Learning about compact binary merger: the interplay between numerical relativity and gravitational-wave astronomy

Abstract

Activities in data analysis and numerical simulation of gravitational waves have to date largely proceeded independently. In this work we study how waveforms obtained from numerical simulations could be effectively used within the data analysis effort to search for gravitational waves from black hole binaries. We propose measures to quantify the accuracy of numerical waveforms for the purpose of data analysis and study how sensitive the analysis is to errors in the waveforms. We estimate that ~100 templates (and ~10 simulations with different mass ratios) are needed to detect waves from non-spinning binary black holes with total masses in the range 100 Msun < M < 400 Msun using initial LIGO. Of course, many more simulation runs will be needed to confirm that the correct physics is captured in the numerical evolutions. From this perspective, we also discuss sources of systematic errors in numerical waveform extraction and provide order of magnitude estimates for the computational cost of simulations that could be used to estimate the cost of parameter space surveys. Finally, we discuss what information from near-future numerical simulations of compact binary systems would be most useful for enhancing the detectability of such events with contemporary gravitational wave detectors and emphasize the role of numerical simulations for the interpretation of eventual gravitational-wave observations.

19 pages, 12 figures

References in corpus (21)

• Accurate Evolutions of Orbiting Black-Hole Binaries Without Excision
• Gravitational wave extraction from an inspiraling configuration of merging black holes
• Inspiral, merger and ring-down of equal-mass black-hole binaries
• Total recoil: the maximum kick from nonspinning black-hole binary inspiral
• Calibration of Moving Puncture Simulations
• Merger of binary neutron stars to a black hole: Disk mass, short gamma-ray bursts, and quasinormal mode ringing
• Spinning-black-hole binaries: The orbital hang up
• Binary black-hole evolutions of excision and puncture data
• Simulation of Binary Black Hole Spacetimes with a Harmonic Evolution Scheme
• Evolution of magnetized, differentially rotating neutron stars: Simulations in full general relativity
• Spin-orbit interactions in black-hole binaries
• Search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspirals in LIGO data
• Numerical evolutions of a black hole-neutron star system in full General Relativity: I. Head-on collision
• Characteristic Evolution and Matching
• The Dynamical Evolution of Black Hole-Neutron Star Binaries in General Relativity: Simulations of Tidal Disruption
• AMR, stability and higher accuracy
• Dealing with delicate issues in waveforms calculations
• The Lazarus Project. II. Spacelike extraction with the quasi-Kinnersley tetrad
• Joint LIGO and TAMA300 Search for Gravitational Waves from Inspiralling Neutron Star Binaries
• Quasiequilibrium sequences of black-hole--neutron-star binaries in general relativity
• On characteristic initial data for a star orbiting a black hole

Cited by in corpus (19)

• The Einstein Toolkit: A Community Computational Infrastructure for Relativistic Astrophysics
• Fundamental Theoretical Bias in Gravitational Wave Astrophysics and the Parameterized Post-Einsteinian Framework
• Measuring the neutron star equation of state with gravitational wave observations
• Black-hole binaries, gravitational waves, and numerical relativity
• Effects of the microphysical Equation of State in the mergers of magnetized Neutron Stars With Neutrino Cooling
• Unequal mass binary neutron star mergers and multimessenger signals
• Head-on collisions of boson stars
• Testing gravitational-wave searches with numerical relativity waveforms: Results from the first Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project
• Black-hole binary simulations: the mass ratio 10:1
• Collisions of charged black holes
• Post-merger electromagnetic emissions from disks perturbed by binary black holes
• Interpolating compact binary waveforms using the singular value decomposition
• Initial data for general relativistic simulations of multiple electrically charged black holes with linear and angular momenta
• Method to estimate ISCO and ring-down frequencies in binary systems and consequences for gravitational wave data analysis
• Neutron star equation of state via gravitational wave observations
• Perturbational Treatment of the Gravitational Potential Effect on Binary Black Hole Evolution
• Enhancing the capabilities of LIGO time-frequency plane searches through clustering
• Connecting Numerical Relativity and Data Analysis of Gravitational Wave Detectors
• A Search For Gravitational Waves from Perturbed Black Hole Ringdowns in LIGO Data