All five NSBH events are consistent with zero line-of-sight acceleration; the joint posterior for GW200105_162426 disfavors both zero LOSA and zero eccentricity at 90% credibility.
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Can environmental effects spoil precision gravitational-wave astrophysics?
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abstract
[abridged abstract] No, within a broad class of scenarios. With the advent of gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy, environmental effects on the GW signal will eventually have to be quantified. Here we present a wide survey of the corrections due to these effects in two situations of great interest for GW astronomy: the black hole (BH) ringdown emission and the inspiral of two compact objects. We take into account various effects such as: electric charges, magnetic fields, cosmological evolution, possible deviations from General Relativity, firewalls, and various forms of matter such as accretion disks and dark matter halos. Our analysis predicts the existence of resonances dictated by the external mass distribution, which dominate the very late-time behavior of merger/ringdown waveforms. The mode structure can drastically differ from the vacuum case, yet the BH response to external perturbations is unchanged at the time scales relevant for detectors. This is because although the vacuum Schwarzschild resonances are no longer quasinormal modes of the system, they still dominate the response at intermediate times. Our results strongly suggest that both parametrized and ringdown searches should use at least two-mode templates. Our analysis of compact binaries shows that environmental effects are typically negligible for most eLISA sources, with the exception of very few special extreme mass ratio inspirals. We show in particular that accretion and hydrodynamic drag generically dominate over self-force effects for geometrically thin disks, whereas they can be safely neglected for geometrically thick disk environments, which are the most relevant for eLISA. Finally, we discuss how our ignorance of the matter surrounding compact objects implies intrinsic limits on the ability to constrain strong-field deviations from General Relativity.
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Disk-induced dissipation drives rapid orbital plane alignment followed by slower eccentricity damping in extreme mass-ratio inspirals, with relativistic effects producing accumulating deviations from Keplerian orbits even at large separations.
Dynamical dark energy imprints O(1) shifts on black hole quasi-normal modes via cosmological hair, enabling constraints at 10^{-2} (LVK) to 10^{-4} (LISA) precision using the cubic Galileon as example.
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.
A unified framework for the perturbed Kepler problem derives modified eccentric orbits and gravitational wave imprints from a general perturbed potential, offering a source-specific alternative to post-Newtonian expansions.
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.
Extends relativistic EMRI calculations in scalar clouds from circular-equatorial to eccentric and inclined orbits around Schwarzschild black holes, revealing apsidal-precession resonances and inclination-dependent net energy transfer.
A perturbative framework for black holes in anisotropic matter shows quasinormal modes dominated by gravitational redshift while tidal Love numbers exhibit order-unity deviations including vanishing and negative values.
Eccentric EMRIs exhibit relativistic resonances in scalar fluxes that enhance interactions with scalar clouds and amplify waveform dephasing relative to circular orbits.
Magnetic field corrections to inspiral waveforms appear at -2 PN and -3 PN orders and mimic power-law environmental gravity but can be distinguished above a transition density of about 10^{-4} kg/m^3 for Bonnor-Melvin cases using multi-event statistics.
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.
In asymmetric Damour-Solodukhin wormholes, reflectionless and echo modes share asymptotic spectral properties parallel to the real frequency axis with matching spacing, and reflectionless modes lie closer to the axis yielding larger echo amplitudes.
Semi-analytic waveform model for scalar environments around black hole binaries is validated against numerical relativity and applied to LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA data to obtain upper limits on scalar densities with tentative evidence in GW190728.
High initial eccentricities in stellar-mass black hole binaries produce a stochastic gravitational wave background distinguishable by LISA from quasi-circular models, enabling upper bounds on eccentricity and separation of environmental effects for dense gas.
Relativistic metric backreaction from scalar dark matter clouds in EMRIs produces dominant polar gravitational wave corrections for Mμ ≲ 0.12, exceeding axial and scalar radiation channels at small separations.
