Prospects of detecting the nonlinear gravitational wave memory

TL;DR

This paper estimates the nonlinear gravitational wave memory effect from black hole mergers, assessing its detectability with current and future detectors using approximations applied to numerical relativity waveforms.

Contribution

It introduces an approximation method to estimate the nonlinear memory profile and displacement for GW events, aiding in detection prospects analysis.

Findings

Memory signal could be detectable for certain masses and distances with advanced detectors.

The method provides a way to estimate nonlinear memory from numerical relativity waveforms.

Detection prospects improve with increased detector sensitivity and favorable source orientations.

Abstract

In GW150914, approximately $3M_{\odot}$ were radiated away as gravitational waves from the binary black hole system as it merged. The stress energy of the gravitational wave itself causes a nonlinear memory effect in the detectors here on Earth called the Christodoulou memory. We use an approximation that can be applied to numerical relativity waveforms to give an estimate of the displacement magnitude and the profile of the nonlinear memory. We give a signal to noise ratio for a single GW150914-like detection event, and by varying the total mass and distance parameters of the event, we find distances and source masses for which the memory of an optimally oriented GW150914-like event would be detectable in aLIGO and future detectors.