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Pankaj Saini

Publications and source records attributed to Pankaj Saini.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

A parametrized test of general relativity for inspiralling eccentric binaries in LISA

The space-based detector Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will observe inspiralling black hole binaries in the mHz band, many of which may retain orbital eccentricity. In contrast to quasicircular binaries, eccentric systems radiate through multiple orbital harmonics, while relativistic periastron precession introduces a secular phase structure in the waveform. We exploit this structure to develop a parametrized test of general relativity (GR) for eccentric bound orbits. We construct a frequency-domain eccentric waveform model in which a phenomenological deviation parameter $\delta\alpha$ modifies the GR prediction for the conservative azimuthal-to-radial frequency ratio, with $\delta\alpha=0$ corresponding to GR. We consider two parametrizations of this deformation. In the first, $\delta\alpha$ modifies only the explicit precession-dependent sideband structures of the waveform. In the second, the secular precession phase is assigned to the dominant lower-order angular carriers and retained in resummed form. The latter produces a substantially stronger response because the dominant waveform components coherently accumulate the modified phase. We implement both models within \textsc{lisabeta} and perform a Bayesian analysis including the time- and frequency-dependent LISA response and associated time-delay-interferometry observables. We find that LISA can place stringent constraints on the parametrized deviation. For a binary with chirp mass $3000 M_{\odot}$, initial eccentricity $e_0=0.5$ observed for four years at an SNR of $50$, the second model yields a $90\%$ credible bound of $|\delta\alpha|\lesssim 10^{-4}$. Increasing eccentricity further sharpens the constraints by introducing additional harmonic structure and reducing degeneracies among the binary parameters. The framework developed here is general and can be extended to more complete eccentric waveform models.

gr-qc

Orbital eccentricity can make neutron star g-mode resonances observable with current gravitational-wave detectors

Dynamical tides can provide us vital information about the properties of neutron star (NS) matter. This is particularly true for g-modes, whose frequency and tidal coupling are highly sensitive to the composition of NSs, especially in their centers, where microphysical models are the least reliable. However, due to their weak coupling to external tidal fields, their effect on the gravitational-wave (GW) signal of binary inspirals can be difficult to observe. Here we show that the detectability of these tides can be significantly enhanced by binary NSs with moderate eccentricities. This is primarily due to higher eccentric harmonics in the early phase of the binary evolution experiencing larger phase shifts, which they transport to the sensitive band of GW detectors. In addition, g-mode tides in eccentric binaries undergo several epicyclic resonances, which also amplify the total phase shift. We demonstrate that these effects increase the detectability of g-mode dynamical tides by more than an order of magnitude for eccentricities of $e_\mathrm{10Hz}\sim0.2-0.4$, making it possible to put robust constraints on g-mode properties using current GW detectors, while all relevant models could potentially be constrained with eccentric binary NSs with Einstein Telescope.

astro-ph.HE

Towards gravitational wave parameter inference for binaries with an eccentric companion

We introduce a complete model for dephasing due to line-of-sight acceleration (LOSA) in gravitational wave (GW) signals from stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) in three-body systems. Our prescription provides curvature- and projection-dependent phase features that are not recovered by local-expansion-based treatments. We perform parameter-space surveys and mock parameter inferences assuming the nominal sensitivity of the Einstein Telescope (ET) to identify the regime where the time-varying LOSA allows for separate constraints on the outer orbital parameters, in particular the tertiary mass and distance. We estimate that ET may detect a few to tens of such systems per year, provided that all binaries merge dynamically, and demonstrate that these constraints can be used to directly discriminate between a dynamical and AGN origin for BBHs. Finally, we reanalyse the GW190814 event and four O4a events finding no evidence for LOSA, with the previously claimed LOSA in GW190814 disappearing when a sufficiently long data segment is used.

astro-ph.HE

Importance of relativistic pericenter precession in identifying the presence of a third body near eccentric binaries

