arXiv subjects

Maite Mateu-Lucena

Publications and source records attributed to Maite Mateu-Lucena.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Parameter estimation with the current generation of phenomenological waveform models applied to the black hole mergers of GWTC-1

We consider the ten confidently detected gravitational-wave signals in the GWTC-1 catalog which are consistent with mergers of binary black hole systems, and perform a thorough parameter estimation re-analysis. This is made possible by using computationally efficient waveform models of the current (fourth) generation of the IMRPhenom family of phenomenological waveform models, which consists of the IMRPhenomX frequency-domain modelsand the IMRPhenomT time-domain models. The analysis is performed with both precessing and non-precessing waveform models with and without subdominant spherical harmonic modes. Results for all events are validated with convergence tests, discussing in particular the events GW170729 and GW151226. For the latter and the other two lowest-mass events, we also compare results between two independent sampling codes, Bilby and LALInference. We find overall consistent results with the original GWTC-1 results, with all Jensen-Shannon divergences between the previous results using IMRPhenomPv2 and our default IMRPhenomXPHM posteriors below 0.045 bits, but we also discuss cases where including subdominant harmonics and/or precession influences the posteriors.

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arXiv2021

A detailed analysis of GW190521 with phenomenological waveform models

In this paper we present an extensive analysis of the GW190521 gravitational wave event with the current (fourth) generation of phenomenological waveform models for binary black hole coalescences. GW190521 stands out from other events since only a few wave cycles are observable. This leads to a number of challenges, one being that such short signals are prone to not resolve approximate waveform degeneracies, which may result in multi-modal posterior distributions. The family of waveform models we use includes a new fast time-domain model IMRPhenomTPHM, which allows us extensive tests of different priors and robustness with respect to variations in the waveform model, including the content of spherical harmonic modes. We clarify some issues raised in a recent paper [Nitz&Capano], associated with possible support for a high-mass ratio source, but confirm their finding of a multi-modal posterior distribution, albeit with important differences in the statistical significance of the peaks. In particular, we find that the support for both masses being outside the PISN mass-gap, and the support for an intermediate mass ratio binary are drastically reduced with respect to what Nitz&Capano found. We also provide updated probabilities for associating GW190521 to the potential electromagnetic counterpart from ZTF.

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arXiv2021

New twists in compact binary waveform modelling: a fast time domain model for precession

We present IMRPhenomTPHM, a phenomenological model for the gravitational wave signals emitted by the coalescence of quasi-circular precessing binary black holes systems. The model is based on the "twisting up" approximation, which maps non-precessing signals to precessing ones in terms of a time dependent rotation described by three Euler angles, and which has been utilized in several frequency domain waveform models that have become standard tools in gravitational wave data analysis. Our model is however constructed in the time domain, which allows several improvements over the frequency domain models: we do not use the stationary phase approximation, we employ a simple approximation for the precessing Euler angles for the ringdown signal, and we implement a new method for computing the Euler angles through the evolution of the spin dynamics of the system, which is more accurate and also computationally efficient.

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arXiv2021

Computationally efficient models for the dominant and sub-dominant harmonic modes of precessing binary black holes

We present IMRPhenomXPHM, a phenomenological frequency-domain model for the gravitational-wave signal emitted by quasi-circular precessing binary black holes, which incorporates multipoles beyond the dominant quadrupole in the precessing frame. The model is a precessing extension of IMRPhenomXHM (García-Quirós 2020), based on approximate maps between aligned-spin waveform modes in the co-precessing frame and precessing waveform modes in the inertial frame, which is commonly referred to as "twisting up" the non-precessing waveforms. IMRPhenomXPHM includes IMRPhenomXP as a special case, the restriction to the dominant quadrupole contribution in the co-precessing frame. We implement two alternative mappings, one based on a single-spin PN approximation, as used in IMRPhenomPv2 (Hannam 2013), and one based on the double-spin MSA approach (Chatziioannou 2017). We include a detailed discussion of conventions used in the description of precessing binaries and of all choices made in constructing the model. The computational cost of \phXPHM is further reduced by extending the interpolation technique of (C. García-Quirós 2020) to the Euler angles. The accuracy, speed, robustness and modularity of the IMRPhenomX family will make these models productive tools for gravitational wave astronomy in the current era of greatly increased number and diversity of detected events.

