Distinguishing High-Mass Binary Neutron Stars from Binary Black Holes with Second- and Third-Generation Gravitational Wave Observatories
Distinguishing high-mass binary neutron stars from binary black holes with second- and third-generation gravitational wave observatories An Chen,1, 2 Nathan K. Johnson-McDaniel,3 Tim Dietrich,4 and Reetika Dudi5, 6 1Department of Physics, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK 3Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, UK 4Nikhef, Science Park, 1098XG Amsterdam, Netherlands 5Theoretical Physics Institute, University of Jena, 07743 Jena, Germany 6Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Am Muhlenberg¨ 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany (Dated: January 31, 2020) While the gravitational-wave (GW) signal GW170817 was accompanied by a variety of electromagnetic (EM) counterparts, sufficiently high-mass binary neutron star (BNS) mergers are expected to be unable to power bright EM counterparts. The putative high-mass binary BNS merger GW190425, for which no confirmed EM counterpart has been identified, may be an example of such a system. Since current and future GW detectors are expected to detect many more BNS mergers, it is important to understand how well we will be able to distinguish high-mass BNSs and low-mass binary black holes (BBHs) solely from their GW signals. To do this, we consider the imprint of the tidal deformability of the neutron stars on the GW signal for systems undergoing prompt black hole formation after merger. We model the BNS signals using hybrid numerical relativity – tidal effective-one-body waveforms. Specifically, we consider a set of five nonspinning equal-mass BNS signals with masses of 2:7, 3:0, 3:2M and with three different equations of state, as well as the analogous BBH signals.
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