Tests of general relativity with binary black holes from the second LIGO-Virgo gravitational-wave transient catalog
Name
PhysRevD.103.122002.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.23 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
da8e4717c6bd63dcda7b76a3dd21e1c4
Author(s)
LIGO Scientific Collaboration
Virgo Collaboration
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Physical Review D
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Citation
2021. "Tests of general relativity with binary black holes from the second LIGO-Virgo gravitational-wave transient catalog." Physical Review D, 103 (12).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Gravitational waves enable tests of general relativity in the highly
dynamical and strong-field regime. Using events detected by LIGO-Virgo up to 1
October 2019, we evaluate the consistency of the data with predictions from the
theory. We first establish that residuals from the best-fit waveform are
consistent with detector noise, and that the low- and high-frequency parts of
the signals are in agreement. We then consider parametrized modifications to
the waveform by varying post-Newtonian and phenomenological coefficients,
improving past constraints by factors of ${\sim}2$; we also find consistency
with Kerr black holes when we specifically target signatures of the
spin-induced quadrupole moment. Looking for gravitational-wave dispersion, we
tighten constraints on Lorentz-violating coefficients by a factor of
${\sim}2.6$ and bound the mass of the graviton to $m_g \leq 1.76 \times
10^{-23} \mathrm{eV}/c^2$ with 90% credibility. We also analyze the properties
of the merger remnants by measuring ringdown frequencies and damping times,
constraining fractional deviations away from the Kerr frequency to $\delta
\hat{f}_{220} = 0.03^{+0.38}_{-0.35}$ for the fundamental quadrupolar mode, and
$\delta \hat{f}_{221} = 0.04^{+0.27}_{-0.32}$ for the first overtone;
additionally, we find no evidence for postmerger echoes. Finally, we determine
that our data are consistent with tensorial polarizations through a
template-independent method. When possible, we assess the validity of general
relativity based on collections of events analyzed jointly. We find no evidence
for new physics beyond general relativity, for black hole mimickers, or for any
unaccounted systematics.
MIT Department
LIGO (Observatory : Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.103.122002
