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Verifying the no-hair property of massive compact objects with intermediate-mass-ratio inspirals in advanced gravitational-wave detectors

Carl L. Rodriguez1,*, Ilya Mandel2,3, and Jonathan R. Gair4

  • 1Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Rd., Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA
  • 2MIT Kavli Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
  • 3School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
  • 4Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, United Kingdom

  • *carlrodriguez2015@u.northwestern.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 85, 062002 – Published 12 March, 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.85.062002

Abstract

The detection of gravitational waves from the inspiral of a neutron star or stellar-mass black hole into an intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) promises an entirely new look at strong-field gravitational physics. Gravitational waves from these intermediate-mass-ratio inspirals (IMRIs), systems with mass ratios from ∼10∶1 to ∼100∶1, may be detectable at rates of up to a few tens per year by Advanced LIGO/Virgo and will encode a signature of the central body’s spacetime. Direct observation of the spacetime will allow us to use the “no-hair” theorem of general relativity to determine if the IMBH is a Kerr black hole (or some more exotic object, e.g., a boson star). Using modified post-Newtonian (pN) waveforms, we explore the prospects for constraining the central body’s mass-quadrupole moment in the advanced-detector era. We use the Fisher information matrix to estimate the accuracy with which the parameters of the central body can be measured. We find that for favorable mass and spin combinations, the quadrupole moment of a non-Kerr central body can be measured to within a ∼15% fractional error or better using 3.5 pN order waveforms; on the other hand, we find the accuracy decreases to ∼100% fractional error using 2 pN waveforms, except for a narrow band of values of the best-fit non-Kerr quadrupole moment.

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. D 85, 062002– Published 12 March, 2012
  • Received 7 December 2011
Article part of CHORUS

© 2012 American Physical Society

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