Ringdown Phase Research Articles

Automated design of digital filters using convolutional neural networks for extracting ringdown gravitational waves

Abstract The observation of gravitational waves is expected to allow new tests of general relativity to be performed. As the gravitational wave signal is hidden by detector noise in observed data, a method to reduce noise is required to analyze the ringdown phase of gravitational wave signals. Recently, some noise reduction methods based on a neural network have been proposed; however, the results of these methods must be considered with caution because the output can contain spurious components. To overcome this limitation, in this study, we developed a neural network– based method to design optimal digital filters for extracting ringdown gravitational wave signals. In this method, no spurious components appear in the output because the digital filters reduce the noise. We conducted simulations with waveforms of gravitational waves from binary black hole coalescence and confirmed that the proposed method designs appropriate filters that reduce detector noise.

Telling late-time tails for a massive scalar field in the background of brane-localized black holes

We examine perturbations of a massive scalar field around spherically symmetric, brane-localized black holes. Although the ringdown and asymptotic tails of various brane-world black holes have been extensively studied, there has been no analysis of the massive late-time tails for the simplest Schwarzschild-like, brane-localized black hole to date. We demonstrate that after the ringdown phase, two stages of oscillatory tails emerge —intermediate and asymptotic. The asymptotic decay law is distinct from those associated with Schwarzschild or Reissner-Nordström solutions. Specifically, during intermediate times, the signal decays as , while the asymptotic decay law is .

Perturbations of spinning black holes in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity: Slow rotation equations

The detection of gravitational waves resulting from the coalescence of binary black holes by the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra Collaboration has inaugurated a new era in gravitational physics. These gravitational waves provide a unique opportunity to test Einstein’s general relativity and its modifications in the regime of extreme gravity. A significant aspect of such tests involves the study of the ringdown phase of gravitational waves from binary black hole coalescence, which can be decomposed into a superposition of various quasinormal modes. In general relativity, the spectra of quasinormal modes depend on the mass, spin, and charge of the final black hole, but they can also be influenced by additional properties of the black hole spacetime, as well as corrections to the general theory of relativity. In this work, we focus on a specific modified theory known as dynamical Chern-Simons gravity. We employ the modified Teukolsky formalism developed in a previous study and lay down the foundations to investigate perturbations of slowly rotating black holes admitted by the theory. Specifically, we derive the master equations for the Ψ0 and Ψ4 Weyl scalar perturbations that characterize the radiative part of gravitational perturbations, as well as the master equation for the scalar field perturbations. We employ metric reconstruction techniques to obtain explicit expressions for all relevant quantities. Finally, by leveraging the properties of spin-weighted spheroidal harmonics to eliminate the angular dependence from the evolution equations, we derive two, radial, second-order, ordinary differential equations for Ψ0 and Ψ4, respectively. These two equations are coupled to another radial, second-order, ordinary differential equation for the scalar field perturbations. This work is the first attempt to derive a master equation for black holes in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity using curvature perturbations. The master equations we obtain can then be numerically integrated to obtain the quasinormal mode spectrum of slowly rotating black holes in this theory, making progress in the study of ringdown in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Linear versus nonlinear modeling of black hole ringdowns

The ringdown (RD) phase of gravitational waves is of prime interest for testing general relativity (GR). The modeling of the linear quasinormal modes (QNMs) within the Kerr spectrum—or with agnostic parametrized deviations to that GR spectrum—has become ordinary; however, specific attention has recently emerged to calibrate the effects of nonlinear perturbations for the predominant quadrupolar l=2, m=2 mode. In this paper, we test the performance of a few nonlinear toy models and of the nonlinear inspiral-merger-ringdown (IMR) model IMRPhenomD for faithfully representing the RD regime and we compare them with the results obtained using linear solutions as sums of QNM tones. Using several quasicircular, nonprecessing numerical waveforms, we fit the dominant l=2, m=2 mode of the strain, and we assess the results in terms of both the Bayes factor and the inferred posterior distributions for the mass and spin of the final black hole. We find that the nonlinear models can be comparable or preferred over the linear QNM-only solutions when the analysis is performed from the peak of the strain, especially at high signal-to-noise ratios consistent with third-generation observatories. Since the calibration of the tones’ relative amplitudes and phases in high-overtone models to the progenitor parameters is still missing, or even not achievable, we consider the use of nonlinear models to be more pertinent for performing confident tests of general relativity based on the RD regime starting from early times. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Non-linear black hole ringdowns: An analytical approach

Due to the nature of gravity, non-linear effects are left imprinted in the quasi-normal modes generated in the ringdown phase of the merger of two black holes. We offer an analytical treatment of the quasi-normal modes at second-order in black hole perturbation theory which takes advantage from the fact that the non-linear sources are peaked around the light ring. As a byproduct, we describe why the amplitude of the second-order mode relative to the square of the first-order amplitude depends only weakly on the initial condition of the problem.

