arXiv subjects

Maria Okounkova

Publications and source records attributed to Maria Okounkova.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Waveform Modelling for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna

LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, will usher in a new era in gravitational-wave astronomy. As the first anticipated space-based gravitational-wave detector, it will expand our view to the millihertz gravitational-wave sky, where a spectacular variety of interesting new sources abound: from millions of ultra-compact binaries in our Galaxy, to mergers of massive black holes at cosmological distances; from the beginnings of inspirals that will venture into the ground-based detectors' view to the death spiral of compact objects into massive black holes, and many sources in between. Central to realising LISA's discovery potential are waveform models, the theoretical and phenomenological predictions of the pattern of gravitational waves that these sources emit. This white paper is presented on behalf of the Waveform Working Group for the LISA Consortium. It provides a review of the current state of waveform models for LISA sources, and describes the significant challenges that must yet be overcome.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Imprints of Changing Mass and Spin on Black Hole Ringdown

We numerically investigate the imprints of gravitational radiation-reaction driven changes to a black hole's mass and spin on the corresponding ringdown waveform. We do so by comparing the dynamics of a perturbed black hole evolved with the full (nonlinear) versus linearized Einstein equations. As expected, we find that the quasinormal mode amplitudes extracted from nonlinear evolution deviate from their linear counterparts at third order in initial perturbation amplitude. For perturbations leading to a change in the black hole mass and spin of $\sim 5\%$, which is reasonable for a remnant formed in an astrophysical merger, we find that nonlinear distortions to the complex amplitudes of some quasinormal modes can be as large as $\sim 50\%$ at the peak of the waveform. Furthermore, the change in the mass and spin results in a drift in the quasinormal mode frequencies, which for large amplitude perturbations causes the nonlinear waveform to rapidly dephase with respect to its linear counterpart. %These two nonlinear effects together create a large distortion in both the amplitude and phase of the ringdown gravitational waveform. Surprisingly, despite these nonlinear effects creating significant deviations in the nonlinear waveform, we show that a linear quasinormal mode model still performs quite well from close to the peak amplitude onwards.

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arXiv2023

Gravitational wave inference on a numerical-relativity simulation of a black hole merger beyond general relativity

We apply common gravitational wave inference procedures on binary black hole merger waveforms beyond general relativity. We consider dynamical Chern-Simons gravity, a modified theory of gravity with origins in string theory and loop quantum gravity. This theory introduces an additional parameter $\ell$, corresponding to the length-scale below which beyond-general-relativity effects become important. We simulate data based on numerical relativity waveforms produced under an approximation to this theory, which differ from those of general relativity in the strongly nonlinear merger regime. We consider a system with parameters similar to GW150914 with different values of $\ell$ and signal-to-noise ratios. We perform two analyses of the simulated data. The first is a template-based analysis that uses waveforms derived under general relativity and allows us to identify degeneracies between the two waveform morphologies. The second is a morphology-independent analysis based on BayesWave that does not assume that the signal is consistent with general relativity. The BayesWave analysis faithfully reconstructs the simulated signals. However, waveform models derived under general relativity are unable to fully mimic the simulated modified-gravity signals and such a deviation would be identifiable with existing inference tools. Depending on the magnitude of the deviation, we find that the templated analysis can under perform the morphology-independent analysis in fully recovering simulated beyond-GR waveforms even for achievable signal-to-noise ratios $\gtrsim 20{-}30$.

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arXiv2022

Constraining gravitational wave amplitude birefringence and Chern-Simons gravity with GWTC-2

We perform a new test of general relativity (GR) with signals from GWTC-2, the LIGO and Virgo catalog of gravitational wave detections. We search for the presence of amplitude birefringence, in which left versus right circularly polarized modes of gravitational waves are exponentially enhanced and suppressed during propagation. Such an effect is present in various beyond-GR theories but is absent in GR. We constrain the amount of amplitude birefringence consistent with the data through an opacity parameter $κ$, which we bound to be $κ\lesssim 0.74 \textrm{ Gpc}^{-1}$. We then use these theory-agnostic results to constrain Chern-Simons gravity, a beyond-GR theory with motivations in quantum gravity. We bound the canonical Chern-Simons lengthscale to be $\ell_0 \lesssim 1.0 \times 10^3$ km, improving on previous long-distance measurement results by a factor of two.

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arXiv2022

New Horizons for Fundamental Physics with LISA

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) has the potential to reveal wonders about the fundamental theory of nature at play in the extreme gravity regime, where the gravitational interaction is both strong and dynamical. In this white paper, the Fundamental Physics Working Group of the LISA Consortium summarizes the current topics in fundamental physics where LISA observations of GWs can be expected to provide key input. We provide the briefest of reviews to then delineate avenues for future research directions and to discuss connections between this working group, other working groups and the consortium work package teams. These connections must be developed for LISA to live up to its science potential in these areas.

