26–30 May 2025
CNR - Bologna Research Area
Europe/Rome timezone

Tainted Love: Systematic biases from ignoring environmental tidal effects in gravitational wave observations

28 May 2025, 14:54
12m
CNR - Bologna Research Area

CNR - Bologna Research Area

Via Piero Gobetti 101, I-40129, Bologna, Italy

Speaker

Dr Francesco Iacovelli (Johns Hopkins University)

Description

Binary black hole systems are typically assumed to evolve in vacuum. However, the environment surrounding the binary components can influence their properties, such as their tidal deformability, affecting the gravitational waveform produced by the binary and its interpretation in gravitational wave data analysis.

In this talk, focusing on next-generation experiments, such as the Einstein Telescope and LISA, we quantify the systematic biases in gravitational wave observations that arise when tidally deformed binaries are interpreted as occurring in vacuum. We consider binaries over a range of masses and compare different phenomenological models for the dynamical evolution of the tidal deformability. We find that systematic biases could significantly affect the measurability of the binary parameters if tidal effects are not carefully modeled.

Primary author

Dr Francesco Iacovelli (Johns Hopkins University)

Co-authors

Andrea Maselli Prof. Emanuele Berti (Johns Hopkins University) Loris Del Grosso (Sapienza University of Rome) Dr Valerio De Luca (University of Pennsylvania)

Presentation materials

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