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Analysis of Ringdown Overtones in GW150914
Roberto Cotesta1, Gregorio Carullo2,3,4, Emanuele Berti1
1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|September 26, 2022
Summary
This study finds no robust evidence for gravitational wave ringdown overtones in the GW150914 data. Artificial overtone signals can be induced by detector noise, suggesting previous claims are noise-dominated.
Area of Science:
- Astrophysics
- Gravitational Wave Astronomy
- Data Analysis
Background:
- The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) from merging black holes provides insights into strong-field gravity.
- The post-merger phase, or ringdown, of a black hole binary merger is expected to emit characteristic GW signals.
- Claims of detecting ringdown overtones in GW150914 data have been reported, but their robustness requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To rigorously assess the statistical significance of claimed ringdown overtone detections in the GW150914 event.
- To determine if the observed overtone signals are genuine astrophysical phenomena or artifacts of data analysis and detector noise.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of the post-merger data from the first detected binary black hole merger, GW150914.
- Application of Bayesian inference to quantify the evidence for and against the presence of ringdown overtones.
- Injection of simulated GW signals, including overtones, into real detector noise data to test analysis sensitivity.
Main Results:
- No statistically significant evidence for a ringdown overtone was found in the GW150914 data after the main waveform peak.
- The Bayes factor did not favor the presence of an overtone around the peak.
- Support for a non-zero overtone amplitude was found to be highly sensitive to the precise start time of the analysis, a characteristic of noise-driven artifacts.
Conclusions:
- The claims of robust ringdown overtone detection in GW150914 are not supported by this analysis.
- Detector noise can create apparent evidence for overtones, especially when analysis parameters are finely tuned.
- Further studies with more sensitive detectors and advanced analysis techniques are needed to confirm or refute the existence of ringdown overtones.
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