Beyond general relativity: designing a template-based search for exotic gravitational wave signals

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new parametrized template-based search method for detecting gravitational wave signals that deviate from General Relativity, significantly increasing sensitivity to exotic signals in LIGO data.

Contribution

The authors develop and demonstrate a novel search technique that incorporates deviations in post-Newtonian phasing coefficients, enhancing detection sensitivity to non-GR gravitational wave signals.

Findings

Search sensitivity increased by a factor of 2 for beyond-GR signals.

Re-analysis of LIGO O1 data shows differences from standard searches.

Method improves detection volume for exotic gravitational wave signals.

Abstract

Accurate waveform models describing the complete evolution of compact binaries are crucial for the maximum likelihood detection framework, testing the predictions of General Relativity (GR) and investigating the possibility of an alternative theory of gravity. Deviations from GR could manifest in subtle variations of the numerical value of the GW signal's post-Newtonian (PN) phasing coefficients. Once the search pipelines confirm an unambiguous signal detection, deviations of the signal phasing coefficients at various PN orders are routinely measured and reported. As the search templates themselves do not incorporate any deviations from GR, they may miss astrophysical signals carrying a significant departure from general relativity. We present a parametrized template-based search for exotic gravitational-wave signals beyond General Relativity by incorporating deviations to the signal's phasing coefficients at different post-Newtonian orders in the search templates. We present critical aspects of the new search, such as improvements in search volume and its effect on various parts of the parameter space. In particular, we demonstrate a factor x2 increase in search sensitivity (at a fixed false-alarm rate) to beyond-GR exotic signals by using search templates that admit a range of departures from general relativity. We also present the results from a re-analysis of the 10-days long duration of LIGO's O1 data, including the epoch of the GW150914 event, highlighting the differences from a standard search. We indicate several directions for future research, including ways of making the proposed new search computationally more efficient.