Initial work deduced that this GW was from the merger of two black holes (BHs), both with basic masses and spins (case A). We perform a deep follow-up on the pinned points, cases A and B. (Right) Illustrative variations of what cases A and B represent. The “deep follow-up” technique involves drilling into these cases to figure out which binary BH system better describes the GW. The output enables us to compare case A and case B. We find that both the requirement (case A) and irregular (case B) black hole sets can describe GW151226, offering the occasion something like a dual-identity!
An artists impression of gravitational waves produced by binary neutron stars. Credit: R. Hurt/Caltech-JPL
Deep Follow-up of GW151226– a common binary or a low-mass ratio merger?
As soon as we have actually identified a GW, we use “Bayesian Inference” to deduce the masses and spins of the items that shot off the GW (to comprehend reasoning, examine this video by 3blue1brown). Initial work deduced that this GW was from the merger of 2 black holes (BHs), both with standard masses and spins (case A). Current work has actually deduced that the GW might have stemmed from an unusual system: one BH could be much larger than the other and with a faster spin (case B)!
Figure 1: GW151226s two personalities. (Left) The new and preliminary Bayesian inference results are plotted in orange and blue, respectively. We perform a deep follow-up on the pinned points, cases A and B. (Right) Illustrative variations of what cases A and B represent. Note: great void cartoons inspired by NASAs Field guide to black holes. Credit: OzGrav
The “deep follow-up” method includes drilling into these cases to determine which binary BH system much better explains the GW. The output allows us to compare case A and case B. We discover that both the requirement (case A) and irregular (case B) black hole pairs can describe GW151226, giving the event something like a dual-identity!
A BH pair from case B is more most likely to be found at the center of an active galaxy! Finally, I wonder: are there other GW occasions with split personalities?
Composed by OzGrav researcher Avi Vajpeyi, Monash University.
