361 research outputs found
Black hole quasinormal mode spectroscopy with LISA
The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for black hole quasinormal mode sources of
low-frequency gravitational waves is estimated using a Monte Carlo approach
that replaces the all-sky average approximation. We consider an eleven
dimensional parameter space that includes both source and detector parameters.
We find that in the black-hole mass range - the
SNR is significantly higher than the SNR for the all-sky average case, as a
result of the variation of the spin parameter of the sources. This increased
SNR may translate to a higher event rate for the Laser Interferometer Space
Antenna (LISA). We also study the directional dependence of the SNR, show at
which directions in the sky LISA will have greater response, and identify the
LISA blind spots.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
On gravitational-wave spectroscopy of massive black holes with the space interferometer LISA
Newly formed black holes are expected to emit characteristic radiation in the
form of quasi-normal modes, called ringdown waves, with discrete frequencies.
LISA should be able to detect the ringdown waves emitted by oscillating
supermassive black holes throughout the observable Universe. We develop a
multi-mode formalism, applicable to any interferometric detectors, for
detecting ringdown signals, for estimating black hole parameters from those
signals, and for testing the no-hair theorem of general relativity. Focusing on
LISA, we use current models of its sensitivity to compute the expected
signal-to-noise ratio for ringdown events, the relative parameter estimation
accuracy, and the resolvability of different modes. We also discuss the extent
to which uncertainties on physical parameters, such as the black hole spin and
the energy emitted in each mode, will affect our ability to do black hole
spectroscopy.Comment: 44 pages, 21 figures, 10 tables. Minor changes to match version in
press in Phys. Rev.
Boundary conditions at spatial infinity for fields in Casimir calculations
The importance of imposing proper boundary conditions for fields at spatial
infinity in the Casimir calculations is elucidated.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, submitted to the Proceedings of The Seventh
Workshop QFEXT'05 (Barcelona, September 5-9, 2005
Kerr black hole quasinormal frequencies
Black-hole quasinormal modes (QNM) have been the subject of much recent
attention, with the hope that these oscillation frequencies may shed some light
on the elusive theory of quantum gravity. We compare numerical results for the
QNM spectrum of the (rotating) Kerr black hole with an {\it exact} formula
Re, which is based on Bohr's correspondence
principle. We find a close agreement between the two. Possible implications of
this result to the area spectrum of quantum black holes are discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure
Neutrino quasinormal modes of the Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole
The neutrino quasinormal modes of the Reissner-Nordstr\"om (RN) black hole
are investigated using continued fraction approach. We find, for large angular
quantum number, that the quasinormal frequencies become evenly spaced and the
spacing of the real part depends on the charge of the black hole and that of
the imaginary part is zero. We then find that the quasinormal frequencies in
the complex plane move counterclockwise as the charge increases. They
get a spiral-like shape, moving out of their Schwarzschild value and ``looping
in" towards some limiting frequency as the charge tends to the extremal value.
