Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2024 APS April Meeting
Wednesday–Saturday, April 3–6, 2024; Sacramento & Virtual
Session E00: Poster Session I & Welcome Reception (5:30PM - 7:30PM PT)
5:30 PM,
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
SAFE Credit Union Convention Center
Room: Exhibit Hall A, Floor 1
Sponsoring
Unit:
APS
Abstract: E00.00027 : Beyond Quadrupoles: Mapping GW190412's Kick Direction with Higher-Order Gravitational Wave Modes
Presenter:
Koustav Chandra
(Pennsylvania State University)
Authors:
Koustav Chandra
(Pennsylvania State University)
Juan Calderón Bustillo
(Instituto Galego de F´ısica de Altas Enerx´ıas, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain)
Samson Leong
(Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong)
Gravitational waves from generic binary black hole mergers produce a net emission of linear momentum, resulting in a kick or recoil of the final remnant black hole, whose magnitude depends on the progenitor's mass ratio and spins. However, characterising the recoil direction requires measuring both the binary's inclination angle and azimuth. While the former is routinely reported in gravitational wave observations, the latter has been to date overlooked. Here, we show how the presence of non-quadrupole radiation multipoles enables us to constrain this azimuth, thus allowing us to fully constrain the remnant's kick direction. We apply our methodology to the mass-asymmetric binary black hole merger signal GW190412, analysing it with the cutting-edge waveform model NRSur7dq4. We constrain the kick angles at a reference time of -100M before the merger with a 68\% credible level: $\theta_{KL}^{-100M} = 28^\circ [+23^\circ, -11^\circ]$, signifying an upward kick; $\theta_{KN} = 37^\circ [+15^\circ, -12^\circ]$ concerning the line-of-sight; and $\phi_{KN}^{-100M} = 46^\circ [+32^\circ, -41^\circ]$ with projection onto the former. However, the kick magnitude is barely informative with marginal support for values $\lesssim 50 \, \text{km/s}$. We conclude by briefly discussing the potential application of this type of measurement for multi-messenger observations of black-hole mergers occurring in gas-rich environments.
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