Effects of waveform model systematics on the interpretation of GW150914

Abbott, B. P. and Lockerbie, N.A. and Tokmakov, K.V., LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration (2017) Effects of waveform model systematics on the interpretation of GW150914. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 34 (10). 104002. ISSN 1361-6382 (https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/aa6854)

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Abstract

Parameter estimates of GW150914 were obtained using Bayesian inference, based on three semi-analytic waveform models for binary black hole coalescences. These waveform models differ from each other in their treatment of black hole spins, and all three models make some simplifying assumptions, notably to neglect sub-dominant waveform harmonic modes and orbital eccentricity. Furthermore, while the models are calibrated to agree with waveforms obtained by full numerical solutions of Einstein's equations, any such calibration is accurate only to some non-zero tolerance and is limited by the accuracy of the underlying phenomenology, availability, quality, and parameter-space coverage of numerical simulations. This paper complements the original analyses of GW150914 with an investigation of the effects of possible systematic errors in the waveform models on estimates of its source parameters. To test for systematic errors we repeat the original Bayesian analysis on mock signals from numerical simulations of a series of binary configurations with parameters similar to those found for GW150914. Overall, we find no evidence for a systematic bias relative to the statistical error of the original parameter recovery of GW150914 due to modeling approximations or modeling inaccuracies. However, parameter biases are found to occur for some configurations disfavored by the data of GW150914: for binaries inclined edge-on to the detector over a small range of choices of polarization angles, and also for eccentricities greater than ∼0.05. For signals with higher signal-to-noise ratio than GW150914, or in other regions of the binary parameter space (lower masses, larger mass ratios, or higher spins), we expect that systematic errors in current waveform models may impact gravitational-wave measurements, making more accurate models desirable for future observations. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.

ORCID iDs

Abbott, B. P., Lockerbie, N.A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1678-3260 and Tokmakov, K.V. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2808-6593;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:60942
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    18 May 2017
    Published
    12 April 2017
    Published Online
    22 March 2017
    Accepted
    Notes:Please consult manuscript for full attribution details.
    Subjects:Science > Physics
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:14 Jun 2017 13:22
    Last modified:11 Nov 2024 11:43
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/60942
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