Minimally-modeled search of higher multipole gravitational-wave radiation in compact binary coalescence

TL;DR

This paper presents a fast, minimally-modeled method using the coherent WaveBurst pipeline to detect higher multipole gravitational-wave signals during binary coalescence, demonstrated on GW190814 and GW190412.

Contribution

It introduces a novel spectral feature detection approach for higher multipoles in gravitational waves, complementing existing model-based methods.

Findings

Successfully detected the (3,3) multipole in GW190814

Replicated higher multipole detection in GW190412

Method is fast, flexible, and supports model-based analyses

Abstract

As the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo interferometers, soon to be joined by the KAGRA interferometer, increase their sensitivity, they detect an ever-larger number of gravitational waves with a significant presence of higher multipoles in addition to the dominant $(2, 2)$ multipole. These higher multipoles can be detected with different approaches, such as the minimally-modeled burst search methods, and here we discuss one such approach based on the coherent WaveBurst pipeline (cWB). During the inspiral phase the higher multipoles produce chirps whose instantaneous frequency is a multiple of the dominant (2, 2) multipole, and here we describe how cWB can be used to detect these spectral features. The search is performed within suitable regions of the time-frequency representation; their shape is determined by optimizing the Receiver Operating Characteristics. This novel method has already been used in the GW190814 discovery paper (Astrophys. J. Lett. 896 L44) and is very fast and flexible. Here we describe in full detail the procedure used to detect the (3,3) multipole in GW190814 as well as searches for other higher multipoles during the inspiral phase, and apply it to another event that displays higher multipoles, GW190412, replicating the results obtained with different methods. The procedure described here can be used for the fast analysis of higher multipoles and to support the findings obtained with the model-based Bayesian parameter estimates