Gravitational waves from spinning binary black holes at the leading post-Newtonian orders at all orders in spin

We determine the binding energy, the total gravitational wave energy flux, and the gravitational wave modes for a binary of rapidly spinning black holes, working in linearized gravity and at leading orders in the orbital velocity, but to all orders in the black holes' spins. Though the spins are treated nonperturbatively, surprisingly, the binding energy and the flux are given by simple analytical expressions which are finite (respectively third- and fifth-order) polynomials in the spins. Our final results are restricted to the important case of quasi-circular orbits with the black holes' spins aligned with the orbital angular momentum.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure; updated to match published versio

Binary boson stars: Merger dynamics and formation of rotating remnant stars

Scalar boson stars have attracted attention as simple models for exploring the nonlinear dynamics of a large class of ultra compact and black hole mimicking objects. Here, we study the impact of interactions in the scalar matter making up these stars. In particular, we show the pivotal role the scalar phase and vortex structure play during the late inspiral, merger, and post-merger oscillations of a binary boson star, as well as their impact on the properties of the merger remnant. To that end, we construct constraint satisfying binary boson star initial data and numerically evolve the nonlinear set of Einstein-Klein-Gordon equations. We demonstrate that the scalar interactions can significantly affect the inspiral gravitational wave amplitude and phase, and the length of a potential hypermassive phase shortly after merger. If a black hole is formed after merger, we find its spin angular momentum to be consistent with similar binary black hole and binary neutron star merger remnants. Furthermore, we formulate a mapping that approximately predicts the remnant properties of any given binary boson star merger. Guided by this mapping, we use numerical evolutions to explicitly demonstrate, for the first time, that rotating boson stars can form as remnants from the merger of two non-spinning boson stars. We characterize this new formation mechanism and discuss its robustness. Finally, we comment on the implications for rotating Proca stars.Comment: 29 pages, 20 figure

Instability and backreaction of spin-2 fields around black holes

A massive spin-2 field can grow unstably around a black hole, potentially probing the existence of such fields. In this work, we use time-domain evolutions to study such instabilities. Considering the linear regime by solving the equations generically governing a massive tensor field on the background of a Kerr black hole, we find that black hole spin significantly increases the mass range, and the growth rate, of the axisymmetric (azimuthal number $m=0$) instability, which takes the form of the Gregory-Laflamme black string instability for zero spin. We also consider the superradiant unstable modes with $1 \leq m \leq 3$, extending previous results to higher spin-2 masses, black hole spins, and azimuthal numbers. We find that the superradiant modes grow slower than the $m=0$ modes, except for a narrow range of high spins and masses, with $m=1$ and 2 requiring a dimensionless black hole spin of $a_{\rm BH}\gtrsim 0.95$ to be dominant. Thus, in most of the parameter space, the backreaction of the $m=0$ instability must be taken into account when using black holes to constrain massive spin-2 fields. As a simple model of this, we consider nonlinear evolutions in quadratic gravity, in particular Einstein-Weyl gravity. We find that, depending on the initial perturbation, the black hole may approach zero mass with the curvature blowing up in finite time, or can saturate at a larger mass with a surrounding cloud of the ghost spin-2 field.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Bosonic fields in strong-field gravity

