Nonspinning searches for spinning binaries in ground-based detector data: Amplitude and mismatch predictions in the constant precession cone approximation
arXiv:1203.6060 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.86.064020
Abstract
Current searches for compact binary mergers by ground-based gravitational-wave detectors assume for simplicity the two bodies are not spinning. If the binary contains compact objects with significant spin, then this can reduce the sensitivity of these searches, particularly for black hole--neutron star binaries. In this paper we investigate the effect of neglecting precession on the sensitivity of searches for spinning binaries using non-spinning waveform models. We demonstrate that in the sensitive band of Advanced LIGO, the angle between the binary's orbital angular momentum and its total angular momentum is approximately constant. Under this \emph{constant precession cone} approximation, we show that the gravitational-wave phasing is modulated in two ways: a secular increase of the gravitational-wave phase due to precession and an oscillation around this secular increase. We show that this secular evolution occurs in precisely three ways, corresponding to physically different apparent evolutions of the binary's precession about the line of sight. We estimate the best possible fitting factor between \emph{any} non-precessing template model and a single precessing signal, in the limit of a constant precession cone. Our closed form estimate of the fitting-factor depends only the geometry of the in-band precession cone; it does not depend explicitly on binary parameters, detector response, or details of either signal model. The precessing black hole--neutron star waveforms least accurately matched by nonspinning waveforms correspond to viewing geometries where the precession cone sweeps the orbital plane repeatedly across the line of sight, in an unfavorable polarization alignment.
v2: add reference, update author metadata; v3: small changes in response to referee
References in corpus (11)
- LIGO: The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
- Comparison of post-Newtonian templates for compact binary inspiral signals in gravitational-wave detectors
- Search for Gravitational Waves from Low Mass Compact Binary Coalescence in LIGO's Sixth Science Run and Virgo's Science Runs 2 and 3
- Search for gravitational waves from binary inspirals in S3 and S4 LIGO data
- Search for Gravitational Waves from Low Mass Binary Coalescences in the First Year of LIGO's S5 Data
- A geometric approach to the precession of compact binaries
- Comparison between numerical-relativity and post-Newtonian waveforms from spinning binaries: the orbital hang-up case
- Gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries: hexagonal template placement and its efficiency in detecting physical signals
- Search of S3 LIGO data for gravitational wave signals from spinning black hole and neutron star binary inspirals
- Template banks to search for compact binaries with spinning components in gravitational wave data
- A template bank to search for gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries: II. Phenomenological model
Cited by in corpus (45)
- Towards models of gravitational waveforms from generic binaries II: Modelling precession effects with a single effective precession parameter
- Towards models of gravitational waveforms from generic binaries: A simple approximate mapping between precessing and non-precessing inspiral signals
- Reconstructing phenomenological distributions of compact binaries via gravitational wave observations
- Black hole-neutron star mergers at realistic mass ratios: Equation of state and spin orientation effects
- Directly comparing GW150914 with numerical solutions of Einstein's equations for binary black hole coalescence
- Searching for Gravitational Waves from Compact Binaries with Precessing Spins
- Measuring the spin of black holes in binary systems using gravitational waves
- Multi-timescale analysis of phase transitions in precessing black-hole binaries
- Improving the sensitivity of a search for coalescing binary black holes with non-precessing spins in gravitational wave data
- Angular velocity of gravitational radiation from precessing binaries and the corotating frame
- An effectual template bank for the detection of gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries with generic spins
- Spin effects on gravitational waves from inspiraling compact binaries at second post-Newtonian order
- Investigating the effect of precession on searches for neutron-star-black-hole binaries with Advanced LIGO
- Comparing gravitational waves from nonprecessing and precessing black hole binaries in the corotating frame
- Gravitational waves from BH-NS binaries: Effective Fisher matrices and parameter estimation using higher harmonics
- Search for Eccentric Binary Neutron Star Mergers in the first and second observing runs of Advanced LIGO
- Gravitational wave parameter estimation with compressed likelihood evaluations
- The numerical relativity breakthrough for binary black holes
- Two-harmonic approximation for gravitational waveforms from precessing binaries
- Parameter Estimation with a spinning multi-mode waveform model: IMRPhenomHM
- Statistical and systematic errors for gravitational-wave inspiral signals: A principal component analysis
- Impact of Higher-order Modes on the Detection of Binary Black Hole Coalescences
- Accuracy of gravitational waveform models for observing neutron-star--black-hole binaries in Advanced LIGO
- Parameter Estimation of Gravitational Waves from Precessing BH-NS Inspirals with higher harmonics
- Precession during merger 1: Strong polarization changes are observationally accessible features of strong-field gravity during binary black hole merger
- Distinguishing black-hole spin-orbit resonances by their gravitational-wave signatures
- Advanced LIGO's ability to detect apparent violations of the cosmic censorship conjecture and the no-hair theorem through compact binary coalescence detections
- Search for gravitational waves from the coalescence of sub-solar mass and eccentric compact binaries
- A single-spin precessing gravitational wave in closed form
- Search for gravitational waves from high-mass-ratio compact-binary mergers of stellar mass and sub-solar mass black holes
- Identifying when Precession can be Measured in Gravitational Waveforms
- Distinguishing black-hole spin-orbit resonances by their gravitational wave signatures. II: Full parameter estimation
- A more effective coordinate system for parameter estimation of precessing compact binaries from gravitational waves
- Gravitational Waveforms for Precessing, Quasicircular Compact Binaries with Multiple Scale Analysis: Small Spin Expansion
- Optimizing gravitational-wave searches for a population of coalescing binaries: Intrinsic parameters
- Systematic challenges for future gravitational wave measurements of precessing binary black holes
- Impact of precession on aligned-spin searches for neutron-star--black-hole binaries
- Detection and characterization of spin-orbit resonances in the advanced gravitational wave detectors era
- Localization of Binary Black-Hole Mergers with Known Inclination
- Asymptotic frame selection for binary black hole spacetimes II: Post-Newtonian limit
- Rarity of precession and higher-order multipoles in gravitational waves from merging binary black holes
- Rapid gravitational wave parameter estimation with a single spin: Systematic uncertainties in parameter estimation with the SpinTaylorF2 approximation
- A stochastic template bank for gravitational wave searches for precessing neutron-star--black-hole coalescence events
- Early warning of precessing compact binary merger with third-generation gravitational-wave detectors
- Early warning of precessing neutron-star black-hole binary mergers with the near-future gravitational-wave detectors