The first informative astrophysical calibration of gravitational-wave detectors is reported using GW240925 and GW250207.
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Testing the no-hair theorem with GW150914
Canonical reference. 86% of citing Pith papers cite this work as background.
abstract
We analyze gravitational-wave data from the first LIGO detection of a binary black-hole merger (GW150914) in search of the ringdown of the remnant black hole. Using observations beginning at the peak of the signal, we find evidence of the fundamental quasinormal mode and at least one overtone, both associated with the dominant angular mode ($\ell=m=2$), with $3.6\sigma$ confidence. A ringdown model including overtones allows us to measure the final mass and spin magnitude of the remnant exclusively from postinspiral data, obtaining an estimate in agreement with the values inferred from the full signal. The mass and spin values we measure from the ringdown agree with those obtained using solely the fundamental mode at a later time, but have smaller uncertainties. Agreement between the postinspiral measurements of mass and spin and those using the full waveform supports the hypothesis that the GW150914 merger produced a Kerr black hole, as predicted by general relativity, and provides a test of the no-hair theorem at the ${\sim}10\%$ level. An independent measurement of the frequency of the first overtone yields agreement with the no-hair hypothesis at the ${\sim 20}\%$ level. As the detector sensitivity improves and the detected population of black hole mergers grows, we can expect that using overtones will provide even stronger tests.
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representative citing papers
Natural polynomials for Schwarzschild and Kerr quasinormal modes are Pollaczek-Jacobi polynomials with complex parameters, with recurrence peaking at the physical overtone index for Schwarzschild.
A reduction scheme transforms arbitrary N-term scalar and matrix recurrence relations from black hole perturbations in modified gravity into three-term relations solvable by continued fractions.
GreyRing model based on greybody factors reproduces numerical relativity ringdown signals with mismatches of order 10^{-6} and enables a new post-merger consistency test of general relativity applied to GW250114.
Maps scalar perturbations around extremal charged black holes to Seiberg-Witten quantization to obtain the first non-perturbative quasinormal mode spectrum for charged massive fields.
Presents a practical fully time-domain end-to-end likelihood for gravitational-wave inference with structured linear algebra and GPU acceleration.
A four-parameter greybody factor model reproduces the frequency-domain ringdown amplitude of comparable-mass aligned-spin mergers with mismatches of order 10^{-5}, improving existing models by two orders of magnitude.
Bayesian analysis finds individual QNM frequencies near avoided crossings hard to resolve even under optimistic conditions, though collective AC waveform signatures may remain detectable if those modes dominate and slower-mode contamination is minimal.
Constrained polarization model for Kerr ringdown modes enables inclination inference from two-detector data for non-precessing mergers but introduces biases when applied to precessing systems.
Polarization angle swings in photons near a Kerr black hole during ringdown lock in time to quasi-normal modes with amplitudes up to about 10 degrees.
Leading-order cubic-curvature corrections to scalar quasinormal modes of black holes with spins up to 0.99M are computed numerically for modes up to l=5 with relative errors below 10^{-4}.
Regular black holes with scalar hair exhibit anomalous decay rates for massive scalar perturbations, with longest-lived modes switching to lower angular momentum above a critical mass.
Higher-curvature terms deform the near-horizon potential of spherically symmetric black holes, producing progressively larger shifts in overtone quasinormal frequencies that remain detectable in ringdown waveforms when the fundamental mode stays close to its GR value.
Excitation factors of long-lived quasinormal modes in horizonless compact objects scale with their small imaginary frequency, suppressing early contributions and producing a hierarchy where prompt ringdown uses ordinary modes and late echoes use cavity modes.
A novel quantity derived from GW signals encodes the density profile of dark dense environments around black holes, allowing characterization of the condensate type and DM properties via multi-wavelength observations.
GW250114 data confirm the remnant is consistent with a Kerr black hole and bound the dominant quadrupolar mode frequency to within a few percent of the GR prediction, with constraints tighter than prior multi-event catalogs.
Properly accounting for sky localization uncertainty in ringdown inference widens mode-amplitude posteriors, avoids bias from fixed point estimates, and leaves amplitude ratios robust for Kerr spectroscopy.