A magnetized Schwarzschild background shifts EMRI orbital dynamics and GW waveforms, with B~10^9 G producing ~1.3 rad dephasing over one year for a 10^6 M_sun system.
A new framework projects perturbations onto resonant frequencies via Hansen coefficients to produce efficient coupled ODEs for orbital elements in GW-driven relativistic binaries, demonstrated on tidal fields and accretion disks.
Numerical and analytic modeling of boson star-black hole systems in the nonrelativistic limit, with Fisher analysis indicating LISA sensitivity to ultralight dark matter mass and self-coupling via gravitational wave dephasing.
A multi-parameter formalism is developed to describe asymmetric binaries in general matter distributions by perturbing around Schwarzschild and reducing metric and fluid perturbations to wave equations similar to the vacuum case.
High-frequency quasi-reflectionless scattering modes in the greybody factors of ultracompact horizonless objects are responsible for echoes in the time-domain response.
No evidence for a mass-scale dependent model deficiency is found in the highest-SNR GWTC-3 events.
LISA EMRIs can constrain deviations from Kerr equatorial symmetry to 10^{-2} and axial symmetry to 10^{-3} using Analytic Kludge waveforms and Fisher analysis.
Axial perturbations of a gravitationally decoupled hairy black hole develop a double-peak potential that dynamically generates echo-like late-time waveforms in a suitable (α, β) region.
citing papers explorer
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Joint inference of line-of-sight acceleration and orbital eccentricity in neutron-star--black-hole binaries
All five NSBH events are consistent with zero line-of-sight acceleration; the joint posterior for GW200105_162426 disfavors both zero LOSA and zero eccentricity at 90% credibility.
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Orbital evolution of asymmetric binaries within accreting environments
Disk-induced dissipation drives rapid orbital plane alignment followed by slower eccentricity damping in extreme mass-ratio inspirals, with relativistic effects producing accumulating deviations from Keplerian orbits even at large separations.
-
Testing Dark Energy with Black Hole Ringdown
Dynamical dark energy imprints O(1) shifts on black hole quasi-normal modes via cosmological hair, enabling constraints at 10^{-2} (LVK) to 10^{-4} (LISA) precision using the cubic Galileon as example.
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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.
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Generalized Perturbed Kepler Problem: Gravitational Wave Imprints from Eccentric Compact Binaries
A unified framework for the perturbed Kepler problem derives modified eccentric orbits and gravitational wave imprints from a general perturbed potential, offering a source-specific alternative to post-Newtonian expansions.
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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.
-
Relativistic effects in extreme-mass-ratio inspirals within scalar clouds: Eccentric and inclined orbits
Extends relativistic EMRI calculations in scalar clouds from circular-equatorial to eccentric and inclined orbits around Schwarzschild black holes, revealing apsidal-precession resonances and inclination-dependent net energy transfer.
-
Quasinormal modes and tidal responses of black holes in generic anisotropic matter environments
A perturbative framework for black holes in anisotropic matter shows quasinormal modes dominated by gravitational redshift while tidal Love numbers exhibit order-unity deviations including vanishing and negative values.
-
Resonances as signatures of scalar clouds in eccentric extreme-mass-ratio inspirals
Eccentric EMRIs exhibit relativistic resonances in scalar fluxes that enhance interactions with scalar clouds and amplify waveform dephasing relative to circular orbits.
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Distinguishability of magnetic massive black holes from environmental mimics with inspiral gravitational waves
Magnetic field corrections to inspiral waveforms appear at -2 PN and -3 PN orders and mimic power-law environmental gravity but can be distinguished above a transition density of about 10^{-4} kg/m^3 for Bonnor-Melvin cases using multi-event statistics.
-
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.
-
Reflectionless and echo modes in asymmetric Damour-Solodukhin wormholes
In asymmetric Damour-Solodukhin wormholes, reflectionless and echo modes share asymptotic spectral properties parallel to the real frequency axis with matching spacing, and reflectionless modes lie closer to the axis yielding larger echo amplitudes.
