1,721,096 research outputs found
The Black Hole Remnant of Black Hole-Neutron Star Coalescing Binaries
Full text linkWe present a model for determining the dimensionless spin parameter and mass of the black hole remnant of black hole-neutron star mergers with parallel orbital angular momentum and initial black hole spin. This approach is based on the Buonanno, Kidder, and Lehner method for binary black holes and it is successfully tested against the results of numerical-relativity simulations: the dimensionless spin parameter is predicted with absolute error , whereas the relative error on the final mass is %, its distribution being pronouncedly peaked at 1%. Our approach and the fit to the torus remnant mass reported in Foucart (2012) thus constitute an easy-to-use analytical model that accurately describes the remnant of BH-NS mergers. We investigate the space of parameters consisting of the binary mass ratio, the initial black hole spin, and the neutron star mass and equation of state. We provide indirect support to the cosmic censorship conjecture for black hole remnants of black hole-neutron star mergers. We show that the presence of a neutron star affects the quasi-normal mode frequency of the black hole remnant, thus suggesting that the ringdown epoch of the gravitational wave signal may virtually be used to (1) distinguish binary black hole from black hole-neutron star mergers and to (2) constrain the neutron star equation of state
Prospects for joint gravitational-wave and electromagnetic observations of neutron-star-black-hole coalescing binaries
No full textCoalescing neutron-star-black-hole (NS-BH) binaries are a promising source of gravitational-wave (GW) signals detectable with large-scale laser interferometers such as the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and Virgo. They are also one of the main short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) progenitor candidates. If the black hole (BH) tidally disrupts its companion, an SGRB may be ignited when a sufficiently massive accretion disk forms around the remnant BH. Detecting an NS-BH coalescence both in the GW and electromagnetic (EM) spectrum offers a wealth of information about the nature of the source. How much can actually be inferred from a joint detection is unclear, however, as a mass/spin degeneracy may reduce the GW measurement accuracy. To shed light on this problem and on the potential of joint EM+GW observations, we here combine recent semi-analytical predictions for the remnant disk mass with estimates of the parameter-space portion that is selected by a GW detection. We identify cases in which an SGRB ignition is supported, others in which it can be excluded, and finally others in which the outcome depends on the chosen model for the currently unknown NS equation of state. We pinpoint a range of systems that would allow us to place lower bounds on the equation of state stiffness if both the GW emission and its EM counterpart are observed. The methods we develop can broaden the scope of existing GW detection and parameter-estimation algorithms and could allow us to disregard about half of the templates in an NS-BH search following an SGRB trigger, increasing its speed and sensitivity
Black hole-neutron star mergers and short gamma-ray bursts: A relativistic toy model to estimate the mass of the torus
No full textThe merger of a binary system composed of a black hole (BH) and a neutron star (NS) may leave behind a torus of hot, dense matter orbiting around the BH. While numerical-relativity simulations are necessary to simulate this process accurately, they are also computationally expensive and unable at present to cover the large space of possible parameters, which include the relative mass ratio, the stellar compactness, and the BH spin. To mitigate this and provide a first reasonable coverage of the space of parameters, we have developed a method for estimating the mass of the remnant torus from BH-NS mergers. The toy model makes use of an improved relativistic affine model to describe the tidal deformations of an extended tri-axial ellipsoid orbiting around a Kerr BH and measures the mass of the remnant torus by considering which of the fluid particles composing the star are on bound orbits at the time of the tidal disruption. We tune the toy model by using the results of fully general-relativistic simulations obtaining relative precisions of a few percent and use it to investigate the space of parameters extensively. In this way, we find that the torus mass is largest for systems with highly spinning BHs, small stellar compactnesses, and large mass ratios. As an example, tori as massive as M-b,M-tor similar or equal to 1.33 M-circle dot can be produced for a very extended star with compactness C similar or equal to 0.1 inspiralling around a BH with dimensionless spin parameter a = 0.85 and mass ratio q similar or equal to 0.3. However, for a more astrophysically reasonable mass ratio q similar or equal to 0.14 and a canonical value of the stellar compactness C similar or equal to 0.145, the toy model sets a considerably smaller upper limit of M-b,M-tor less than or similar to 0.34 M-circle dot
Constraining mirror dark matter inside neutron stars
