Catalog variance of testing general relativity with gravitational-wave data

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Hauptverfasser: Pacilio, Costantino, Gerosa, Davide, Bhagwat, Swetha
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2023
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author Pacilio, Costantino
Gerosa, Davide
Bhagwat, Swetha
author_facet Pacilio, Costantino
Gerosa, Davide
Bhagwat, Swetha
contents Combining multiple gravitational-wave observations allows for stringent tests of general relativity, targeting effects that would otherwise be undetectable using single-event analyses. We highlight how the finite size of the observed catalog induces a significant source of variance. If not appropriately accounted for, general relativity can be excluded with arbitrarily large credibility even if it is the underlying theory of gravity. This effect is generic and holds for arbitrarily large catalogs. Moreover, we show that it cannot be suppressed by selecting "golden" observations with large signal-to-noise ratios. We present a mitigation strategy based on bootstrapping (i.e. resampling with repetition) that allows assigning uncertainties to one's credibility on the targeted test. We demonstrate our findings using both toy models and real gravitational-wave data. In particular, we quantify the impact of the catalog variance on the ringdown properties of black holes using the latest LIGO/Virgo catalog.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_03811
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Catalog variance of testing general relativity with gravitational-wave data
Pacilio, Costantino
Gerosa, Davide
Bhagwat, Swetha
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
Combining multiple gravitational-wave observations allows for stringent tests of general relativity, targeting effects that would otherwise be undetectable using single-event analyses. We highlight how the finite size of the observed catalog induces a significant source of variance. If not appropriately accounted for, general relativity can be excluded with arbitrarily large credibility even if it is the underlying theory of gravity. This effect is generic and holds for arbitrarily large catalogs. Moreover, we show that it cannot be suppressed by selecting "golden" observations with large signal-to-noise ratios. We present a mitigation strategy based on bootstrapping (i.e. resampling with repetition) that allows assigning uncertainties to one's credibility on the targeted test. We demonstrate our findings using both toy models and real gravitational-wave data. In particular, we quantify the impact of the catalog variance on the ringdown properties of black holes using the latest LIGO/Virgo catalog.
title Catalog variance of testing general relativity with gravitational-wave data
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Data Analysis, Statistics and Probability
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.03811