The sound of the event horizon

During the ringdown phase of a gravitational signal emitted by a black hole, the least damped quasinormal frequency dominates. If modifications to Einstein’s theory induce noticeable deformations of the black-hole geometry only near the event horizon, the fundamental mode remains largely unaffected. However, even a small change near the event horizon can significantly impact the first few overtones, providing a means to probe the geometry of the event horizon. Overtones are stable against small deformations of spacetime at a distance from the black hole, allowing the event horizon to be distinguished from the surrounding environment. In contrast to echoes, overtones make a much larger energy contribution. These findings open up new avenues for future observations.

Quasinormal modes and grey-body factors of regular black holes with a scalar hair from the Effective Field Theory

The Effective Field Theory (EFT) of perturbations on an arbitrary background geometry with a timelike scalar profile has been recently constructed in the context of scalar-tensor theories. Unlike General Relativity, the regular Hayward metric is realized as an exact background metric in the Effective Field Theory with timelike scalar profile without resorting to special matter field, such as nonlinear electrodynamics. The fundamental quasinormal mode for axial graviational perturbations of this black hole has been considered recently with the help of various methods. Here we make a further step in this direction and find that, unlike the fundamental mode, a few first overtones deviate from their Schwarzschild limit at a much higher rate. This outburst of overtones occurs because the overtones are extremely sensitive to the least change of the near- horizon geometry. The analytical formula for quasinormal modes is obtained in the eikonal regime. In addition, we calculated grey-body factors and showed that the regular Hayward black hole with a scalar hair has a smaller grey-body factor than the Schwarzschild one. Integration of the wave-like equation in the time-domain shows that the power-law tails, following the ring-down phase, are indistinguishable from the Schwarzschild ones at late times.

Measuring the ringdown scalar polarization of gravitational waves in Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity

We model the scalar waves produced during the ringdown stage of binary black hole coalescence in Einstein scalar Gauss-Bonnet (EsGB) gravity, using numerical relativity simulations of the theory in the decoupling limit. Through a conformal coupling of the scalar field to the metric in the matter-field action, we show that the gravitational waves in this theory can have a scalar polarization. We model the scalar quasi-normal modes of the ringdown signal in EsGB gravity, and quantify the extent to which current and future gravitational wave detectors could observe the spectrum of scalar radiation emitted during the ringdown phase of binary black hole coalescence. We find that within the limits of the theory's coupling parameters set by current theoretical and observational constraints, the scalar ringdown signal from black hole remnants in the $10^1 - 10^3 \, M_{\odot}$ mass range is expected to be well below the detectability threshold with the current network of gravitational-wave detectors (LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA), but is potentially measurable with next-generation detectors such as the Einstein Telescope.

Perturbations of Spinning Black Holes beyond General Relativity: Modified Teukolsky Equation

The detection of gravitational waves from compact binary mergers by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration has, for the first time, allowed for tests of relativistic gravity in the strong, dynamical and nonlinear regime. Outside Einstein's relativity, spinning black holes may be different from their general relativistic counterparts, and their merger may then lead to a modified ringdown. We study the latter and, for the first time, derive a modified Teukolsky equation, i.e., a set of linear, decoupled differential equations that describe dynamical perturbations of non-Kerr black holes for the radiative Newman-Penrose scalars $\Psi_0$ and $\Psi_4$. We first focus on non-Ricci-flat, Petrov type D black hole backgrounds in modified gravity, and derive the modified Teukolsky equation through direct decoupling and through a new approach, proposed by Chandrasekhar, that uses certain gauge conditions. We then extend this analysis to non-Ricci-flat, Petrov type I black hole backgrounds in modified gravity, assuming they can be treated as a linear perturbation of Petrov type D, black hole backgrounds in GR by generalizing Chandrasekhar's approach, and derive the decoupled modified Teukolsky equation. Our work lays the foundation to study the gravitational waves emitted in the ringdown phase of black hole coalescence in modified gravity for black holes of any spin. Our work can also be extended to compute gravitational waves emitted by extreme mass-ratio binary inspirals in modified gravity.

Black hole shadow and chaos bound violation in f(T) teleparallel gravity

We show that the so-called chaos bound, proposed by Maldacena, Shenker & Stanford, can be violated in f(T) teleparallel gravity. In particular, it is possible to select a new gravitational Lyapunov parameter, controlling chaotization of circular trajectories, in black hole photo-sphere, that can exceed the Maldacena, Shenker & Stanford thermal bound. This feature alters the standard quasi-normal modes and ringdown phase after black hole merging with intriguing implications for future gravitational wave detections and black hole shadow measurements. It is a general characteristic for several gravitational theories beyond standard General Relativity.