Many astrophysical processes can produce gravitational wave (GW) sources with significant orbital eccentricity. These binaries emit bursts of gravitational radiation during each pericenter passage. In isolated systems, the intrinsic timing of these bursts is solely determined by the properties of the binary. The presence of a nearby third body perturbs the system and alters the burst timing. Accurately modeling such perturbations therefore offers a novel approach to detecting the presence of a nearby companion. Existing timing models account for Newtonian dynamics and leading-order radiation reaction effects but neglect the higher order post-Newtonian (PN) contributions to the inner binary. In this paper, we present an improved timing model that incorporates conservative PN corrections that lead to the precession of the binary's pericenter. We find that these PN corrections significantly impact the binary's orbital evolution and the timing of the GW burst. In particular, 1PN precession gives rise to distinctive modulation features in the binary's semilatus rectum and eccentricity. These modulations encode valuable information about the presence and properties of the third body, including its mass and distance. Furthermore, unmodeled 1PN effects significantly bias the tertiary's mass and distance. Finally we assess the detectability of GW bursts from such perturbed systems and demonstrate that the inclusion of PN corrections is crucial for accurately capturing the orbital dynamics of hierarchical triples.

gr-qc

Probing the Formation Environment of Strongly Lensed Black Hole Mergers: Implications for the AGN-disk Channel

The observation of multiple images from a strongly lensed gravitational wave (GW) source provides the observer with a stereoscopic view of the source. This allows for a measure of its relative proper motion by comparing the induced GW Doppler shifts between the different images. In addition, if the GW source is in a dynamical environment it will be subject to an acceleration, which will show up as a time dependent Doppler shift in each individual image. In this work we quantify for the first time how a joint detection of these effects can be used to constrain the underlying dynamics and environment of the lensed GW source. We consider a range of different astrophysical environments, from massive clusters to stellar triples, and find that binary black hole (BBH) mergers in Active Galactic Nuclei disks (AGN-disks) are particularly likely to have orbital parameters that can be constrained through our considered lensing setup. Applying these methods to the upcoming catalog of cosmologically strongly lensed GW sources will open up new possibilities for probing their origin and underlying formation mechanisms.

astro-ph.HE

Environmental effects in stellar mass gravitational wave sources II: Enhanced detectability of phase shifts in eccentric sub-populations

We demonstrate that the properties of eccentric gravitational wave (GW) signals enhance the detectability of GW phase shifts caused by environmental effects (EEs): The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of EEs can be boosted by up to $\ell_{\rm max}^{1 - n}$ with respect to corresponding circular signals, where $\ell_{\rm max}$ is the highest modeled eccentric GW harmonic and $n$ is the frequency scaling of the GW dephasing prescription associated to the EE. We investigate the impact on a population level, adopting plausible eccentricity distributions for binary sources observed by LIGO/Virgo/Kagra (A+ and A\# sensitivities), as well as Cosmic Explorer (CE) and the Einstein Telescope (ET). For sources in the high eccentricity tail of a distribution ($e \gtrsim 0.2$ at 10 Hz), phase shifts can systematically be up to $\ell_{\rm max}^{1 - n}$ times smaller than in a corresponding circular signal and still be detectable. For typical EEs, such as Roemer delays and gas drag, this effect amounts to SNR enhancements that range from $10^2$ up to $10^5$. For CE and ET, our analysis shows that EEs will be an ubiquitous feature in the eccentric tail of merging binaries, regardless of the specific details of the formation channel. Additionally, we find that the joint analysis of eccentricity and phase shift is already plausible in current catalogs if a fraction of binaries merge in AGN migration traps.

astro-ph.HE

The construction and use of dephasing prescriptions for environmental effects in gravitational wave astronomy

