Detectability of gravitational higher order modes in the third-generation era

TL;DR

This paper assesses the potential for third-generation gravitational wave detectors to observe higher order modes in binary black hole mergers, which could significantly enhance astrophysical and cosmological insights.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed estimate of higher order mode detectability in the 3G era using population models and detector networks, including the impact of binary parameters.

Findings

Approximately 30% of sources will have detectable (3,3) and (4,4) modes at SNR ≥ 3.

Nearly 10% of sources will have detectable five leading modes.

Detection of higher modes in the 3G era will greatly advance astrophysics, cosmology, and gravity tests.

Abstract

Detection of higher order modes of gravitational waves in third-generation (3G) ground-based detectors such as Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope is explored. Using the astrophysical population of binary black holes based on events reported in the second gravitational wave catalog by Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo (GWTC-2), in conjunction with the Madau-Dickinson model for redshift evolution of the binary black hole mergers, we assess the detectability of these higher order modes using a network consisting of three third-generation detectors. We find that the two subleading modes [(3,3) and (4,4)] can be detected in approximately 30% of the population with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 3 or more, and for nearly 10% of the sources, the five leading modes will be detectable. Besides, a study concerning the effect of binary's mass ratio and its orbital inclination with the observer's line-of-sight in detecting various modes is presented. For a few selected events of the LIGO-Virgo catalog, we identify the modes that would have been detected if a third-generation detector was operational when these events were recorded. We also compute the detectability of higher modes by Voyager and find that only $\sim$ 6 and 2% of the detectable population will have an associated detection of (3,3) and (4,4) modes, respectively. Observing these higher order modes in the 3G era would have a huge impact on the science possible with these detectors ranging from astrophysics and cosmology to testing strong-field gravity.