The number of the spirals increases as the overtone number increases but it
decreases as the angular quantum number increases. We also find that both the
real and imaginary parts are oscillatory functions of the charge, and the
oscillation becomes faster as the overtone number increases but it becomes
slower as the angular quantum number increases.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
Analyzing X-Ray Pulsar Profiles: Geometry and Beam Pattern of Her X-1
We report on our analysis of a large sample of energy dependent pulse
profiles of the X-ray binary pulsar Hercules X-1. We find that all data are
compatible with the assumption of a slightly distorted magnetic dipole field as
sole cause of the asymmetry of the observed pulse profiles. Further the
analysis provides evidence that the emission from both poles is equal. We
determine an angle of 20 deg between the rotation axis and the local magnetic
axis. One pole has an offset of 5 deg from the antipodal position of the other
pole. The beam pattern shows structures that can be interpreted as pencil- and
fan-beam configurations. Since no assumptions on the polar emission are made,
the results can be compared with various emission models. A comparison of
results obtained from pulse profiles of different phases of the 35-day cycle
indicates different attenuation of the radiation from the poles being
responsible for the change of the pulse shape during the main-on state. These
results also suggest the resolution of an ambiguity within a previous analysis
of pulse profiles of Cen X-3, leading to a unique result for the beam pattern
of this pulsar as well. The analysis of pulse profiles of the short-on state
indicates that a large fraction of the radiation cannot be attributed to the
direct emission from the poles. We give a consistent explanation of both the
evolution of the pulse profile and the spectral changes with the 35-day cycle
in terms of a warped precessing accretion disk.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures. To appear in ApJ 529 #2, 1 Feb 200
Quasinormal ringing of Kerr black holes: The excitation factors
Distorted black holes radiate gravitational waves. In the so-called ringdown
phase radiation is emitted in a discrete set of complex quasinormal
frequencies, whose values depend only on the black hole's mass and angular
momentum. Ringdown radiation could be detectable with large signal-to-noise
ratio by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna LISA. If more than one mode is
detected, tests of the black hole nature of the source become possible. The
detectability of different modes depends on their relative excitation, which in
turn depends on the cause of the perturbation (i.e. on the initial data). A
``universal'', initial data-independent measure of the relative mode excitation
is encoded in the poles of the Green's function that propagates small
perturbations of the geometry (``excitation factors''). We compute for the
first time the excitation factors for general-spin perturbations of Kerr black
holes. We find that for corotating modes with the excitation factors tend
to zero in the extremal limit, and that the contribution of the overtones
should be more significant when the black hole is fast rotating. We also
present the first analytical calculation of the large-damping asymptotics of
the excitation factors for static black holes, including the Schwarzschild and
Reissner-Nordstrom metrics. This is an important step to determine the
convergence properties of the quasinormal mode expansion.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figures, 7 tables, RevTeX4. v2: Two new figures and minor
changes in the presentation. Matches version in press in Phys. Rev.
Dirty black holes: Quasinormal modes for "squeezed" horizons
We consider the quasinormal modes for a class of black hole spacetimes that,
informally speaking, contain a closely ``squeezed'' pair of horizons. (This
scenario, where the relevant observer is presumed to be ``trapped'' between the
horizons, is operationally distinct from near-extremal black holes with an
external observer.) It is shown, by analytical means, that the spacing of the
quasinormal frequencies equals the surface gravity at the squeezed horizons.
Moreover, we can calculate the real part of these frequencies provided that the
horizons are sufficiently close together (but not necessarily degenerate or
even ``nearly degenerate''). The novelty of our analysis (which extends a
model-specific treatment by Cardoso and Lemos) is that we consider ``dirty''
black holes; that is, the observable portion of the (static and spherically
symmetric) spacetime is allowed to contain an arbitrary distribution of matter.Comment: 15 pages, uses iopart.cls and setstack.sty V2: Two references added.
Also, the appendix now relates our computation of the Regge-Wheeler potential
for gravity in a generic "dirty" black hole to the results of Karlovini
[gr-qc/0111066
Dirac quasinormal modes of a Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by free static spherically symmetric quintessence
We evaluate the quasinormal modes of massless Dirac perturbation in a
Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by the free static spherically symmetric
quintessence by using the third-order WKB approximation. The result shows that
due to the presence of quintessence, the massless field damps more slowly. The
real part of the quasinormal modes increases and the the absolute value of the
imaginary part increases when the state parameter increases. In other
words, the massless Dirac field decays more rapidly for the larger . And
the peak value of potential barrier gets higher as increases and the
location of peak moves along the right for fixed .Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
The Numerical Solution of Scalar Field for Nariai Case in 5D Ricci-flat SdS Black String Space with Polynomial Approximation
As one exact candidate of the higher dimensional black hole, the 5D
Ricci-flat Schwarzschild-de Sitter black string space presents something
interesting. In this paper, we give a numerical solution to the real scalar
field around the Nariai black hole by the polynomial approximation. Unlike the
previous tangent approximation, this fitting function makes a perfect match in
the leading intermediate region and gives a good description near both the
event and the cosmological horizons. We can read from our results that the wave
is close to a harmonic one with the tortoise coordinate. Furthermore, with the
actual radial coordinate the waves pile up almost equally near the both
horizons.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
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