Göttingen 2025 – scientific programme

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GR: Fachverband Gravitation und Relativitätstheorie

GR 12: GW V

GR 12.1: Talk

Thursday, April 3, 2025, 16:15–16:35, ZHG008

Close, but no Merger: Challenges in Parameter Estimation for Black Hole Hyperbolic Orbits — •Joan Fontbuté — Friedrich-Schiller Universität

In this talk, I will be introducing a surrogate numerical-relativity model for close hyperbolic encounters between equal-mass black holes with aligned spins. This model spans a range of impact parameters and spin components, focusing on key gravitational wave emission multipoles. It closely matches numerical relativity simulations, with mismatches below 0.1%. Despite the model's accuracy, I'll argue that parameter estimation proves challenging due to strong degeneracies in the parameter space, even for high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). This suggests that detecting such events may require third-generation detectors. However, certain parameter combinations proposed in this project may still provide evidence of these encounters using the current ground-based detectors, provided they are astrophysically meaningful.

Keywords: Gravitational waves; Parameter estimation; Hyperbolic encounters; Black holes; Numerical Relativity