In this thesis, we investigate bosonic fields in the strong-field and highly dynamical regime of general relativity focusing specifically on the black hole superradiance process of scalar and vector fields, as well as on the nonlinear dynamics of isolated and binary scalar boson stars. In the first part of this thesis, we lay the foundation to use boson stars as a particularly simple model to explore the dynamical behavior of inspiraling and merging ultra compact and black hole mimicking objects. To that end, we construct self-consistent initial data describing isolated and binary star configurations and subsequently utilizing numerical evolutions of the full Einstein-Klein-Gordon system of equations to explore this dynamical behavior. We investigate the linear stability properties of families of rotating stars in scalar theories with various types of self-interactions. Using numerical evolutions, we find that a linear instability present in rotating boson star solutions within linear scalar theories is quenched by nonlinear scalar interactions in a subset of stars. Furthermore, utilizing the conformal thin-sandwich formalism, we numerically construct generic binary boson star initial data satisfying the constraints of the Einstein equations. We adapt existing and introduce new methods, to initial data quality, as well as reduce residual orbital eccentricity. With these methods, we were able to generate self-consistent inspiral-merger-ringdown gravitational waveforms of eccentricity-reduced binary boson stars, for the first time. Lastly, scalar self-interactions may delay the merger time of identical inspiraling binary star configurations, or drive the system to an entirely different end state. In particular, we show explicitly that rotating boson stars can form during the merger of two non-spinning stars. In the second part of this thesis, we focus on how well-motivated ultralight scalar and vector bosons, extending the Standard Model of particle physics, can be probed through the observable signatures of the black hole superradiance process. Energy and angular momentum are extracted from a black hole via this mechanism, are deposited in an oscillating bosonic cloud, and finally dissipated through gravitational wave emission from the system. Here, we introduce the gravitational waveform model, SuperRad, modeling the cloud’s oscillation frequency, growth and decay timescales, as well as the amplitude and phase evolution of the emitted gravitational radiation, for both scalar and vector boson clouds. This model combines state of the art analytical results with numerical computations to provide the most accurate predictions across the relevant parameter space. Moreover, we investigate the impact of a non-vanishing kinetic mixing between an ultralight vector boson forming a superradiant cloud and the Standard Model photon. Such mixing robustly results in the formation of a highly turbulent pair plasma within the bosonic cloud. We characterize the associated electromagnetic signatures and devise strategies to observe such signatures through multi-messenger observation campaigns

SuperRad: A black hole superradiance gravitational waveform model

Gravitational signatures of black hole superradiance are a unique probe of ultralight particles that are weakly-coupled to ordinary matter. The existence of an ultralight boson would lead spinning black holes with size comparable to the Compton wavelength of the boson to become superradiantly unstable to forming an oscillating cloud, spinning down the black hole, and radiating gravitational waves in the process. However, maximizing the chance of observing such signals or, in their absence, placing the strongest constraints on the existence of such particles, requires accurate theoretical predictions. In this work, we introduce a new gravitational waveform model, SuperRad, that models the dynamics, oscillation frequency, and gravitational wave signals of these clouds by combining numerical results in the relativistic regime with fits calibrated to analytical estimates, covering the entire parameter space of ultralight scalar and vector clouds with the lowest two azimuthal numbers ($m = 1$ and $2$). We present new calculations of the gravitational wave frequency evolution as the boson cloud dissipates, including using fully general-relativistic methods to quantify the error in more approximate treatments. Finally, as a first application, we assess the viability of conducting follow-up gravitational wave searches for ultralight vector clouds around massive black hole binary merger remnants. We show that LISA may be able to probe vector masses in the range from $1\times 10^{-16}$ eV to $6\times 10^{-16}$ eV using follow-up gravitational wave searches.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, code repository: www.bitbucket.org/weast/superra

Dark photon superradiance: Electrodynamics and multimessenger signals

We study the electrodynamics of a kinetically mixed dark photon cloud that forms through superradiance around a spinning black hole, and design strategies to search for the resulting multimessenger signals. A dark photon superradiance cloud sources a rotating dark electromagnetic field which, through kinetic mixing, induces a rotating visible electromagnetic field. Standard model charged particles entering this field initiate a transient phase of particle production that populates a plasma inside the cloud and leads to a system which shares qualitative features with a pulsar magnetosphere. We study the electrodynamics of the dark photon cloud with resistive magnetohydrodynamics methods applicable to highly magnetized plasma, adapting techniques from simulations of pulsar magnetospheres. We identify turbulent magnetic field reconnection as the main source of dissipation and electromagnetic emission, and compute the peak luminosity from clouds around solar-mass black holes to be as large as $10^{43}$ erg/s for open dark photon parameter space. The emission is expected to have a significant X-ray component and is potentially periodic, with period set by the dark photon mass. The luminosity is comparable to the brightest X-ray sources in the Universe, allowing for searches at distances of up to hundreds of Mpc with existing telescopes. We discuss observational strategies, including targeted electromagnetic follow-ups of solar-mass black hole mergers and targeted continuous gravitational wave searches of anomalous pulsars.Comment: 56 pages, 27 figures, updated to the journal versio

