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Free keywords:
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, gr-qc
Abstract:
Thanks to the recent discoveries of gravitational wave signals from binary
black hole mergers by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, the genuinely
strong-field dynamics of spacetime can now be probed, allowing for stringent
tests of general relativity (GR). One set of tests consists of allowing for
parameterized deformations away from GR in the template waveform models, and
then constraining the size of the deviations, as was done for the detected
signals in previous work. In this paper we construct reduced-order quadratures
so as to speed up likelihood calculations for parameter estimation on future
events. Next we explicitly demonstrate the robustness of the parameterized
tests by showing that they will correctly indicate consistency with GR if the
theory is valid. We also check to what extent deviations from GR can be
constrained as information from an increasing number of detections is combined.
Finally, we evaluate the sensitivity of the method to possible violations of
GR.
