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Improved parametrized test of general relativity using the IMRPhenomX waveform family: Including higher harmonics and precession

Soumen Roy1,2,3,4,*, Maria Haney3, Geraint Pratten5, Peter T. H. Pang3,4, and Chris Van Den Broeck3,4

  • *Contact author: soumen.roy@uclouvain.be
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 024016 – Published 8 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/855k-sys5

Abstract

When testing general relativity (GR) with gravitational wave observations, parametrized tests of deviations from the expected strong-field source dynamics are one of the most widely used techniques. We present an updated version of the parametrized framework with the state-of-art IMRPhenomX waveform family. Our new framework incorporates deviations in the dominant mode as well as in the higher-order modes of the waveform. We demonstrate that the missing physics of either higher-order modes or precession in the parametrized model can lead to a biased conclusion of false deviation from GR. Our new implementation mitigates this issue and enables us to perform the tests for highly asymmetric and precessing binaries without being subject to systematic biases due to missing physics. Finally, we apply the improved test to analyze events observed during the second half of the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo (O3b). We provide constraints on GR deviations by combining O3b results with those from previous observation runs. Our findings show no evidence for violations of GR.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 024016– Published 8 January, 2026
  • Received 4 May 2025
  • Accepted 1 December 2025
Article part of CHORUS
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