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Probing the ringdown perturbation in binary black hole coalescences with an improved quasi-normal mode extraction algorithm

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arxiv 2503.09678 v2 pith:CQ57VGPY submitted 2025-03-12 gr-qc

Probing the ringdown perturbation in binary black hole coalescences with an improved quasi-normal mode extraction algorithm

classification gr-qc
keywords blackholealgorithmqnmsbinaryringdownperturbationtheory
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal T4 reserved
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Using gravitational waves to probe the geometry of the ringing remnant black hole formed in a binary black hole coalescence is a well-established way to test Einstein's theory of general relativity. However, doing so requires knowledge of when the predictions of black hole perturbation theory, i.e., quasi-normal modes (QNMs), are a valid description of the emitted gravitational wave as well as what the amplitudes of these excitations are. In this work, we develop an algorithm to systematically extract QNMs from the ringdown of black hole merger simulations. Our algorithm improves upon previous ones in three ways: it fits over the two-sphere, enabling a complete model of the strain; it performs a reverse-search in time for QNMs using a more robust nonlinear least squares routine called \texttt{VarPro}; and it checks the variance of QNM amplitudes, which we refer to as ``stability'', over an interval matching the natural time scale of each QNM. Using this algorithm, we not only demonstrate the stability of a multitude of QNMs and their overtones across the parameter space of quasi-circular, non-precessing binary black holes, but we also identify new quadratic QNMs that may be detectable in the near future using ground-based interferometers. Furthermore, we provide evidence which suggests that the source of remnant black hole perturbations is roughly independent of the overtone index in a given angular harmonic across binary parameter space, at least for overtones with $n\lesssim2$. This finding may hint at the spatiotemporal structure of ringdown perturbations in black hole coalescences, as well as the regime of validity of perturbation theory in the ringdown of these events. Our algorithm is made publicly available at the following GitHub repository: https://github.com/keefemitman/qnmfinder.

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Cited by 14 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score.

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    gr-qc 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    Quasinormal mode excitation in black hole ringdown equals the Fourier transform of the perturbation evaluated at the mode frequency, so black holes act as resonant spectral filters.

  2. Early-Time Nonlinear Growth in an Unstable Q-Ball Hairy Black Hole

    gr-qc 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 7.0

    The early growth of the weakly responding scalar component in an unstable Q-ball hairy black hole is dominated by a second-order QNM sourced by the linear unstable mode, even while evolution remains perturbative.

  3. A pre-merger-informed spectral-level ringdown inference framework for black-hole spectroscopy

    gr-qc 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 6.0

    SPRING framework propagates pre-merger information into spectral-level ringdown inference, improving Bayesian support for an agnostic two-damped-sinusoid model on GW250114 by ΔlnB ~5-10 while keeping remnant posterior...

  4. Early-Time Nonlinear Growth in an Unstable Q-Ball Hairy Black Hole

    gr-qc 2026-04 unverdicted novelty 6.0

    In an unstable Q-ball hairy black hole, the early growth of the weakly responding scalar component is dominated by a second-order QNM rather than its linear response.

  5. Advancing the Effective-One-Body Framework in the Test-Mass Limit

    gr-qc 2026-03 conditional novelty 6.0

    SEOB-TML cuts dephasing by up to an order of magnitude in the test-mass limit by Q-factorizing the flux (including horizon absorption) and by modeling mode mixing with extracted QNM coefficients.

  6. Quasinormal modes from numerical relativity with Bayesian inference

    gr-qc 2025-10 conditional novelty 6.0

    A catalog-trained Gaussian-process noise model converts numerical-relativity waveforms into Bayesian quasinormal-mode fits with analytic posteriors and mode significances, demonstrated on CCE simulations.

  7. A comprehensive look into the accuracy of SpEC binary black hole waveforms

    gr-qc 2025-10 conditional novelty 6.0

    Simulated black-hole merger waveforms accumulate numerical error over time, but the merger stage is not intrinsically less accurate once aligned on its own, and resolution-exchanged differences show no systematic bias...

  8. Black Hole Spectroscopy and Tests of General Relativity with GW250114

    gr-qc 2025-09 accept novelty 6.0

    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.

  9. Constraining deviations from the Teukolsky equation with GW250114

    gr-qc 2026-07 conditional novelty 5.0

    GW250114's fundamental ringdown mode bounds theory-agnostic deviations from the Teukolsky equation to be consistent with zero at characteristic scales of 60-100 km.

  10. Dynamical quasinormal mode excitation II: propagation and convergence in Schwarzschild

    gr-qc 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    Refined propagation prescription for quasinormal modes excited by plunging particles confirms a bounce radius at r_*=0 and yields accurate reproduction of the post-bounce oscillatory waveform component from first principles.

  11. Ringdown Analysis of GW250114 with Orthonormal Modes

    gr-qc 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 5.0

    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.

  12. Quasinormal mode content of binary black hole ringdowns

    gr-qc 2025-10 conditional novelty 5.0

    A Bayesian, evidence-based analysis of 13 simulated black-hole ringdowns tabulates which quasinormal overtones, retrograde modes, and nonlinear (quadratic and cubic) modes are present at each start time, and finds no ...

  13. GW250114: testing Hawking's area law and the Kerr nature of black holes

    gr-qc 2025-09 accept novelty 5.0

    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.

  14. Modeling Direct Waves in Binary Black Hole Ringdowns

    gr-qc 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 4.0

    Direct waves are identified in NR ringdown waveforms using QNM extraction techniques over a range of start times, but their frequency deviates from the horizon-mode prediction.