In the first part of this work, we provide a curated overview of the theoretical framework necessary for incorporating dephasing due to environmental effects (EE) in gravitational wave (GW) templates. We focus in particular on the relationship between orbital perturbations in the time-domain and the resulting dephasing in both time and frequency domain, elucidating and resolving some inconsistencies present in the literature. We discuss how commonly studied binary environments often result in several sources of dephasing that affect the GW signal at the same time. This work synthesizes insights from two decades of literature, offering a unified conceptual narrative alongside a curated reference of key formulas, illustrative examples and methodological prescriptions. It can serve both as a reference for researchers in the field as well as a modern introduction for those who wish to enter it. In the second part, we derive novel aspects of dephasing for eccentric GW sources and lay the foundations for consistently treating the full problem. Importantly, we demonstrate that the detectability of EEs can be significantly enhanced in the presence of eccentricity, even for $e_\mathrm{10Hz}\lesssim0.2$, substantially increasing the prospects for detection in ground based detectors. Our results highlight the unique potential of modeling and searching for EE in eccentric binary sources of GWs.

astro-ph.HE

Environmental effects in stellar mass gravitational wave sources I: Expected fraction of signals with significant dephasing in the dynamical and AGN channels

We present the first overview of the expected quantity of signals which will showcase significant gravitational wave phase shifts caused by astrophysical environments, considering the upcoming A+ and A\# LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA, Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope detectors. We construct and analyse two general families of dephasing prescriptions with extensions to eccentric sources, as well as collect five specific prescriptions for the fundamental smoking gun physical mechanisms at play in the dynamical and AGN formation channel for stellar mass binary black holes: Roemer delays, tidal forces and hydrodynamical interactions. We compute the expected fraction of signals containing astrophysical dephasing, as a function of environmental properties and based on observed distributions of binary parameters. We find that next generation detectors can expect to find environmental effects in hundreds of detected signals.

astro-ph.HE

Possible Causes of False General Relativity Violations in Gravitational Wave Observations

General relativity (GR) has proven to be a highly successful theory of gravity since its inception. The theory has thrivingly passed numerous experimental tests, predominantly in weak gravity, low relative speeds, and linear regimes, but also in the strong-field and very low-speed regimes with binary pulsars. Observable gravitational waves (GWs) originate from regions of spacetime where gravity is extremely strong, making them a unique tool for testing GR, in previously inaccessible regions of large curvature, relativistic speeds, and strong gravity. Since their first detection, GWs have been extensively used to test GR, but no deviations have been found so far. Given GR's tremendous success in explaining current astronomical observations and laboratory experiments, accepting any deviation from it requires a very high level of statistical confidence and consistency of the deviation across GW sources. In this paper, we compile a comprehensive list of potential causes that can lead to a false identification of a GR violation in standard tests of GR on data from current and future ground-based GW detectors. These causes include detector noise, signal overlaps, gaps in the data, detector calibration, source model inaccuracy, missing physics in the source and in the underlying environment model, source misidentification, and mismodeling of the astrophysical population. We also provide a rough estimate of when each of these causes will become important for tests of GR for different detector sensitivities. We argue that each of these causes should be thoroughly investigated, quantified, and ruled out before claiming a GR violation in GW observations.

gr-qc

Constraining Proper Motion of Strongly Lensed Eccentric Binary Mergers using Doppler Triangulation

Strong lensing of gravitational wave (GW) sources allows the observer to see the GW source from different lines-of-sight (LOS) through the corresponding images, which provides a way for constraining the relative proper motion of the GW source. This is possible as the GW signals received from each image will have slightly different projected velocity components, from which one can `Doppler-Triangulate' for the GW source velocity vector. The difference in projected velocity between the different images can be observationally inferred through pairwise GW phase measurements that accumulate over the time-of-observation. In this paper we study lensed eccentric GW sources and explore how the observable GW phase shift between images evolve as a function of time, eccentricity, lens- and binary parameters. Next generation GW observatories, including the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, will see $\sim $hundreds/year of lensed GW sources, where a significant fraction of these are expected to be eccentric. We discuss the expected unique observables for such eccentric lensed GW sources, and the relation to their observable relative linear motion, which otherwise is exceedingly difficult to constrain in general.

