Inferring eccentricity evolution from observations of coalescing binary black holes

Abstract

The origin and formation of stellar-mass binary black holes remains an open question that can be addressed by precise measurements of the binary and orbital parameters from their gravitational-wave signal. Such binaries are expected to circularize due to the emission of gravitational waves as they approach merger. However, depending on their formation channel, some binaries could have a non-negligible eccentricity when entering the frequency band of current gravitational-wave detectors. In order to measure eccentricity in an observed gravitational-wave signal, accurate waveform models that describe binaries in eccentric orbits are necessary. In this work we demonstrate the efficacy of the improved TEOBResumS waveform model for eccentric coalescing binaries with aligned spins. We first validate the model against mock signals of aligned-spin binary black hole mergers and quantify the impact of eccentricity on the estimation of other intrinsic binary parameters. We then perform a fully Bayesian reanalysis of GW150914 with the eccentric waveform model. We find (i) that the model is reliable for aligned-spin binary black holes and (ii) that GW150914 is consistent with a non-eccentric merger although we cannot rule out small values of initial eccentricity at a reference frequency of $20$ Hz. Finally, we present a systematic method to measure the eccentricity and its evolution directly from the gravitational-wave posterior samples. Such an estimator is useful when comparing results from different analyses as the definition of eccentricity may differ between models. Our scheme can be applied even in the case of small eccentricities and can be adopted straightforwardly in post-processing to allow for direct comparison between models.

20 pages, 13 figures, version accepted by PRD

References in corpus (19)

• Advanced Virgo: a 2nd generation interferometric gravitational wave detector
• GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of $150M_{\odot }$
• Sensitivity and Performance of the Advanced LIGO Detectors in the Third Observing Run
• A new effective-one-body description of coalescing nonprecessing spinning black-hole binaries
• A waveform model for eccentric binary black hole based on effective-one-body-numerical-relativity (EOBNR) formalism
• Improved effective-one-body description of coalescing nonspinning black-hole binaries and its numerical-relativity completion
• Eccentric, nonspinning, inspiral, Gaussian-process merger approximant for the detection and characterization of eccentric binary black hole mergers
• Searching for Eccentricity: Signatures of Dynamical Formation in the First Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalogue of LIGO and Virgo
• Effective-one-body multipolar waveforms for eccentric binary black holes with non-precessing spins
• Eccentric binary black hole surrogate models for the gravitational waveform and remnant properties: comparable mass, nonspinning case
• Four eccentric mergers increase the evidence that LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA's binary black holes form dynamically
• Foundations of an effective-one-body model for coalescing binaries on eccentric orbits
• Validating the Effective-One-Body Numerical-Relativity Waveform Models for Spin-aligned Binary Black Holes along Eccentric Orbits
• Generalized quasi-Keplerian solution for eccentric, non-spinning compact binaries at 4PN order and the associated IMR waveform
• New Avenue for Accurate Analytical Waveforms and Fluxes for Eccentric Compact Binaries
• A Rosetta Stone for eccentric gravitational waveform models
• High accuracy post-Newtonian and numerical relativity comparisons involving higher modes for eccentric binary black holes and a dominant mode eccentric inspiral-merger-ringdown model
• Gravitational-wave inference for eccentric binaries: the argument of periapsis
• Assessment of Effective-One-Body Radiation Reactions for Generic Planar Orbits

Cited by in corpus (24)

• The Science of the Einstein Telescope
• Defining eccentricity for gravitational wave astronomy
• Accurate waveforms for eccentric, aligned-spin binary black holes: The multipolar effective-one-body model SEOBNRv5EHM
• Faithful effective-one-body waveform of small-mass-ratio coalescing black hole binaries: the eccentric, nonspinning, case
• Evidence for eccentricity in the population of binary black holes observed by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA
• Blind spots and biases: the dangers of ignoring eccentricity in gravitational-wave signals from binary black holes
• Unveiling the merger structure of black hole binaries in generic planar orbits
• Effective-one-body waveforms for extreme-mass-ratio binaries: Consistency with second-order gravitational self-force quasicircular results and extension to nonprecessing spins and eccentricity
• Ringdown amplitudes of nonspinning eccentric binaries
• Eccentricity-induced systematic error on parametrized tests of general relativity: Hierarchical Bayesian inference applied to a binary black hole population
• Third post-Newtonian dynamics for eccentric orbits and aligned spins in the effective-one-body waveform model SEOBNRv5EHM
• Resolving the eccentricity of stellar mass binary black holes with next generation ground-based gravitational wave detectors
• A study of the Inspiral-Merger-Ringdown Consistency Test with gravitational-wave signals from compact binaries in eccentric orbits
• Scattering and dynamical capture of two black holes: synergies between numerical and analytical methods
• Orbital eccentricity in general relativity from catastrophe theory
• Eccentricity signatures in LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA's BNS and NSBH binaries
• Consistent eccentricities for gravitational wave astronomy: Resolving discrepancies between astrophysical simulations and waveform models
• First eccentric inspiral-merger-ringdown analysis of neutron star-black hole mergers
• Mapping eccentricity evolutions between numerical relativity and effective-one-body gravitational waveforms
• A geometric template bank for the detection of spinning low-mass compact binaries with moderate orbital eccentricity
• Testing eccentric corrections to the radiation-reaction force in the test-mass limit of effective-one-body models
• Swarm-intelligent search for gravitational waves from eccentric binary mergers
• Gravitational waves from eccentric binary neutron star mergers: Systematic biases and inadequacy of quasicircular templates
• Sky localization of gravitational waves from eccentric binaries