Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2505.08377

Weakly modeled search for compact binary coalescences in the Einstein Telescope

Adrian Macquet·Tito Dal Canton·Tania Regimbau
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We search for gravitational-wave (GW) signals from compact binary coalescences (CBC) in the $2024$ mock data challenge of the Einstein Telescope (ET) with a detection algorithm that does not rely on the waveform of the signal searched. With the increased sensitivity of ET compared to current GW detectors, a very high rate of detectable sources is expected in the data, and the computational cost of the searches may become a limiting factor. This is why we explore the behavior of a weakly modeled search algorithm, which is intrinsically less sensitive than optimal search methods based on matched filtering techniques, but computationally much cheaper. This search recovers a significant fraction of CBC signals present in the data: 38% of the total number of binary black hole mergers, including 89% of the systems with a total mass above 100 solar masses, as well as the majority of binary neutron star (BNS) mergers closer than 850 Mpc (z=0.17). It is also able to estimate the chirp mass of the recovered BNS with an average precision of 1.3%. We also find that the usual method for estimating the background in transient GW searches, that consists in time-shifting the data from one detector with respect to the others, is impacted by the presence of loud CBC signals in the data, so we use the null stream instead as a signal-free channel to estimate the background of this search.

Explore related subjects

gr-qc

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Adrian Macquet, Tito Dal Canton, Tania Regimbau. 2025-05-13. Weakly modeled search for compact binary coalescences in the Einstein Telescope. https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.08377

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Complex frequency evolution of direct waves from binary black hole mergers

While no signal originating at a black hole's event horizon can reach future null infinity, information about the horizon and its immediate vicinity can be encoded in asymptotic properties of waves emitted by matter or field perturbations falling toward a growing/forming horizon. Within a response-filtered framework, "direct wave" denotes source-sensitive plunge and remnant-formation information revealed by filtering the black-hole response. Unlike a stationary damped sinusoid with a fixed complex frequency, the direct wave follows the evolving source and has an evolving instantaneous complex frequency tied at late times to the remnant horizon angular velocity $Ω_H$ and surface gravity $κ_H$. Using rational filters, we remove quasinormal modes from numerical-relativity waveforms to study this evolution. Before numerical contamination, trajectories depend on remnant spin: the real frequency evolves toward $2Ω_H$ from above for lower spins ($χ_f\lesssim0.7$) and from below for higher spins ($χ_f\gtrsim0.7$), while the instantaneous decay rate increases, with best-resolved cases approaching the expected value of $3κ_H$. As in particle-plunge results, the horizon-controlled value is approached only at late times, as frame dragging controls near-horizon motion. For $χ_f\sim0.7$ remnants of non-precessing, comparable-mass binaries, the early-time real frequency is close to $2Ω_H$ because the binary orbital frequency transitions smoothly to the remnant horizon frequency. Finite-time deviations therefore carry information about merger/collapse dynamics rather than undermining the horizon connection. Full direct-wave evolution requires numerical-relativity calibration. We further show that approximate pole-zero pairing in the Kerr response motivates a minimal filter set that suppresses quasinormal-mode features while revealing source-trajectory information.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2026

Misinterpreting spin precession as orbital eccentricity in gravitational-wave signals

The increasing scope and breadth of gravitational wave detectors is providing the opportunity to explore new parameters in gravitational-wave astronomy. Eccentricity and spin-precession are two key observables to infer the origin of a gravitational wave (GW) source. The interpretation of GW source parameters can be plagued by degeneracy, such as the well-known degeneracy between mass and spin. As the field has explored new parameters, questions have been raised about possible degeneracies between eccentricity and spin-precession. Although some state-of-the-art models now include these effects individually, models that incorporate spin-precession and eccentricity are only in their infancy. Until models faithfully cover the complete parameter space of compact binary coalescence, our ability to correctly measure the source parameters and infer the formation of the binary is compromised. Here, we present a study of the distinguishability of these two key parameters in heavy binary black hole systems. We study merger-ringdown dominated systems with detector-frame total masses ranging between $200-300M_{\odot}$ and mass ratio ranging between $1-3$. Our work finds that there is indeed a degeneracy between eccentricity and spin-precession; however, it is a highly localized effect. We find that the misidentified eccentricity estimates get worse as the detector-frame total mass increases from $200M_{\odot}$ to $300M_{\odot}$, corresponding to progressively shorter signals in the detector band. Additionally, this misidentification is highly sensitive to the inclination angle of the source system. We provide quantifiable estimates of the potency of this degeneracy in addition to identifying some of the regions of parameter space where this degeneracy exists.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2026

Entropy and stability of an extremally charged Einstein-Born-Infeld thin shell

Spacetimes with a thin shell offer a framework where both the dynamical and the thermodynamical stability of the matter comprising the shell can be consistently studied. In the present work, we consider the dynamical and the thermodynamical stability of a spherical thin shell in Einstein gravity coupled to Born-Infeld electrodynamics. For our construction, we adopt the extremally charged solution of the theory, which gives a closed analytic form for the horizon location that allows for a clear derivation of the corresponding physical quantities of interest. Under this scenario, the dynamical stability conditions under radial perturbations are readily obtained in terms of an effective potential. The equilibrium thermodynamics for such a shell is presented. We find that, despite a non-zero pressure at the shell (unlike the extremally charged Reissner-Nordström counterpart), its entropy is solely characterized as a function of the gravitational radius. We propose a physically suitable \emph{ansatz} for the relevant equations of state in order to obtain a closed expression for the entropy density of the shell. We find that the thermodynamical stability conditions reduce to a single inequality related to exchanges of the charge at the shell, which determines the domain where both dynamical and thermodynamical stable configurations exist.

gr-qc↗