astro-ph.HE

Prompt gravitational-wave mergers aided by gas in Active Galactic Nuclei: The hydrodynamics of binary-single black hole scatterings

Black hole binary systems embedded in AGN discs have been proposed as a source of the observed gravitational waves (GWs) from LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA. Studies have indicated binary-single encounters could be common place within this population, yet we lack a comprehensive understanding of how the ambient gas affects the dynamics of these three-body encounters. We present the first hydrodynamical simulations of black hole binary-single encounters in an AGN disc. We find gas is a non-negligible component of binary-single interactions, leading to unique dynamics, including the formation of quasi-stable hierarchical triples. The gas efficiently and reliably dissipates the energy of the three-body system, hardening the triple provided it remains bound after the initial encounter. The hardening timescale is shorter for higher ambient gas densities. Formed triple systems can be hardened reliably by $2-3$ orders of magnitude relative to the initial binary semi-major axis within less than a few AGN orbits, limited only by our resolution. We calculate that the gas hardening of the triple enhances the probability for a merger by a minimum factor of $3.5-8$ depending on our assumptions. In several cases, two of the black holes can execute periapses on the order of less than $10$ Schwarzschild radii, where the dynamics were fully resolved for previous close approaches. The likelihood of these prompt mergers increases when the gas density is larger. Our results suggest that current timescale estimates (without gas drag) for binary-single induced mergers are an upper bound. The shrinkage of the triple by gas has the prospect of increasing the chance for unique GW phenomena such as residual eccentricity, dephasing from a third object and double GW mergers.

astro-ph.GA

Parametrized tests of general relativity using eccentric compact binaries

Astrophysical population simulations predict that a subset of dynamically formed binary black holes (BBHs) may possess eccentricity $\gtrsim 0.1$ at a gravitational wave (GW) frequency of $10 \,\text{Hz}$. Presently, the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) Collaboration tests general relativity (GR) assuming that the binary eccentricity has decayed well before it enters the detector's frequency band. Previous works have shown that binary eccentricity can bias GR tests if unaccounted for. Here we develop two methods to extend parametrized tests of GR to eccentric binaries. The first method extends the standard null parametrized test for quasicircular binaries by adding fractional deviations at each post-Newtonian (PN) order in the eccentric part of the GW phasing (assuming the small-eccentricity limit). Simultaneous measurement of the circular and eccentric deviation parameters ($δ\hatφ, δ\hatφ^e$) allows us to constrain deviations from GR for eccentric binaries. While strong constraints on the deviation parameters are not achievable with LIGO's projected sensitivity, the multibanding of LISA and CE observations can constrain these deviations to $|δ\hatφ_2| \lesssim 3 \times 10^{-3}$ and $|δ\hatφ^e_2|\lesssim 2\times 10^{-2}$. The second method looks for GR deviations in the rate of periastron advance ($Δα$). The parameter $Δα$ ($Δα^{\rm GR} \to 0$) can be constrained with LIGO to $|Δα|\lesssim 4 \times 10^{-2}$ (with $1 σ$ confidence). Multiband sources observed by LISA and CE provide an improved constraint of $|Δα|\lesssim 3\times 10^{-5}$. The space-based detector DECIGO provides the best constraint on $Δα$ with $|Δα|\lesssim 8 \times 10^{-6}$.

gr-qc

Measuring the Transverse Velocity of Strongly Lensed Gravitational Wave Sources with Ground Based Detectors

