GW250114 reveals black hole horizon signatures

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lu, Neil, Ma, Sizheng, Piccinni, Ornella J., Chen, Yanbei, Sun, Ling
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866911711947128832
author Lu, Neil
Ma, Sizheng
Piccinni, Ornella J.
Chen, Yanbei
Sun, Ling
author_facet Lu, Neil
Ma, Sizheng
Piccinni, Ornella J.
Chen, Yanbei
Sun, Ling
contents The horizon of a black hole, the "surface of no return", is characterized by its rotation frequency $Ω_H$ and surface gravity $κ$. A striking signature is that any infalling object appears to orbit at $Ω_H$ due to frame dragging, while its emitted signals decay exponentially at a rate set by $κ$ as a consequence of gravitational redshift. Recent theoretical work predicts that the merger phase of gravitational waves from binary black hole coalescences carries direct imprints of the remnant horizon's properties, via a "direct wave" component that (i) oscillates near $2Ω_H$, reflecting the horizon's frame dragging and the dominant quadrupole nature of the gravitational radiation, and (ii) decays at an increasing rate characterized by $κ$, with additional screening from the black hole's potential barrier. In this paper, we report observational evidence for the direct wave in GW250114, with a 90\% credible matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of $15.8^{+0.1}_{-0.5}$ ($17.1^{+0.1}_{-0.4}$) in the LIGO Hanford (Livingston) detector. The measured properties are in full agreement with theoretical predictions. These findings establish a new observational channel to directly measure frame-dragging effects in black hole ergospheres and explore (near-)horizon physics in dynamical, strong-gravity regimes.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_01001
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle GW250114 reveals black hole horizon signatures
Lu, Neil
Ma, Sizheng
Piccinni, Ornella J.
Chen, Yanbei
Sun, Ling
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
The horizon of a black hole, the "surface of no return", is characterized by its rotation frequency $Ω_H$ and surface gravity $κ$. A striking signature is that any infalling object appears to orbit at $Ω_H$ due to frame dragging, while its emitted signals decay exponentially at a rate set by $κ$ as a consequence of gravitational redshift. Recent theoretical work predicts that the merger phase of gravitational waves from binary black hole coalescences carries direct imprints of the remnant horizon's properties, via a "direct wave" component that (i) oscillates near $2Ω_H$, reflecting the horizon's frame dragging and the dominant quadrupole nature of the gravitational radiation, and (ii) decays at an increasing rate characterized by $κ$, with additional screening from the black hole's potential barrier. In this paper, we report observational evidence for the direct wave in GW250114, with a 90\% credible matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of $15.8^{+0.1}_{-0.5}$ ($17.1^{+0.1}_{-0.4}$) in the LIGO Hanford (Livingston) detector. The measured properties are in full agreement with theoretical predictions. These findings establish a new observational channel to directly measure frame-dragging effects in black hole ergospheres and explore (near-)horizon physics in dynamical, strong-gravity regimes.
title GW250114 reveals black hole horizon signatures
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.01001