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arXiv2020

Time domain phenomenological model of gravitational wave subdominant harmonics for quasi-circular non-precessing binary black hole coalescences

In this work we present an extension of the time domain phenomenological model IMRPhenomT for gravitational wave signals from binary black hole coalescences to include subdominant harmonics, specifically the $(l=2, m=\pm 1)$, $(l=3, m=\pm 3)$, $(l=4, m=\pm 4)$ and $(l=5, m=\pm 5)$ spherical harmonics. We also improve our model for the dominant $(l=2, m=\pm 2)$ mode and discuss mode mixing for the $(l=3, m=\pm 2)$ mode. The model is calibrated to numerical relativity solutions of the full Einstein equations up to mass ratio 18, and to numerical solutions of the Teukolsky equations for higher mass ratios. This work complements the latest generation of traditional frequency domain phenomenological models (IMRPhenomX), and provides new avenues to develop computationally efficient models for gravitational wave signals from generic compact binaries.

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arXiv2020

IMRPhenomXHM: A multi-mode frequency-domain model for the gravitational wave signal from non-precessing black-hole binaries

We present the IMRPhenomXHM frequency domain phenomenological waveform model for the inspiral, merger and ringdown of quasi-circular non-precessing black hole binaries. The model extends the IMRPhenomXAS waveform model, which describes the dominant quadrupole modes $\ell = |m| = 2$, to the harmonics $(\ell, |m|)=(2,1), (3,3), (3,2), (4,4)$, and includes mode mixing effects for the $(3,2)$ spherical harmonic. IMRPhenomXHM is calibrated against hybrid waveforms, which match an inspiral phase described by the effective-one-body model and post-Newtonian amplitudes for the subdominant harmonics to numerical relativity waveforms and numerical solutions to the perturbative Teukolsky equation for large mass ratios up to 1000. A computationally efficient implementation of the model is available as part of the LSC Algorithm Library Suite.

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arXiv2020

Towards the routine use of subdominant harmonics in gravitational-wave inference: re-analysis of GW190412 with generation X waveform models

We re-analyse the gravitational-wave event GW190412 with state-of-the-art phenomenological waveform models. This event, which has been associated with a black hole merger, is interesting due to the significant contribution from subdominant harmonics. We use both frequency-domain and time-domain waveform models. The PhenomX waveform models constitute the fourth generation of frequency-domain phenomenological waveforms for black hole binary coalescence; they have more recently been complemented by the time-domain PhenomT models, which open up new strategies to model precession and eccentricity, and to perform tests of general relativity with the phenomenological waveforms approach. Both PhenomX and PhenomT have been constructed with similar techniques and accuracy goals, and due to their computational efficiency this "generation X" model family allows the routine use of subdominant spherical harmonics in Bayesian inference. We show the good agreement between these and other state-of-the-art waveform models for GW190412, and discuss the improvements over the previous generation of phenomenological waveform models. We also discuss practical aspects of Bayesian inference such as run convergence, variations of sampling parameters, and computational cost.

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arXiv2020

A first survey of spinning eccentric black hole mergers: Numerical relativity simulations, hybrid waveforms, and parameter estimation

We analyze a new numerical relativity dataset of spinning but nonprecessing binary black holes on eccentric orbits, with eccentricities from approximately $0.1$ to $0.5$, with dimensionless spins up to $0.75$ included at mass ratios $q=m_1/m_2 = (1, 2)$, and further nonspinning binaries at mass ratios $q = (1.5, 3, 4)$. A comparison of the final mass and spin of these simulations with noneccentric data extends previous results in the literature on circularization of eccentric binaries to the spinning case. For the $(l,m)=(2,2)$ spin-weighted spherical harmonic mode we construct eccentric hybrid waveforms that connect the numerical relativity data to a post-Newtonian description for the inspiral, and we discuss the limitations in the current knowledge about post-Newtonian theory which complicate the generation of eccentric hybrid waveforms. We also perform a Bayesian parameter estimation study, quantifying the parameter biases introduced when using three different quasicircular waveform models to estimate the parameters of highly eccentric binary systems. We find that the used aligned-spin quasicircular model including higher order modes produces lower bias in certain parameters than the nonprecessing quasicircular model without higher order modes and the quasicircular precessing model.

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arXiv2020

Accelerating the evaluation of inspiral-merger-ringdown waveforms with adapted grids

This paper presents an algorithm to accelerate the evaluation of inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform models for gravitational wave data analysis. While the idea can also be applied in the time domain, here we focus on the frequency domain, which is most typically used to reduced computational cost in gravitational wave data analysis. Our work extends the idea of multibanding, which has been developed to accelerate frequency domain waveforms, to include the merger and ringdown and spherical harmonics beyond the dominant quadrupole spherical harmonic. The original method is based on a heuristic algorithm based on the inspiral to de-refine the equi-spaced frequency grid used for data analysis where a coarser grid is sufficient for accurate evaluation of a waveform model. Here we use a different criterion, based on the local interpolation error, which is more flexible and can easily be adapted to general waveforms, if their phenomenology is understood. We discuss our implementation in the LIGO Algorithm Library for the PhenomXHM frequency domain model, and report the acceleration in different parts of the parameter space of compact binary systems.

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