Parameter estimation on compact binary coalescences with abruptly terminating gravitational waveforms

DOI10.1088/0264-9381/31/15/155005MaRDI QIDQ2877427zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Ilya Mandel, Christopher P. L. Berry, Frank Ohme, S. Fairhurst

Publication date 22 August 2014

Published in Classical and Quantum Gravity (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1404.2382

zbMATH Keywords

gravitational wavesinference methodscompact binariesFisher matrix formalism

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Applications of statistics to physics (62P35) Equations of motion in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C10) Galactic and stellar dynamics (85A05) Gravitational waves (83C35) Galactic and stellar structure (85A15)

Abstract: Gravitational-wave astronomy seeks to extract information about astrophysical systems from the gravitational-wave signals they emit. For coalescing compact-binary sources this requires accurate model templates for the inspiral and, potentially, the subsequent merger and ringdown. Models with frequency-domain waveforms that terminate abruptly in the sensitive band of the detector are often used for parameter-estimation studies. We show that the abrupt waveform termination contains significant information that affects parameter-estimation accuracy. If the sharp cutoff is not physically motivated, this extra information can lead to misleadingly good accuracy claims. We also show that using waveforms with a cutoff as templates to recover complete signals can lead to biases in parameter estimates. We evaluate when the information content in the cutoff is likely to be important in both cases. We also point out that the standard Fisher matrix formalism, frequently employed for approximately predicting parameter-estimation accuracy, cannot properly incorporate an abrupt cutoff that is present in both signals and templates; this observation explains some previously unexpected results found in the literature. These effects emphasize the importance of using complete waveforms with accurate merger and ringdown phases for parameter estimation.

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Cited in

(7)

• Compact binary coalescences: constraints on waveforms
• Accelerating gravitational wave parameter estimation with multi-band template interpolation
• Parameter estimation of compact binaries using the inspiral and ringdown waveforms
• Self-force framework for transition-to-plunge waveforms
• Reconstruction of gravitational waveforms of coalescing spinless binaries in EOB theory based on PM approximation
• Waveform uncertainty quantification and interpretation for gravitational-wave astronomy
• Compact binary coalescence parameter estimations for 2.5 post-Newtonian aligned spinning waveforms

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