We study the capability of the space-based gravitational wave observatory TianQin to test the no-hair theorem of general relativity, using the ringdown signal from the coalescence of massive black hole binaries. We parametrize the ringdown signal by the four strongest quasinormal modes and estimate the signal to noise ratio for various source parameters. We consider constraints both from single detections and from all the events combined throughout the lifetime of the observatory, for different astrophysical models. We find that at the end of the mission, TianQin will have constrained deviations of the frequency and decay time of the dominant 22 mode from the general relativistic predictions to within 0.2% and 1.5% respectively, the frequencies of the subleading modes can be also constrained within 0.3%. We also find that TianQin and LISA are highly complementary, by virtue of their different frequency windows. Indeed, LISA can best perform ringdown tests for black hole masses in excess of $\sim 3\times {10}^6{M}_{\odot }$, while TianQin is best suited for lower masses.

• Received 25 February 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.044036