Methods and prospects for gravitational wave searches targeting ultralight vector boson clouds around known black holes

Ultralight bosons are predicted in many extensions to the Standard Model and are popular dark matter candidates. The black hole superradiance mechanism allows for these particles to be probed using only their gravitational interaction. In this scenario, an ultralight boson cloud may form spontaneously around a spinning black hole and extract a non-negligible fraction of the black hole's mass. These oscillating clouds produce quasi-monochromatic, long-duration gravitational waves that may be detectable by ground-based or space-based gravitational wave detectors. We discuss the capability of a new long-duration signal tracking method, based on a hidden Markov model, to detect gravitational wave signals generated by ultralight vector boson clouds, including cases where the signal frequency evolution timescale is much shorter than that of a typical continuous wave signal. We quantify the detection horizon distances for vector boson clouds with current- and next-generation ground-based detectors. We demonstrate that vector clouds hosted by black holes with mass $\gtrsim 60 M_{\odot}$ and spin $\gtrsim 0.6$ are within the reach of current-generation detectors up to a luminosity distance of $\sim 1$ Gpc. This search method enables one to target vector boson clouds around remnant black holes from compact binary mergers detected by gravitational-wave detectors. We discuss the impact of the sky localization of the merger events and demonstrate that a typical remnant black hole reasonably well-localized by the current generation detector network is accessible in a follow-up search.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figure

Extent of FLAIR Hyperintense Vessels May Modify Treatment Effect of Thrombolysis: A Post hoc Analysis of the WAKE-UP Trial

Background and Aims: Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) hyperintense vessels (FHVs) on MRI are a radiological marker of vessel occlusion and indirect sign of collateral circulation. However, the clinical relevance is uncertain. We explored whether the extent of FHVs is associated with outcome and how FHVs modify treatment effect of thrombolysis in a subgroup of patients with confirmed unilateral vessel occlusion from the randomized controlled WAKE-UP trial. Methods: One hundred sixty-five patients were analyzed. Two blinded raters independently assessed the presence and extent of FHVs (defined as the number of slices with visible FHV multiplied by FLAIR slice thickness). Patients were then separated into two groups to distinguish between few and extensive FHVs (dichotomization at the median <30 or ≥30). Results: Here, 85% of all patients (n = 140) and 95% of middle cerebral artery (MCA) occlusion patients (n = 127) showed FHVs at baseline. Between MCA occlusion patients with few and extensive FHVs, no differences were identified in relative lesion growth (p = 0.971) and short-term [follow-up National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score; p = 0.342] or long-term functional recovery [modified Rankin Scale (mRS) p = 0.607]. In linear regression analysis, baseline extent of FHV (defined as a continuous variable) was highly associated with volume of hypoperfused tissue (β = 2.161; 95% CI 0.96-3.36; p = 0.001). In multivariable regression analysis adjusted for treatment group, stroke severity, lesion volume, occlusion site, and recanalization, FHV did not modify functional recovery. However, in patients with few FHVs, the odds for good functional outcome (mRS) were increased in recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA) patients compared to those who received placebo [odds ratio (OR) = 5.3; 95% CI 1.2-24.0], whereas no apparent benefit was observed in patients with extensive FHVs (OR = 1.1; 95% CI 0.3-3.8), p-value for interaction was 0.11. Conclusion: While the extent of FHVs on baseline did not alter the evolution of stroke in terms of lesion progression or functional recovery, it may modify treatment effect and should therefore be considered relevant additional information in those patients who are eligible for intravenous thrombolysis. Clinical Trial Registration: Main trial (WAKE-UP): ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01525290; and EudraCT, 2011-005906-32. Registered February 2, 2012