-
Scalar fields around black hole binaries in LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA
Semi-analytic waveform model for scalar environments around black hole binaries is validated against numerical relativity and applied to LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA data to obtain upper limits on scalar densities with tentative evidence in GW190728.
-
Implications of the LISA stochastic signal from eccentric stellar mass black hole binaries in vacuum
High initial eccentricities in stellar-mass black hole binaries produce a stochastic gravitational wave background distinguishable by LISA from quasi-circular models, enabling upper bounds on eccentricity and separation of environmental effects for dense gas.
-
Relativistic signatures of scalar dark matter in extreme-mass-ratio inspirals
Relativistic metric backreaction from scalar dark matter clouds in EMRIs produces dominant polar gravitational wave corrections for Mμ ≲ 0.12, exceeding axial and scalar radiation channels at small separations.
-
Probing near-zone magnetic fields with extreme mass-ratio inspirals
A magnetized Schwarzschild background shifts EMRI orbital dynamics and GW waveforms, with B~10^9 G producing ~1.3 rad dephasing over one year for a 10^6 M_sun system.
-
Dynamics of Relativistic Binaries in Structured and Stochastic Environments: A Lagrange-Fourier-Hansen Framework
A new framework projects perturbations onto resonant frequencies via Hansen coefficients to produce efficient coupled ODEs for orbital elements in GW-driven relativistic binaries, demonstrated on tidal fields and accretion disks.
-
Boson Stars Hosting Black Holes
Numerical and analytic modeling of boson star-black hole systems in the nonrelativistic limit, with Fisher analysis indicating LISA sensitivity to ultralight dark matter mass and self-coupling via gravitational wave dephasing.
-
A multi-parameter expansion for the evolution of asymmetric binaries in astrophysical environments
A multi-parameter formalism is developed to describe asymmetric binaries in general matter distributions by perturbing around Schwarzschild and reducing metric and fluid perturbations to wave equations similar to the vacuum case.
-
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.
-
Agnostically decoding gravitational wave model deficiencies in GWTC-3
No evidence for a mass-scale dependent model deficiency is found in the highest-SNR GWTC-3 events.
-
Probing Kerr Symmetry Breaking with LISA Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals
LISA EMRIs can constrain deviations from Kerr equatorial symmetry to 10^{-2} and axial symmetry to 10^{-3} using Analytic Kludge waveforms and Fisher analysis.
-
Echoes of a hairy black hole from gravitational decoupling
Axial perturbations of a gravitationally decoupled hairy black hole develop a double-peak potential that dynamically generates echo-like late-time waveforms in a suitable (α, β) region.
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Environmental effects vs. modified gravity in the LISA massive black hole binary population
Population-level hierarchical analysis shows environmental effects from circumbinary disks are unlikely to bias LISA tests of general relativity for massive black hole binaries in realistic scenarios.
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Statistic threshold of distinguishing the environmental effects and modified theory of gravity with multiple massive black-hole binaries
The paper derives statistic thresholds to distinguish dynamical friction from dark matter spikes, extra dimension theory, and varying G theory using -4 PN order GW corrections in massive black hole binary inspirals across different astronomical models.
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Probing Active Galactic Nuclei and Measuring the Hubble constant with Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals
Modeling accretion disk interactions with EMRIs allows reliable environment identification and boosts dark-siren Hubble constant precision by as much as 20% for individual events.
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Gravitational Wave Signatures of Schwarzschild Black Hole in a Generalized Dehnen-Type $(1,4,\gamma)$ Dark Matter Halo
Numerical study of timelike geodesics and millihertz gravitational waves from periodic orbits around a Schwarzschild black hole embedded in a (1,4,γ) Dehnen dark matter halo.
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Waveform Modelling for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
A review of existing waveform models for LISA sources and the challenges that must still be overcome.
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Testing the nature of dark compact objects: a status report
Current and future observations can test whether dark compact objects are Kerr black holes or exotic alternatives, with null results strengthening the black hole paradigm.
- Parametric resonance amplification of gravitational waves in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity