Observations of neutron-star mergers with distinct messengers, including gravitational waves and electromagnetic signals, can be used to study the behavior of matter denser than an atomic nucleus and ...to measure the expansion rate of the Universe as quantified by the Hubble constant. We performed a joint analysis of the gravitational-wave event GW170817 with its electromagnetic counterparts AT2017gfo and GRB170817A, and the gravitational-wave event GW190425, both originating from neutron-star mergers. We combined these with previous measurements of pulsars using x-ray and radio observations, and nuclear-theory computations using chiral effective field theory, to constrain the neutron-star equation of state. We found that the radius of a 1.4-solar mass neutron star is Formula: see text km at 90% confidence and the Hubble constant is Formula: see text at 1σ uncertainty.
Abstract
The observation of a compact object with a mass of 2.50–2.67
M
⊙
on 2019 August 14, by the LIGO Scientific and Virgo collaborations (LVC) has the potential to improve our understanding of ...the supranuclear equation of state. While the gravitational-wave analysis of the LVC suggests that GW190814 likely was a binary black hole system, the secondary component could also have been the heaviest neutron star observed to date. We use our previously derived nuclear-physics-multimessenger astrophysics framework to address the nature of this object. Based on our findings, we determine GW190814 to be a binary black hole merger with a probability of >99.9%. Even if we weaken previously employed constraints on the maximum mass of neutron stars, the probability of a binary black hole origin is still ∼81%. Furthermore, we study the impact that this observation has on our understanding of the nuclear equation of state by analyzing the allowed region in the mass–radius diagram of neutron stars for both a binary black hole or neutron star–black hole scenario. We find that the unlikely scenario in which the secondary object was a neutron star requires rather stiff equations of state with a maximum speed of sound
times the speed of light, while the binary black hole scenario does not offer any new insight.
Abstract
Kilonovae produced by the coalescence of compact binaries with at least one neutron star are promising standard sirens for an independent measurement of the Hubble constant (
H
0
). Through ...their detection via follow-up of gravitational-wave (GW), short gamma-ray bursts (sGRBs) or optical surveys, a large sample of kilonovae (even without GW data) can be used for
H
0
contraints. Here, we show measurement of
H
0
using light curves associated with four sGRBs, assuming these are attributable to kilonovae, combined with GW170817. Including a systematic uncertainty on the models that is as large as the statistical ones, we find
$${H}_{0}=73.{8}_{-5.8}^{+6.3}\ {\rm{km}}\ {{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\ {{\rm{Mpc}}}^{-1}$$
H
0
=
73
.
8
−
5.8
+
6.3
km
s
−
1
Mpc
−
1
and
$${H}_{0}=71.{2}_{-3.1}^{+3.2}\ {\rm{km}}\ {{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\ {{\rm{Mpc}}}^{-1}$$
H
0
=
71
.
2
−
3.1
+
3.2
km
s
−
1
Mpc
−
1
for two different kilonova models that are consistent with the local and inverse-distance ladder measurements. For a given model, this measurement is about a factor of 2-3 more precise than the standard-siren measurement for GW170817 using only GWs.
The detection of GW170817 is revolutionizing many areas of astrophysics with the joint observation of gravitational waves and electromagnetic emissions. These multimessenger events provide a new ...approach to determine the Hubble constant, thus, they are a promising candidate for mitigating the tension between measurements of type-Ia supernovae via the local distance ladder and the cosmic microwave background. In addition to the “standard siren” provided by the gravitational-wave measurement, the kilonova itself has characteristics that allow one to improve existing measurements or to perform yet another, independent measurement of the Hubble constant without gravitational-wave information. Here, we employ standardization techniques borrowed from the type-Ia community and apply them to kilonovae, not using any information from the gravitational-wave signal. We use two versions of this technique, one derived from direct observables measured from the light curve, and the other based on inferred ejecta parameters, e.g., mass, velocity, and composition, for two different models. These lead to Hubble constant measurements of H0=109−35+49 km s−1 Mpc−1 for the measured analysis, and H0=85−17+22 km s−1 Mpc−1 and H0=79−15+23 km s−1 Mpc−1 for the inferred analyses. This measurement has error bars within ∼2 to the gravitational-wave measurements (H0=74−8+16 km s−1 Mpc−1), showing its promise as an independent constraint on H0.
The multi-messenger detection of the gravitational-wave signal GW170817, the corresponding kilonova AT2017gfo and the short gamma-ray burst GRB170817A, as well as the observed afterglow has delivered ...a scientific breakthrough. For an accurate interpretation of all these different messengers, one requires robust theoretical models that describe the emitted gravitational-wave, the electromagnetic emission, and dense matter reliably. In addition, one needs efficient and accurate computational tools to ensure a correct cross-correlation between the models and the observational data. For this purpose, we have developed the Nuclear-physics and Multi-Messenger Astrophysics framework NMMA. The code allows incorporation of nuclear-physics constraints at low densities as well as X-ray and radio observations of isolated neutron stars. In previous works, the NMMA code has allowed us to constrain the equation of state of supranuclear dense matter, to measure the Hubble constant, and to compare dense-matter physics probed in neutron-star mergers and in heavy-ion collisions, and to classify electromagnetic observations and perform model selection. Here, we show an extension of the NMMA code as a first attempt of analyzing the gravitational-wave signal, the kilonova, and the gamma-ray burst afterglow simultaneously. Incorporating all available information, we estimate the radius of a 1.4M
neutron star to be Formula: see text km.
ABSTRACT
The global network of interferometric gravitational wave (GW) observatories (LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA) has detected and characterized nearly 100 mergers of binary compact objects. However, many ...more real GWs are lurking sub-threshold, which need to be sifted from terrestrial-origin noise triggers (known as glitches). Because glitches are not due to astrophysical phenomena, inference on the glitch under the assumption it has an astrophysical source (e.g. binary black hole coalescence) results in source parameters that are inconsistent with what is known about the astrophysical population. In this work, we show how one can extract unbiased population constraints from a catalogue of both real GW events and glitch contaminants by performing Bayesian inference on their source populations simultaneously. In this paper, we assume glitches come from a specific class with a well-characterized effective population (blip glitches). We also calculate posteriors on the probability of each event in the catalogue belonging to the astrophysical or glitch class, and obtain posteriors on the number of astrophysical events in the catalogue, finding it to be consistent with the actual number of events included.
Formation channels of merging compact binaries imprint themselves on the distributions and correlations of their source parameters. But current understanding of this population observed in ...gravitational waves is hindered by simplified parametric models. We overcome these limitations using PixelPop Heinzel et al. (2024)-our multidimensional Bayesian nonparametric population model. We analyze data from the first three LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing runs and make high resolution, minimally modeled measurements of the pairwise distributions of binary black hole masses, redshifts, and spins. There is no evidence that the mass spectrum evolves over redshift and we show that such measurements are fundamentally limited by the detector horizon. We find support for correlations of the spin distribution with binary mass ratio and redshift, but at reduced significance compared to overly constraining parametric models. Confident data-driven conclusions about population-level correlations using very flexible models like PixelPop will require more informative gravitational-wave catalogs.
The astrophysical formation channels of binary black hole systems predict correlations between their mass, spin, and redshift distributions, which can be probed with gravitational-wave observations. ...Population-level analysis of the latest LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA catalog of binary black hole mergers has identified evidence for such correlations assuming linear evolution of the mean and width of the effective spin distribution as a function of the binary mass ratio and merger redshift. However, the complex astrophysical processes at play in compact binary formation do not necessarily predict linear relationships between the distributions of these parameters. In this work, we relax the assumption of linearity and instead search for correlations using a more flexible cubic spline model. Our results suggest a nonlinear correlation between the width of the effective spin distribution and redshift. We also show that the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra collaborations may find convincing Bayesian evidence for nonlinear correlations by the end of the fourth observing run, O4. This highlights the valuable role of flexible models in population analyses of compact-object binaries in the era of growing catalogs.
The origins of merging compact binaries observed by gravitational-wave detectors remains highly uncertain. Several astrophysical channels may contribute to the overall merger rate, with distinct ...formation processes imprinted on the structure and correlations in the underlying distributions of binary source parameters. In the absence of confident theoretical models, the current understanding of this population mostly relies on simple parametric models that make strong assumptions and are prone to misspecification. Recent work has made progress using more flexible nonparametric models, but detailed measurement of the multidimensional population remains challenging. In pursuit of this, we present PixelPop-a high resolution Bayesian nonparametric model to infer joint distributions and parameter correlations with minimal assumptions. PixelPop densely bins the joint parameter space and directly infers the merger rate in each bin, assuming only that bins are coupled to their nearest neighbors. We demonstrate this method on mock populations with and without bivariate source correlations, employing several statistical metrics for information gain and correlation significance to quantify our nonparametric results. We show that PixelPop correctly recovers the true populations within posterior uncertainties and offers a conservative assessment of population-level features and parameter correlations. Its flexibility and tractability make it a useful data-driven tool to probe gravitational-wave populations in multiple dimensions.
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