Where is the ringdown: Reconstructing quasinormal modes from dispersive waves

We study the generation and propagation of gravitational waves in scalar-tensor gravity using numerical relativity simulations of scalar field collapses beyond spherical symmetry. This allows us to compare the tensor and additional massive scalar waves that are excited. As shown in previous work in spherical symmetry, massive propagating scalar waves decay faster than 1/r and disperse, resulting in an inverse chirp. These effects obscure the ringdown in any extracted signal by mixing it with the transient responses of the collapse during propagation. In this paper we present a simple method to rewind the extracted signals to horizon formation, which allows us to clearly identify the ringdown phase and extract the amplitudes of the scalar quasinormal modes, quantifying their excitation in strong gravity events and verifying the frequencies to perturbative calculations. The effects studied are relevant to any theories in which the propagating waves have a dispersion relation, including the tensor case.

Spacetime Metrics and Ringdown Waveforms for Galactic Black Holes Surrounded by a Dark Matter Spike

Theoretical models suggest the existence of a dark matter spike surrounding the supermassive black holes at the core of galaxies. The spike density is thought to obey a power law that starts at a few times the black hole horizon radius and extends to a distance, R sp, of the order of a kiloparsec. We use the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equations to construct the spacetime metric representing a black hole surrounded by such a dark matter spike. We consider the dark matter to be a perfect fluid, but make no other assumption about its nature. The assumed power-law density provides in principle three parameters with which to work: the power-law exponent γ sp, the external radius R sp, and the spike density at R sp. These in turn determine the total mass of the spike. We focus on Sagittarius A* and M87 for which some theoretical and observational bounds exist on the spike parameters. Using these bounds in conjunction with the metric obtained from the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equations, we investigate the possibility of detecting the dark matter spikes surrounding these black holes via the gravitational waves emitted at the ringdown phase of black hole perturbations. Our results suggest that if the spike to black hole mass ratio is roughly constant, greater mass black holes require relatively smaller spike densities to yield potentially observable signals. We find that is unlikely for the spike in M87 to be detected via the ringdown waveform with currently available techniques unless its mass is roughly an order of magnitude larger than existing observational estimates. However, given that the signal increases with black hole mass, dark matter spikes might be observable for more massive galactic black holes in the not too distant future.

Echoes of the gravitational decoupling: scalar perturbations and quasinormal modes of hairy black holes

The behavior of hairy black hole solutions, obtained by the gravitational decoupling (GD) method, is investigated under scalar perturbations. The quasinormal mode frequencies of such solutions are regulated by GD hair. The numerically generated wave solutions are derived for a range of values for the GD hairy black hole parameters, with higher-frequency modes very sensitive to them. The results are confronted with the corresponding ones for the Schwarzschild solution, whose deviations from it demonstrate a unique physical identification of GD hairy black holes. The method here presented comprises the first steps towards the obtainment of the observable signature of GD hairy black holes at ground-based detectors, emitted from coalescing binary systems of GD hairy black hole mergers in the ringdown phase.

Black hole perturbations in higher-order scalar–tensor theories: initial value problem and dynamical stability

We propose a physically sensible formulation of initial value problem for black hole perturbations in higher-order scalar–tensor theories. As a first application, we study monopole perturbations around stealth Schwarzschild solutions in a shift- and reflection-symmetric subclass of degenerate higher-order scalar–tensor (DHOST) theories. In particular, we investigate the time evolution of the monopole perturbations by solving a two-dimensional wave equation and analyze the Vishveshwara’s classical scattering experiment, i.e., the time evolution of a Gaussian wave packet. As a result, we confirm that stealth Schwarzschild solutions in the DHOST theory are dynamically stable against the monopole perturbations with the wavelength comparable or shorter than the size of the black hole horizon. We also find that the damped oscillations at the late time do not show up unlike the ringdown phase in the standard case of general relativity. Moreover, we investigate the characteristic curves of the monopole perturbations as well as a static spherically symmetric solution with monopole hair.

Measuring quasinormal mode amplitudes with misaligned binary black hole ringdowns

In recent work, we examined how different modes in the ringdown phase of a binary coalescence are excited as a function of the final plunge geometry. At least in the large mass ratio limit, we found a clean mapping between angles describing the plunge and the amplitude of different quasi-normal modes (QNMs) which constitute the ringdown. In this study, we use that mapping to construct a waveform model expressed as a sum of QNMs where the mode amplitudes and phases are determined by the source plunge parameters. We first generate a large number of calibration waveforms and interpolate between fits of each mode amplitude and phase up to $\ell \leq 8$ and $\ell - |m| \leq 4$. The density of our calibration data allows us to resolve important features such as phase transition discontinuities at large misalignments. Using our ringdown waveform model, we then perform Bayesian parameter estimation with added white Gaussian noise to demonstrate that, in principle, the mode amplitudes can be measured and used to constrain the plunge geometry. We find that inferences are substantially improved by incorporating prior information constraining mode excitation, which motivates work to understand and characterize how the QNM excitation depends on the coalescence geometry. These results are part of a broader effort to map the mode excitation from arbitrary masses and spins, which will be useful for characterizing ringdown waves in upcoming gravitational-wave measurements.

