Gravitational wave inference on a numerical-relativity simulation of a black hole merger beyond general relativity. (arXiv:2208.02805v1 [gr-qc])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Okounkova_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Maria Okounkova</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Isi_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Maximiliano Isi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Chatziioannou_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Katerina Chatziioannou</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Farr_W/0/1/0/all/0/1">Will M. Farr</a>

We apply common gravitational wave inference procedures on binary black hole
merger waveforms from a theory of gravity beyond general relativity. We
consider dynamical Chern-Simons gravity, a modified theory of gravity with
origins in string theory and loop quantum gravity. This theory introduces an
additional parameter $ell$, corresponding to the length-scale below which
quantum gravity effects become important. We simulate data based on numerical
relativity waveforms produced under this theory that differ from the
predictions of general relativity in the strongly nonlinear merger regime. We
consider a system with parameters similar to GW150914 with different values of
$ell$ and signal-to-noise ratios. We perform two analyses of the simulated
data. The first is a template-based analysis that uses waveforms derived under
general relativity and allows us to identify degeneracies between waveforms
predicted by the two theories of gravity. The second is a
morphology-independent analysis based on BayesWave that does not assume that
the signal is consistent with general relativity. Under the BayesWave analysis,
the simulated signals can be faithfully reconstructed. However, waveform models
derived under general relativity are unable to fully mimic the simulated
modified-gravity signals and such a deviation would be identifiable with
existing inference tools. Depending on the magnitude of the deviation $ell$,
we find that the templated analysis can under perform the
morphology-independent analysis in fully recovering simulated beyond-GR
waveforms even for achievable signal-to-noise ratios $gtrsim 20{-}30$.

We apply common gravitational wave inference procedures on binary black hole
merger waveforms from a theory of gravity beyond general relativity. We
consider dynamical Chern-Simons gravity, a modified theory of gravity with
origins in string theory and loop quantum gravity. This theory introduces an
additional parameter $ell$, corresponding to the length-scale below which
quantum gravity effects become important. We simulate data based on numerical
relativity waveforms produced under this theory that differ from the
predictions of general relativity in the strongly nonlinear merger regime. We
consider a system with parameters similar to GW150914 with different values of
$ell$ and signal-to-noise ratios. We perform two analyses of the simulated
data. The first is a template-based analysis that uses waveforms derived under
general relativity and allows us to identify degeneracies between waveforms
predicted by the two theories of gravity. The second is a
morphology-independent analysis based on BayesWave that does not assume that
the signal is consistent with general relativity. Under the BayesWave analysis,
the simulated signals can be faithfully reconstructed. However, waveform models
derived under general relativity are unable to fully mimic the simulated
modified-gravity signals and such a deviation would be identifiable with
existing inference tools. Depending on the magnitude of the deviation $ell$,
we find that the templated analysis can under perform the
morphology-independent analysis in fully recovering simulated beyond-GR
waveforms even for achievable signal-to-noise ratios $gtrsim 20{-}30$.

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