Observations of strongly gravitationally lensed gravitational wave (GW) sources provide a unique opportunity for constraining their transverse motion, which otherwise is exceedingly hard for GW mergers in general. Strong lensing makes this possible when two or more images of the lensed GW source are observed, as each image essentially allows the observer to see the GW source from different directional lines-of-sight. If the GW source is moving relative to the lens and observer, the observed GW signal from one image will therefore generally appear blue- or redshifted compared to GW signal from the other image. This velocity induced differential Doppler shift gives rise to an observable GW phase shift between the GW signals from the different images, which provides a rare glimpse into the relative motion of GW sources and their host environment across redshift. We illustrate that detecting such GW phase shifts is within reach of next-generation ground-based detectors such as Einstein Telescope, that is expected to detect $\sim$hundreds of lensed GW mergers per year. This opens up completely new ways of inferring the environment of GW sources, as well as studying cosmological velocity flows across redshift.

astro-ph.HE

Large Gravitational Wave Phase Shifts from Strong 3-body Interactions in Dense Stellar Clusters

The phase evolution of gravitational waves (GWs) can be modulated by the astrophysical environment surrounding the source, which provides a probe for the origin of individual binary black holes (BBHs) using GWs alone. We here study the evolving phase of the GW waveform derived from a large set of simulations of BBH mergers forming in dense stellar clusters through binary-single interactions. We uncover that a well-defined fraction of the assembled eccentric GW sources will have a notable GW phase shift induced by the remaining third object. The magnitude of the GW phase shift often exceeds conservative analytical estimates due to strong 3-body interactions, which occasionally results in GW sources with clearly shifted and perturbed GW waveforms. This opens up promising opportunities for current and future GW detectors, as observing such a phase shift can identify the formation environment of a BBH, as well as help to characterise the local properties of its surrounding environment.

astro-ph.HE

Impact of unmodeled eccentricity on the tidal deformability measurement and implications for gravitational wave physics inference

With the expected large number of binary neutron star (BNS) observations through gravitational waves (GWs), third-generation GW detectors, Cosmic Explorer (CE) and Einstein Telescope (ET), will be able to constrain the tidal deformability, and hence the equation of state (EoS) of neutron star (NS) with exquisite precision. A subset of the detected BNS systems can retain residual eccentricity in the detector frequency band. We study the systematic errors due to unmodeled eccentricity in the tidal deformability measurement and its implications for NS EoS and redshift measurement via the Love siren method. We find that the systematic errors in the tidal deformability parameter exceed the statistical errors at an eccentricity of $\sim 10^{-3}$ ($\sim 3\times 10^{-4}$) at $10$Hz reference GW frequency for CE (ET). We show that these biases on tidal deformability parameter can significantly bias the NS EoS inference. Furthermore, the error on tidal deformability propagates to the source frame NS mass, which in turn biases the redshift inference. For CE, the redshift inference is significantly biased at an eccentricity of $\sim 10^{-3}$ (at a reference frequency of $10$Hz). We also study the implications of biased tidal deformability in testing the Kerr nature of black holes. Systematic error on the tidal deformability parameter leads to a non-zero value of tidal deformability for binary black holes, indicating a false deviation from the Kerr nature. Finally, we show that including eccentricity in the waveform model increases the statistical errors in tidal deformability measurement by a factor of $\lesssim 2$. Our study, therefore, highlights the importance of using accurate eccentric waveform models for GW parameter inference.

astro-ph.HE

Eccentricity-induced systematic error on parametrized tests of general relativity: Hierarchical Bayesian inference applied to a binary black hole population