Gravitational perturbations of the Einstein-Euler-Heisenberg black hole * *Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11873001, 12047564, 12147102) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2021CDJZYJH-003)

The prospect of using gravitational wave detections via the quasinormal modes (QNMs) to test modified gravity theories is exciting area of current research. Gravitational waves (GWs) emitted by a perturbed black hole (BH) will decay as a superposition of their QNMs of oscillations at the ringdown phase. In this work, we investigate the QNMs of the Einstein-Euler-Heisenberg (EEH) BH for both axial and polar gravitational perturbations. We obtain master equations with the tetrad formalism, and the quasinormal frequencies of the EEH BH are calculated in the 6th order Wentzel-Kramers-Brillöuin approximation. It is interesting to note that the QNMs of the EEH BH would differ from those of the Reissner-Nordström BH under the EH parameter, which indicates the EH parameter would affect the gravitational perturbations for the EEH BH.

Ringing black holes are superradiant: The case of ultralight scalar fields

Superradiance has been studied quite extensively in the context of static (charged) and rotating black hole spacetime. In this paper, we report for the first time that for a minimally coupled scalar field, the absorption cross section of a Schwarzschild black hole in its ringdown phase can be superradiant. Treating the scattered scalar field as axion, we further computed its observable effects on the rotation of the plane of polarization of photon, neutron dipole moment, and fermionic spin precession. All those observables turned out to have interesting time dependence induced by the ringing black hole background. Our present result opens up an intriguing possibility of observing the black hole merging phenomena through other fundamental fields.

Field excitation in fuzzy dark matter near a strong gravitational wave source

The axion-like particles with ultralight mass ($\sim10^{-22}$eV) can be a possible candidate of dark matter, known as the fuzzy dark matter (FDM). These particles form Bose-Einstein condensate in the early Universe which can explain the dark matter density distribution in galaxies at the present time. We study the time evolution of ultralight axion-like field in the near region of a strong gravitational wave (GW) source, such as binary black hole merger. We show that GWs can lead to the generation of field excitations in a spherical shell about the source that eventually propagate out of the shell to minimize the energy density of the field configuration. These excitations are generated toward the end of the merger and in some cases even in the ringdown phase of the merger, therefore it can provide a qualitatively distinct prediction for changes in the GW waveform due to the presence of FDM. This would be helpful in investigating the existence of FDM in galaxies.

QNMs of branes, BHs and fuzzballs from quantum SW geometries

QNMs govern the linear response to perturbations of BHs, D-branes and fuzzballs and the gravitational wave signals in the ring-down phase of binary mergers. A remarkable connection between QNMs of neutral BHs in 4d and quantum SW geometries describing the dynamics of N=2 SYM theories has been recently put forward. We extend the gauge/gravity dictionary to a large class of gravity backgrounds including charged and rotating BHs of Einstein-Maxwell theory in d=4,5 dimensions, D3-branes, D1D5 ‘circular’ fuzzballs and smooth horizonless geometries; all related to N=2 SYM with a single SU(2) gauge group and fundamental matter. We find that photon-spheres, a common feature of all examples, are associated to degenerations of the classical elliptic SW geometry whereby a cycle pinches to zero size. Quantum effects resolve the singular geometry and lead to a spectrum of quantized energies, labelled by the overtone number n. We compute the spectrum of QNMs using exact WKB quantization, geodetic motion and numerical simulations and show excellent agreement between the three methods. We explicitly illustrate our findings for the case D3-brane QNMs.

Finding the Ultralight Boson from a Black Hole’s Ringdown

Solving the problem of dark matter remains one of the greatest unsolved mystery of fundamental physics. One possible dark matter candidate is the scalar ultralight boson, with mass « 1eV. If they exist, ultralight bosons will form clouds of significant total mass about rotating black holes, affecting the spacetime around the black hole. After the inspiral phase of a binary merger, the bosonic cloud can affect the perturbations to the black hole, resulting in deviations in the quasinormal mode frequencies of the ringdown signal of a binary merger. Here, we compute these shifts in the gravitational quasinormal mode frequencies for such a system, and conduct an injection campaign with supermassive black holes detected by the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. We find that detections of the ringdown phase of supermassive black holes can rule out or confirm the existence of cloud-forming ultralight bosons of mass ∼ 10−18eV at redshift z > 1 if cloud dissipation effects during the inspiral can be neglected.