Empirical tests of the black hole no-hair conjecture using gravitational-wave observations

Gregorio Carullo, Laura van der Schaaf, Lionel London, Peter T. H. Pang, Ka Wa Tsang, Otto A. Hannuksela, Jeroen Meidam, Michalis Agathos, Anuradha Samajdar, Archisman Ghosh, Tjonnie G. F. Li, Walter Del Pozzo, and Chris Van Den Broeck
Phys. Rev. D 98, 104020 – Published 15 November 2018

Abstract

We show that second-generation gravitational-wave detectors at their design sensitivity will allow us to directly probe the ringdown phase of binary black hole coalescences. This opens the possibility to test the so-called black hole no-hair conjecture in a statistically rigorous way. Using state-of-the-art numerical relativity-tuned waveform models and dedicated methods to effectively isolate the quasistationary perturbative regime where a ringdown description is valid, we demonstrate the capability of measuring the physical parameters of the remnant black hole and subsequently determining parameterized deviations from the ringdown of Kerr black holes. By combining information from O(5) binary black hole mergers with realistic signal-to-noise ratios achievable with the current generation of detectors, the validity of the no-hair conjecture can be verified with an accuracy of 1.5% at 90% confidence.

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  • Received 12 May 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.98.104020

© 2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

  1. Research Areas
  1. Physical Systems
Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Gregorio Carullo1,2,*, Laura van der Schaaf2, Lionel London3, Peter T. H. Pang4, Ka Wa Tsang2, Otto A. Hannuksela4, Jeroen Meidam2, Michalis Agathos5, Anuradha Samajdar2, Archisman Ghosh2, Tjonnie G. F. Li4, Walter Del Pozzo1,6, and Chris Van Den Broeck2,7

  • 1Dipartimento di Fisica “Enrico Fermi,” Università di Pisa, Pisa I-56127, Italy
  • 2Nikhef-National Institute for Subatomic Physics, Science Park, 1098 XG Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 3School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University, The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom
  • 4Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
  • 5DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge CB3 0WA, United Kingdom
  • 6INFN sezione di Pisa, Pisa I-56127, Italy
  • 7Van Swinderen Institute for Particle Physics and Gravity, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, Netherlands

  • *gregorio.carullo@ligo.org

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 10 — 15 November 2018

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