662 research outputs found
Accuracy of numerical relativity waveforms from binary neutron star mergers and their comparison with post-Newtonian waveforms
We present numerical relativity simulations of nine-orbit equal-mass binary
neutron star covering the quasicircular late inspiral and merger. The extracted
gravitational waveforms are analyzed for convergence and accuracy. Second order
convergence is observed up to contact, i.e. about 3-4 cycles to merger; error
estimates can be made up to this point. The uncertainties on the phase and the
amplitude are dominated by truncation errors and can be minimized to 0.13 rad
and less then 1%, respectively, by using several simulations and extrapolating
in resolution. In the latter case finite-radius extraction uncertainties become
a source of error of the same order and have to be taken into account. The
waveforms are tested against accuracy standards for data analysis. The
uncertainties on the waveforms are such that accuracy standards are generically
not met for signal-to-noise ratios relevant for detection, except for some best
cases using extrapolation from several runs. A detailed analysis of the errors
is thus imperative for the use of numerical relativity waveforms from binary
neutron stars in quantitative studies. The waveforms are compared with the
post-Newtonian Taylor T4 approximants both for point-particle and including the
analytically known tidal corrections. The T4 approximants accumulate
significant phase differences of 2 rad at contact and 4 rad at merger,
underestimating the influence of finite size effects. Tidal signatures in the
waveforms are thus important at least during the last six orbits of the merger
process.Comment: Physical Review D (Vol.85, No.10) 201
On the Shear Instability in Relativistic Neutron Stars
We present new results on instabilities in rapidly and differentially
rotating neutron stars. We model the stars in full general relativity and
describe the stellar matter adopting a cold realistic equation of state based
on the unified SLy prescription. We provide evidence that rapidly and
differentially rotating stars that are below the expected threshold for the
dynamical bar-mode instability, beta_c = T/|W| ~ 0.25, do nevertheless develop
a shear instability on a dynamical timescale and for a wide range of values of
beta. This class of instability, which has so far been found only for small
values of beta and with very small growth rates, is therefore more generic than
previously found and potentially more effective in producing strong sources of
gravitational waves. Overall, our findings support the phenomenological
predictions made by Watts, Andersson and Jones on the nature of the low-T/|W|.Comment: 20 pages; accepted to the Classical and Quantum Gravity special issue
for MICRA200
Intermediate behavior of Kerr tails
The numerical investigation of wave propagation in the asymptotic domain of
Kerr spacetime has only recently been possible thanks to the construction of
suitable hyperboloidal coordinates. The asymptotics revealed an apparent puzzle
in the decay rates of scalar fields: the late-time rates seemed to depend on
whether finite distance observers are in the strong field domain or far away
from the rotating black hole, an apparent phenomenon dubbed "splitting". We
discuss far-field "splitting" in the full field and near-horizon "splitting" in
certain projected modes using horizon-penetrating, hyperboloidal coordinates.
For either case we propose an explanation to the cause of the "splitting"
behavior, and we determine uniquely decay rates that previous studies found to
be ambiguous or immeasurable. The far-field "splitting" is explained by
competition between projected modes. The near-horizon "splitting" is due to
excitation of lower multipole modes that back excite the multipole mode for
which "splitting" is observed. In both cases "splitting" is an intermediate
effect, such that asymptotically in time strong field rates are valid at all
finite distances. At any finite time, however, there are three domains with
different decay rates whose boundaries move outwards during evolution. We then
propose a formula for the decay rate of tails that takes into account the
inter--mode excitation effect that we study.Comment: 16 page
Second release of the CoRe database of binary neutron star merger waveforms
We present the second data release of gravitational waveforms from binaryneutron star merger simulations performed by the Computational Relativity(CoRe) collaboration. The current database consists of 254 different binaryneutron star configurations and a total of 590 individual numerical-relativitysimulations using various grid resolutions. The released waveform data containthe strain and the Weyl curvature multipoles up to . They span asignificant portion of the mass, mass-ratio,spin and eccentricity parameterspace and include targeted configurations to the events GW170817 and GW190425.CoRe simulations are performed with 18 different equations of state, seven ofwhich are finite temperature models, and three of which account fornon-hadronic degrees of freedom. About half of the released data are computedwith high-order hydrodynamics schemes for tens of orbits to merger; the otherhalf is computed with advanced microphysics. We showcase a standard waveformerror analysis and discuss the accuracy of the database in terms offaithfulness. We present ready-to-use fitting formulas for equation ofstate-insensitive relations at merger (e.g. merger frequency), luminosity peak,and post-merger spectrum.<br
Three little pieces for computer and relativity
Numerical relativity has made big strides over the last decade. A number of
problems that have plagued the field for years have now been mostly solved.
This progress has transformed numerical relativity into a powerful tool to
explore fundamental problems in physics and astrophysics, and I present here
three representative examples. These "three little pieces" reflect a personal
choice and describe work that I am particularly familiar with. However, many
more examples could be made.Comment: 42 pages, 11 figures. Plenary talk at "Relativity and Gravitation:
100 Years after Einstein in Prague", June 25 - 29, 2012, Prague, Czech
Republic. To appear in the Proceedings (Edition Open Access). Collects
results appeared in journal articles [72,73, 122-124
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All-sky search for short gravitational-wave bursts in the second Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo run
We present the results of a search for short-duration gravitational-wave transients in the data from the second observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. We search for gravitational-wave transients with a duration of milliseconds to approximately one second in the 32-4096 Hz frequency band with minimal assumptions about the signal properties, thus targeting a wide variety of sources. We also perform a matched-filter search for gravitational-wave transients from cosmic string cusps for which the waveform is well modeled. The unmodeled search detected gravitational waves from several binary black hole mergers which have been identified by previous analyses. No other significant events have been found by either the unmodeled search or the cosmic string search. We thus present the search sensitivities for a variety of signal waveforms and report upper limits on the source rate density as a function of the characteristic frequency of the signal. These upper limits are a factor of 3 lower than the first observing run, with a 50% detection probability for gravitational-wave emissions with energies of ∼10-9 Mc2 at 153 Hz. For the search dedicated to cosmic string cusps we consider several loop distribution models, and present updated constraints from the same search done in the first observing run
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Search for Eccentric Binary Black Hole Mergers with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo during Their First and Second Observing Runs
When formed through dynamical interactions, stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) may retain eccentric orbits (e > 0.1 at 10 Hz) detectable by ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Eccentricity can therefore be used to differentiate dynamically formed binaries from isolated BBH mergers. Current template-based gravitational-wave searches do not use waveform models associated with eccentric orbits, rendering the search less efficient for eccentric binary systems. Here we present the results of a search for BBH mergers that inspiral in eccentric orbits using data from the first and second observing runs (O1 and O2) of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. We carried out the search with the coherent WaveBurst algorithm, which uses minimal assumptions on the signal morphology and does not rely on binary waveform templates. We show that it is sensitive to binary mergers with a detection range that is weakly dependent on eccentricity for all bound systems. Our search did not identify any new binary merger candidates. We interpret these results in light of eccentric binary formation models. We rule out formation channels with rates ⪆100 Gpc-3 yr-1 for e > 0.1, assuming a black hole mass spectrum with a power-law index ≲2
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Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model
We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational
waves from the low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model
(HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based
searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the
-statistic, and by analysing data from Advanced LIGO's second
observing run. In the frequency range searched, from to
, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At
, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper
limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95\% confidence) of when marginalising over source inclination angle. This is the
most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed
to be robust in the presence of spin wandering
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