Statistical identification of ringdown modes with rational filters
-
1.
Australian National University
-
2.
Perimeter Institute
-
3.
California Institute of Technology
Abstract
Measuring quasinormal modes (QNMs) during the ringdown phase of binary black hole coalescences provides key insights into merger dynamics and enables tests of the no-hair theorem. The QNM rational filter has recently been introduced as a technique to identify specific QNMs in ringdown signals without sampling over mode amplitudes and phases. In this work, we extend the QNM rational filter framework to quantify the statistical confidence of subdominant mode detections in real gravitational wave (GW) observations. We employ a frequentist approach to estimate false-alarm probabilities and propose a workflow for robust identification of specific QNMs. We first validate our methodology using synthetic signals generated from numerical relativity waveforms. We then reanalyze the first GW event, GW150914, finding a marginal detection of an overtone, but at time when the applicability of constant amplitude QNM fits is not fully understood. This extended methodology provides a systematic approach to improving the reliability of QNM detections, paving the way for more precise tests of strong-field gravity with current and future GW observations.
Copyright and License
© 2025 American Physical Society.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Katerina Chatziioannou and Yanbei Chen for useful discussions at an early stage of this project, Max Isi, Christopher Moore, and Rahul Kashyap for helpful suggestions during an method review, and Harrison Siegel during a subsequent method review. This material is based upon work supported by NSF’s LIGO Laboratory which is a major facility fully funded by the National Science Foundation. The authors are grateful for computational resources provided by the LIGO Laboratory and supported by National Science Foundation Grants No. PHY-0757058 and No. PHY-0823459. This research is supported by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), Projects No. CE170100004 and No. CE230100016. L. S. is also supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, Project No. DE240100206. Research at Perimeter Institute is supported in part by the Government of Canada through the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. E. F. acknowledges support from the Department of Energy under Award No. DE-SC0023101.
Data Availability
The data that support the findings of this article are not publicly available upon publication because it is not technically feasible and/or the cost of preparing, depositing, and hosting the data would be prohibitive within the terms of this research project. The data are available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Files
h6jy-sd94.pdf
Files
(2.2 MB)
| Name | Size | Download all |
|---|---|---|
|
md5:4f10feb774f2ab414e30df1578e59fe9
|
2.2 MB | Preview Download |
Additional details
Related works
- Is new version of
- Discussion Paper: arXiv:2505.18560 (arXiv)
Funding
- National Science Foundation
- PHY-0757058
- National Science Foundation
- PHY-0823459
- Australian Research Council
- CE170100004
- Australian Research Council
- CE230100016
- Australian Research Council
- DE240100206
- Government of Canada
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
- Province of Ontario
- Ministry of Colleges and Universities
- United States Department of Energy
- DE-SC0023101
Dates
- Accepted
-
2025-08-08