Full text linkWe inspect the possibility that neutron star interiors are a mixture of ordinary matter and mirror dark matter. This is a scenario that can be naturally envisaged according to well studied accretion mechanisms, including the Bondi–Hoyle one. We show that the inclusion of mirror dark matter in neutron star models lowers the maximum neutron star mass for a given equation of state, and that it decreases the tidal deformability of a given neutron star. These general features imply that, given an equation of state, one can constrain the maximum viable amount of mirror dark matter in neutron stars in order to consistently fulfil existing maximum mass and tidal deformability constraints. Conversely, using tidal deformability measurements to rule out equations of state requires making assumptions on the amount of mirror dark matter contained in neutron stars. Finally, the presence of mirror dark matter also modifies the universal relation that links the tidal deformability of a neutron star to its compactness. Therefore, caution is mandatory when considering exotic models, such as the ones discussed in this paper
On the validity of the adiabatic approximation in compact binary inspirals
No full textUsing a semianalytical approach recently developed to model the tidal deformations of neutron stars in inspiralling compact binaries, we study the dynamical evolution of the tidal tensor, which we explicitly derive at second post-Newtonian order, and of the quadrupole tensor. Since we do not assume a priori that the quadrupole tensor is proportional to the tidal tensor, i.e., the so-called “adiabatic approximation,” our approach enables us to establish to which extent such approximation is reliable. We find that the ratio between the quadrupole and tidal tensors (i.e., the Love number) increases as the inspiral progresses, but this phenomenon only marginally affects the emitted gravitational waveform. We estimate the frequency range in which the tidal component of the gravitational signal is well described using the Stationary phase approximation at next-to-leading post-Newtonian order, comparing different contributions to the tidal phase. We also derive a semianalytical expression for the Love number, which reproduces within a few percentage points the results obtained so far by numerical integrations of the relativistic equations of stellar perturbations
Bayesian inference analysis of unmodelled gravitational-wave transients
Full text linkWe report the results of an in-depth analysis of the parameter estimation capabilities of BayesWave, an algorithm for the reconstruction of gravitational-wave signals without reference to a specific signal model. Using binary black hole signals, we compare BayesWave's performance to the theoretical best achievable performance in three key areas: sky localisation accuracy, signal/noise discrimination, and waveform reconstruction accuracy. BayesWave is most effective for signals that have very compact time-frequency representations. For binaries, where the signal time-frequency volume decreases as the system mass increases, we find that BayesWave's performance reaches or approaches theoretical optimal limits for system masses above approximately 50 M-circle dot. For such systems BayesWave is able to localise the source on the sky as well as templated Bayesian analyses that rely on a precise signal model, and it is better than timing-only triangulation in all cases. We also show that the discrimination of signals against glitches and noise closely follows analytical predictions, and that only a small fraction of signals are discarded as glitches at a false alarm rate of 1/100 yr. Finally, the match between BayesWave-reconstructed signals and injected signals is broadly consistent with first-principles estimates of the maximum possible accuracy, peaking at about 0.95 for high mass systems and decreasing for lower-mass systems. These results demonstrate the potential of unmodelled signal reconstruction techniques for gravitational-wave astronomy
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Nonspinning black hole-neutron star mergers: a model for the amplitude of gravitational waveforms
Full text linkBlack hole-neutron star binary mergers display a much richer phenomenology than black hole-black hole mergers, even in the relatively simple case - considered in this paper - in which both the black hole and the neutron star are nonspinning. When the neutron star is tidally disrupted, the gravitational wave emission is radically different from the black hole-black hole case and it can be broadly classified in two groups, depending on the spatial extent of the disrupted material. We present a phenomenological model for the gravitational waveform amplitude in the frequency domain that encompasses the three possible outcomes of the merger: no tidal disruption, "mild", and "strong" tidal disruption. The model is calibrated to general relativistic numerical simulations using piecewise polytropic neutron star equations of state. It should prove useful to extract information on the nuclear equation of state from future gravitational-wave observations, and also to obtain more accurate estimates of black hole-neutron star merger event rates in second- and third-generation interferometric gravitational-wave detectors. We plan to extend and improve the model as longer and more accurate gravitational waveforms become available, and we will make it publicly available online as a Mathematica package. We also present in appendix analytical fits of the projected KAGRA noise spectral density, that should be useful in data analysis applications
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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