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arXiv2020

Numerical relativity simulation of GW150914 beyond general relativity

We produce the first astrophysically-relevant numerical binary black hole gravitational waveform in a higher-curvature theory of gravity beyond general relativity. We simulate a system with parameters consistent with GW150914, the first LIGO detection, in order-reduced dynamical Chern-Simons gravity, a theory with motivations in string theory and loop quantum gravity. We present results for the leading-order corrections to the merger and ringdown waveforms, as well as the ringdown quasi-normal mode spectrum. We estimate that such corrections may be discriminated in detections with signal to noise ratio $\gtrsim 180-240$, with the precise value depending on the dimension of the GR waveform family used in data analysis.

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arXiv2020

Revisiting non-linearity in binary black hole mergers

Recently, it has been shown that with the inclusion of overtones, the post-merger gravitational waveform at infinity of a binary black hole system is well-modelled using pure linear theory. However, given that a binary black hole merger is expected to be highly non-linear, where do these non-linearities, which do not make it out to infinity, go? We visualize quantities measuring non-linearity in the strong-field region of a numerical relativity binary black hole merger in order to begin to answer this question.

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arXiv2020

Numerical relativity simulation of GW150914 in Einstein dilaton Gauss-Bonnet gravity

A present challenge in testing general relativity (GR) with binary black hole gravitational wave detections is the inability to perform model-dependent tests due to the lack of merger waveforms in beyond-GR theories. In this study, we produce the first numerical relativity binary black hole gravitational waveform in Einstein dilaton Gauss-Bonnet (EDGB) gravity, a higher-curvature theory of gravity with motivations in string theory. We evolve a binary black hole system in order-reduced EDGB gravity, with parameters consistent with GW150914. We focus on the merger portion of the waveform, due to the presence of secular growth in the inspiral phase. We compute mismatches with the corresponding general relativity merger waveform, finding that from a post-inspiral-only analysis, we can constrain the EDGB lengthscale to be $\sqrt{α_\mathrm{GB}} \lesssim 11$ km.

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arXiv2019

Numerical binary black hole collisions in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity

We produce the first numerical relativity binary black hole gravitational waveforms in a higher-curvature theory beyond general relativity. In particular, we study head-on collisions of binary black holes in order-reduced dynamical Chern-Simons gravity. This is a precursor to producing beyond-general-relativity waveforms for inspiraling binary black hole systems that are useful for gravitational wave detection. Head-on collisions are interesting in their own right, however, as they cleanly probe the quasi-normal mode spectrum of the final black hole. We thus compute the leading-order dynamical Chern-Simons modifications to the complex frequencies of the post-merger gravitational radiation. We consider equal-mass systems, with equal spins oriented along the axis of collision, resulting in remnant black holes with spin. We find modifications to the complex frequencies of the quasi-normal mode spectrum that behave as a power law with the spin of the remnant, and that are not degenerate with the frequencies associated with a Kerr black hole of any mass and spin. We discuss these results in the context of testing general relativity with gravitational wave observations.

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arXiv2019

Stability of rotating black holes in Einstein dilaton Gauss-Bonnet gravity

In order to perform model-dependent tests of general relativity with gravitational wave observations, we must have access to numerical relativity binary black hole waveforms in theories beyond general relativity (GR). In this study, we focus on order-reduced Einstein dilaton Gauss-Bonnet gravity (EDGB), a higher curvature beyond-GR theory with motivations in string theory. The stability of single, rotating black holes in EDGB is unknown, but is a necessary condition for being able to simulate binary black hole systems (especially the early-inspiral and late ringdown stages) in EDGB. We thus investigate the stability of rotating black holes in order-reduced EDGB. We evolve the leading-order EDGB scalar field and EDGB spacetime metric deformation on a rotating black hole background, for a variety of spins. We find that the EDGB metric deformation exhibits linear growth, but that this level of growth exponentially converges to zero with numerical resolution. Thus, we conclude that rotating black holes in EDGB are numerically stable to leading-order, thus satisfying our necessary condition for performing binary black hole simulations in EDGB.

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arXiv2019

The SXS Collaboration catalog of binary black hole simulations

Accurate models of gravitational waves from merging black holes are necessary for detectors to observe as many events as possible while extracting the maximum science. Near the time of merger, the gravitational waves from merging black holes can be computed only using numerical relativity. In this paper, we present a major update of the Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) Collaboration catalog of numerical simulations for merging black holes. The catalog contains 2018 distinct configurations (a factor of 11 increase compared to the 2013 SXS catalog), including 1426 spin-precessing configurations, with mass ratios between 1 and 10, and spin magnitudes up to 0.998. The median length of a waveform in the catalog is 39 cycles of the dominant $\ell=m=2$ gravitational-wave mode, with the shortest waveform containing 7.0 cycles and the longest 351.3 cycles. We discuss improvements such as correcting for moving centers of mass and extended coverage of the parameter space. We also present a thorough analysis of numerical errors, finding typical truncation errors corresponding to a waveform mismatch of $\sim 10^{-4}$. The simulations provide remnant masses and spins with uncertainties of 0.03% and 0.1% ($90^{\text{th}}$ percentile), about an order of magnitude better than analytical models for remnant properties. The full catalog is publicly available at https://www.black-holes.org/waveforms .

