only models for all binary configurations, and typically improves the measurement of binary properties.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

The most powerful astrophysical events: Gravitational-wave peak luminosity of binary black holes as predicted by numerical relativity

For a brief moment, a binary black hole (BBH) merger can be the most powerful astrophysical event in the visible universe. Here we present a model fit for this gravitational-wave peak luminosity of nonprecessing quasicircular BBH systems as a function of the masses and spins of the component black holes, based on numerical relativity (NR) simulations and the hierarchical fitting approach introduced by X. Jiménez-Forteza et al. [Phys. Rev. D 95, 064024 (2017), arXiv:1611.00332]. This fit improves over previous results in accuracy and parameter-space coverage and can be used to infer posterior distributions for the peak luminosity of future astrophysical signals like GW150914 and GW151226. The model is calibrated to the l<=6 modes of 378 nonprecessing NR simulations up to mass ratios of 18 and dimensionless spin magnitudes up to 0.995, and includes unequal-spin effects. We also constrain the fit to perturbative numerical results for large mass ratios. Studies of key contributions to the uncertainty in NR peak luminosities, such as (i) mode selection, (ii) finite resolution, (iii) finite extraction radius, and (iv) different methods for converting NR waveforms to luminosity, allow us to use NR simulations from four different codes as a homogeneous calibration set. This study of systematic fits to combined NR and large-mass-ratio data, including higher modes, also paves the way for improved inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform models.

gr-qc↗