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General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, gr-qc, Astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, astro-ph.HE
Abstract:
The coalescences of stellar-mass black-hole binaries through their inspiral,
merger, and ringdown are among the most promising sources for ground-based
gravitational-wave (GW) detectors. If a GW signal is observed with sufficient
signal-to-noise ratio, the masses and spins of the black holes can be estimated
from just the inspiral part of the signal. Using these estimates of the initial
parameters of the binary, the mass and spin of the final black hole can be
uniquely predicted making use of general-relativistic numerical simulations. In
addition, the mass and spin of the final black hole can be independently
estimated from the merger--ringdown part of the signal. If the binary black
hole dynamics is correctly described by general relativity (GR), these
independent estimates have to be consistent with each other. We present a
Bayesian implementation of such a test of general relativity, which allows us
to combine the constraints from multiple observations. Using kludge modified GR
waveforms, we demonstrate that this test can detect sufficiently large
deviations from GR, and outline the expected constraints from upcoming GW
observations using the second-generation of ground-based GW detectors.