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arXiv2019

Astrophysical science metrics for next-generation gravitational-wave detectors

The second generation of gravitational-wave detectors are being built and tuned all over the world. The detection of signals from binary black holes is beginning to fulfill the promise of gravitational-wave astronomy. In this work, we examine several possible configurations for third-generation laser interferometers in existing km-scale facilities. We propose a set of astrophysically motivated metrics to evaluate detector performance. We measure the impact of detector design choices against these metrics, providing a quantitative cost-benefit analyses of the resulting scientific payoffs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Evolving Metric Perturbations in dynamical Chern-Simons Gravity

We present a well-posed constraint-preserving scheme for evolving first-order metric perturbations on an arbitrary background with arbitrary source. We use this scheme to evolve the leading-order metric perturbation in order-reduced dynamical Chern-Simons gravity (dCS) on a Kerr background. In particular we test the stability of stationary dCS data on a Kerr background with stationary first-order dCS scalar field source. We find that the leading-order metric perturbation numerically exhibits linear growth, but that the level of this growth converges to zero with numerical resolution. This analysis shows that spinning black holes in dCS gravity are numerically stable to leading-order perturbations in the metric.

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arXiv2019

Numerical black hole initial data and shadows in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity

We present a scheme for generating first-order metric perturbation initial data for an arbitrary background and source. We then apply this scheme to derive metric perturbations in order-reduced dynamical Chern-Simons gravity (dCS). In particular, we solve for metric perturbations on a black hole background that are sourced by a first-order dCS scalar field. This gives us the leading-order metric perturbation to the spacetime in dCS gravity. We then use these solutions to compute black hole shadows in the linearly perturbed spacetime by evolving null geodesics. We present a novel scheme to decompose the shape of the shadow into multipoles parametrized by the spin of the background black hole and the perturbation parameter $\varepsilon^2$. We find that we can differentiate the presence of a pure Kerr spacetime from a spacetime with a dCS perturbation using the shadow, allowing in part for a null-hypothesis test of general relativity. We then consider these results in the context of the Event Horizon Telescope.

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arXiv2017

On choosing the start time of binary black hole ringdown

The final stage of a binary black hole merger is ringdown, in which the system is described by a Kerr black hole with quasinormal mode perturbations. It is far from straightforward to identify the time at which the ringdown begins. Yet determining this time is important for precision tests of the general theory of relativity that compare an observed signal with quasinormal mode descriptions of the ringdown, such as tests of the no-hair theorem. We present an algorithmic method to analyze the choice of ringdown start time in the observed waveform. This method is based on determining how close the strong field is to a Kerr black hole (Kerrness). Using numerical relativity simulations, we characterize the Kerrness of the strong-field region close to the black hole using a set of local, gauge-invariant geometric and algebraic conditions that measure local isometry to Kerr. We produce a map that associates each time in the gravitational waveform with a value of each of these Kerrness measures; this map is produced by following outgoing null characteristics from the strong and near-field regions to the wave zone. We perform this analysis on a numerical relativity simulation with parameters consistent with GW150914- the first gravitational wave detection. We find that the choice of ringdown start time of $3\,\mathrm{ms}$ after merger used in the GW150914 study to test general relativity corresponds to a high dimensionless perturbation amplitude of $ \sim 7.5 \times 10^{-3}$ in the strong-field region. This suggests that in higher signal-to-noise detections, one would need to start analyzing the signal at a later time for studies that depend on the validity of black hole perturbation theory.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Numerical binary black hole mergers in dynamical Chern-Simons: I. Scalar field

Testing general relativity in the non-linear, dynamical, strong-field regime of gravity is one of the major goals of gravitational wave astrophysics. Performing precision tests of general relativity (GR) requires numerical inspiral, merger, and ringdown waveforms for binary black hole (BBH) systems in theories beyond GR. Currently, GR and scalar-tensor gravity are the only theories amenable to numerical simulations. In this article, we present a well-posed perturbation scheme for numerically integrating beyond-GR theories that have a continuous limit to GR. We demonstrate this scheme by simulating BBH mergers in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity (dCS), to linear order in the perturbation parameter. We present mode waveforms and energy fluxes of the dCS pseudoscalar field from our numerical simulations. We find good agreement with analytic predictions at early times, including the absence of pseudoscalar dipole radiation. We discover new phenomenology only accessible through numerics: a burst of dipole radiation during merger. We also quantify the self-consistency of the perturbation scheme. Finally, we estimate bounds that GR-consistent LIGO detections could place on the new dCS length scale, approximately $\ell \lesssim \mathcal{O}(10)~\mathrm{km}$.

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