Overtones and nonlinearities in binary black hole ringdowns
Using high-accuracy numerical relativity waveforms, we confirm the presence of numerous overtones of the $\ensuremath{\ell}=2$, $m=2$ quasinormal mode early in the ringdown of binary black hole mergers. We do this by demonstrating the stability of the mode amplitudes at different fit times, ruling out the possibility that a linear superposition of modes unphysically fits a highly nonlinear part of the waveform. We also find a number of previously unidentified subdominant second-order quasinormal modes in the (2, 2) mode. Even though these modes are mathematically nonlinear, they nevertheless confirm the validity of perturbation theory as a good approximation for describing much of the ringdown.
Authors
- Michael Boyle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5075-5116)
- Sizheng Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4645-453X)
- Kyle C. Nelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2426-8768)
- William Throwe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5059-4378)
- Jordan Moxon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9891-8677)
- Matthew Giesler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2300-893X)
- Keefe Mitman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0276-3856)
- Harald Pfeiffer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9288-519X)
- Nils L. Vu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5767-3949)
- Nils Deppe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4557-4115)
- Mark Scheel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6656-9134)
- Saul A. Teukolsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9765-4526)
- Naritaka Oshita (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8799-1382)
- Larry Kidder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5392-7342)
Institutions
- California Institute of Technology (US)
- Perimeter Institute (CA)
- Cornell University (US)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Instituto de Física Teórica (ES)
- Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (DE)
- Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
- Published
- 2025-04-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.084041
- Citations
- 22
- Primary Topic
- Black Holes and Theoretical Physics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 41.14
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy
- Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
- Sherman Fairchild Foundation
- Space Telescope Science Institute
- Government of Canada
- Kyoto University
- Ministry of Colleges and Universities
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science