Numerical relativity simulation of GW150914 beyond general relativity

Abstract

We produce the first astrophysically relevant numerical binary black hole gravitational waveform in a higher-curvature theory of gravity beyond general relativity. We simulate a system with parameters consistent with GW150914, the first LIGO detection, in order-reduced dynamical Chern-Simons gravity, a theory with motivations in string theory and loop quantum gravity. We present results for the leading-order corrections to the merger and ringdown waveforms, as well as the ringdown quasinormal mode spectrum. We estimate that such corrections may be discriminated in detections with signal to noise ratio ≳180–240, with the precise value depending on the dimension of the GR waveform family used in data analysis.