One approach to testing general relativity (GR) introduces free parameters in the post-Newtonian (PN) expansion of the gravitational-wave (GW) phase. If systematic errors on these testing GR (TGR) parameters exceed the statistical errors, this may signal a false violation of GR. Here, we consider systematic errors produced by unmodeled binary eccentricity. Since the eccentricity of GW events in ground-based detectors is expected to be small or negligible, the use of quasicircular waveform models for testing GR may be safe when analyzing a small number of events. However, as the catalog size of GW detections increases, more stringent bounds on GR deviations can be placed by combining information from multiple events. In that case, even small systematic biases may become significant. We apply the approach of hierarchical Bayesian inference to model the posterior probability distributions of the TGR parameters inferred from a population of eccentric binary black holes (BBHs). We assume each TGR parameter value varies across the BBH population according to a Gaussian distribution. We compute the posterior distributions for these Gaussian hyperparameters. This is done for LIGO and Cosmic Explorer (CE). We find that systematic biases from unmodeled eccentricity can signal false GR violations for both detectors when considering constraints set by a catalog of events. We also compute the projected bounds on the $10$ TGR parameters when eccentricity is included as a parameter in the waveform model. We find that the first four dimensionless TGR deformation parameters can be bounded at $90\%$ confidence to $δ\hatφ_i \lesssim 10^{-2}$ for LIGO and $\lesssim 10^{-3}$ for CE [where $i=(0,1,2,3)$]. In comparison to the circular orbit case, the combined bounds on the TGR parameters worsen by a modest factor of $\lesssim 2$ when eccentricity is included in the waveform.

gr-qc

Constraining the nature of dark compact objects with spin-induced octupole moment measurement

Various theoretical models predict the existence of exotic compact objects that can mimic the properties of black holes (BHs). Gravitational waves (GWs) from the mergers of compact objects have the potential to distinguish between exotic compact objects and BHs. The measurement of spin-induced multipole moments of compact objects in binaries provides a unique way to test the nature of compact objects. The observations of GWs by LIGO and Virgo have already put constraints on the spin-induced quadrupole moment, the leading order spin-induced moment. In this work, we develop a Bayesian framework to measure the spin-induced octupole moment, the next-to-leading order spin-induced moment. The precise measurement of the spin-induced octupole moment will allow us to test its consistency with that of Kerr BHs in general relativity and constrain the allowed parameter space for non-BH compact objects. For various simulated compact object binaries, we explore the ability of the LIGO and Virgo detector network to constrain the spin-induced octupole moment of compact objects. We find that LIGO and Virgo at design sensitivity can constrain the symmetric combination of component spin-induced octupole moments of binary for dimensionless spin magnitudes $\sim 0.8$. Further, we study the possibility of simultaneously measuring the spin-induced quadrupole and octupole moments. Finally, we perform this test on selected GW events reported in the third GW catalog. These are the first constraints on spin-induced octupole moment using full Bayesian analysis.

gr-qc

Resolving the eccentricity of stellar mass binary black holes with next generation ground-based gravitational wave detectors

Next generation ground-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors are expected to detect $\sim 10^4 \mbox{-} 10^5$ binary black holes (BBHs) per year. Understanding the formation pathways of these binaries is an open question. Orbital eccentricity can be used to distinguish between the formation channels of compact binaries, as different formation channels are expected to yield distinct eccentricity distributions. Due to the rapid decay of eccentricity caused by the emission of GWs, measuring smaller values of eccentricity poses a challenge for current GW detectors due to their limited sensitivity. In this study, we explore the potential of next generation GW detectors such as Voyager, Cosmic Explorer (CE), and Einstein Telescope (ET) to resolve the eccentricity of BBH systems. Considering a GWTC-3 like population of BBHs and assuming some fiducial eccentricity distributions as well as an astrophysically motivated eccentricity distribution (Zevin et $al.$ (2021)), we calculate the fraction of detected binaries that can be confidently distinguished as eccentric. We find that for Zevin eccentricity distribution, Voyager, CE, and ET can confidently measure the non-zero eccentricity for $\sim 3\%$, $9\%$, and $13\%$ of the detected BBHs, respectively. In addition to the fraction of resolvable eccentric binaries, our findings indicate that Voyager, CE, and ET require typical minimum eccentricities $\gtrsim 0.02$, $5\times 10^{-3}$, and $10^{-3}$ at $10$ Hz GW frequency, respectively, to identify a BBH system as eccentric. The better low-frequency sensitivity of ET significantly enhances its capacity to accurately measure eccentricity.

astro-ph.HE