Quasinormal modes of a massless scalar field on a rotating loop quantum black hole background exhibit reduced real frequencies and damping rates with increasing quantum corrections, with rotation introducing crossovers, outbursts in overtones, and spectral inversions.
Spin prior choices propagate into tests of GR via the 1.5PN deviation parameter δφ̂3 in a non-trivial, event-dependent way, with stronger effects for short-inspiral events and partial degeneracy with χ_eff when the deviation is included.
Orthonormal QNM analysis of GW250114 raises the significance of the first overtone of the ℓ=m=2 mode from 82.5% to 99.9% and detects no significant deviation from Kerr predictions.
Magnetic fields lower the scalarization threshold for electromagnetic and gravitational Chern-Simons couplings but produce opposite trends on the two Gauss-Bonnet branches, with nonlinear terms converting exponential growth into bounded oscillations.
Quadratic quasinormal modes and the memory effect in black hole ringdown are related through bridge coefficients that depend primarily on remnant black hole parameters.
GW250114 data confirm the remnant black hole ringdown frequencies lie within 30% of Kerr predictions and that the final horizon area is larger than the sum of the progenitors' areas to high credibility.
FIREFLY accelerates multi-mode GW ringdown analysis by analytically marginalizing QNM amplitudes and phases via Bayesian principles and importance sampling.
citing papers explorer
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GW240925 and GW250207: Astrophysical Calibration of Gravitational-wave Detectors
The first informative astrophysical calibration of gravitational-wave detectors is reported using GW240925 and GW250207.
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Properties of natural polynomials for Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes
Natural polynomials for Schwarzschild and Kerr quasinormal modes are Pollaczek-Jacobi polynomials with complex parameters, with recurrence peaking at the physical overtone index for Schwarzschild.
-
Beyond Three Terms: Continued Fractions for Rotating Black Holes in Modified Gravity
A reduction scheme transforms arbitrary N-term scalar and matrix recurrence relations from black hole perturbations in modified gravity into three-term relations solvable by continued fractions.
-
Novel ringdown tests of general relativity with black hole greybody factors
GreyRing model based on greybody factors reproduces numerical relativity ringdown signals with mismatches of order 10^{-6} and enables a new post-merger consistency test of general relativity applied to GW250114.
-
Quasinormal Modes of Extremal Reissner-Nordstrom Black Holes via Seiberg-Witten Quantization
Maps scalar perturbations around extremal charged black holes to Seiberg-Witten quantization to obtain the first non-perturbative quasinormal mode spectrum for charged massive fields.
-
Accelerated Time-domain Analysis for Gravitational Wave Astronomy
Presents a practical fully time-domain end-to-end likelihood for gravitational-wave inference with structured linear algebra and GPU acceleration.
-
Modeling the frequency-domain ringdown amplitude of comparable-mass mergers with greybody factors
A four-parameter greybody factor model reproduces the frequency-domain ringdown amplitude of comparable-mass aligned-spin mergers with mismatches of order 10^{-5}, improving existing models by two orders of magnitude.
-
Detectability of avoided crossings in black hole ringdowns
Bayesian analysis finds individual QNM frequencies near avoided crossings hard to resolve even under optimistic conditions, though collective AC waveform signatures may remain detectable if those modes dominate and slower-mode contamination is minimal.
-
Polarization Analysis of Ringdown Signals
Constrained polarization model for Kerr ringdown modes enables inclination inference from two-detector data for non-precessing mergers but introduces biases when applied to precessing systems.
-
Black Hole Ringdown Seen in Photon Polarization Swings
Polarization angle swings in photons near a Kerr black hole during ringdown lock in time to quasi-normal modes with amplitudes up to about 10 degrees.
-
Ringing of rapidly rotating black holes in effective field theory
Leading-order cubic-curvature corrections to scalar quasinormal modes of black holes with spins up to 0.99M are computed numerically for modes up to l=5 with relative errors below 10^{-4}.
-
Anomalous Decay Rate and Greybody Factors for Regular Black Holes with Scalar Hair
Regular black holes with scalar hair exhibit anomalous decay rates for massive scalar perturbations, with longest-lived modes switching to lower angular momentum above a critical mass.
-
Probing higher curvature gravity via ringdown with overtones
Higher-curvature terms deform the near-horizon potential of spherically symmetric black holes, producing progressively larger shifts in overtone quasinormal frequencies that remain detectable in ringdown waveforms when the fundamental mode stays close to its GR value.
-
Excitation factors for horizonless compact objects: long-lived modes, echoes, and greybody factors
Excitation factors of long-lived quasinormal modes in horizonless compact objects scale with their small imaginary frequency, suppressing early contributions and producing a hierarchy where prompt ringdown uses ordinary modes and late echoes use cavity modes.
-
Extracting Properties of Dark Dense Environments around Black Holes from Gravitational Waves
A novel quantity derived from GW signals encodes the density profile of dark dense environments around black holes, allowing characterization of the condensate type and DM properties via multi-wavelength observations.
-
Black Hole Spectroscopy and Tests of General Relativity with GW250114
GW250114 data confirm the remnant is consistent with a Kerr black hole and bound the dominant quadrupolar mode frequency to within a few percent of the GR prediction, with constraints tighter than prior multi-event catalogs.
-
Impact of sky localization uncertainty on ringdown inference
Properly accounting for sky localization uncertainty in ringdown inference widens mode-amplitude posteriors, avoids bias from fixed point estimates, and leaves amplitude ratios robust for Kerr spectroscopy.
-
Quasinormal modes of a rotating loop quantum black hole
Quasinormal modes of a massless scalar field on a rotating loop quantum black hole background exhibit reduced real frequencies and damping rates with increasing quantum corrections, with rotation introducing crossovers, outbursts in overtones, and spectral inversions.
-
The Impact of Spin Priors on Parameterized Tests of General Relativity
Spin prior choices propagate into tests of GR via the 1.5PN deviation parameter δφ̂3 in a non-trivial, event-dependent way, with stronger effects for short-inspiral events and partial degeneracy with χ_eff when the deviation is included.
-
Ringdown Analysis of GW250114 with Orthonormal Modes
Orthonormal QNM analysis of GW250114 raises the significance of the first overtone of the ℓ=m=2 mode from 82.5% to 99.9% and detects no significant deviation from Kerr predictions.
-
Scalarizations of magnetized Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes induced by parity-violating and parity-preserving interactions
Magnetic fields lower the scalarization threshold for electromagnetic and gravitational Chern-Simons couplings but produce opposite trends on the two Gauss-Bonnet branches, with nonlinear terms converting exponential growth into bounded oscillations.
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Can Oscillatory and Persistent Nonlinearities Be Bridged in Black Hole Ringdown?
Quadratic quasinormal modes and the memory effect in black hole ringdown are related through bridge coefficients that depend primarily on remnant black hole parameters.
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GW250114: testing Hawking's area law and the Kerr nature of black holes
GW250114 data confirm the remnant black hole ringdown frequencies lie within 30% of Kerr predictions and that the final horizon area is larger than the sum of the progenitors' areas to high credibility.
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A practical Bayesian method for gravitational-wave ringdown analysis with multiple modes
FIREFLY accelerates multi-mode GW ringdown analysis by analytically marginalizing QNM amplitudes and phases via Bayesian principles and importance sampling.
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Greybody factors, reflectionless scattering modes, and echoes of ultracompact horizonless objects
High-frequency quasi-reflectionless scattering modes in the greybody factors of ultracompact horizonless objects are responsible for echoes in the time-domain response.
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Tests of General Relativity with Binary Black Holes from the second LIGO-Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog
No evidence for deviations from general relativity is found in LIGO-Virgo binary black hole events, with improved constraints on waveform parameters, graviton mass, and ringdown properties.
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The quasinormal modes of the rotating quantum corrected black holes
The work calculates scalar quasinormal mode spectra for a rotating quantum-corrected black hole and constructs a methodological pipeline to infer the quantum correction parameter from gravitational-wave ringdown data using informative priors.
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Tests of General Relativity with GWTC-3
No evidence for physics beyond general relativity is found in the analysis of 15 GW events from GWTC-3, with consistency in residuals, PN parameters, and remnant properties.