Constraining the p-Mode-g-Mode Tidal Instability with GW170817

LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We analyze the impact of a proposed tidal instability coupling p modes and g modes within neutron stars on GW170817. This nonresonant instability transfers energy from the orbit of the binary to internal modes of the stars, accelerating the gravitational-wave driven inspiral. We model the impact of this instability on the phasing of the gravitational wave signal using three parameters per star: An overall amplitude, a saturation frequency, and a spectral index. Incorporating these additional parameters, we compute the Bayes factor (lnB!pgpg) comparing our p-g model to a standard one. We find that the observed signal is consistent with waveform models that neglect p-g effects, with lnB!pgpg=0.03-0.58+0.70 (maximum a posteriori and 90% credible region). By injecting simulated signals that do not include p-g effects and recovering them with the p-g model, we show that there is a ≃50% probability of obtaining similar lnB!pgpg even when p-g effects are absent. We find that the p-g amplitude for 1.4 MâŠneutron stars is constrained to less than a few tenths of the theoretical maximum, with maxima a posteriori near one-Tenth this maximum and p-g saturation frequency ∼70 Hz. This suggests that there are less than a few hundred excited modes, assuming they all saturate by wave breaking. For comparison, theoretical upper bounds suggest a103 modes saturate by wave breaking. Thus, the measured constraints only rule out extreme values of the p-g parameters. They also imply that the instability dissipates a1051 erg over the entire inspiral, i.e., less than a few percent of the energy radiated as gravitational waves.

Original languageEnglish
Article number061104
Pages (from-to)1-12
Number of pages12
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume122
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Feb 2019

Funding

While GW170817 is consistent with models that neglect p - g effects, it is also consistent with a broad range of p - g parameters. The constraints from GW170817 imply that there are ≲ 200 excited modes at f = 100     Hz , assuming all modes grow as rapidly as possible and saturate at their breaking amplitudes ( λ = β = 1 in Eq. (7) of Ref.  [27] ) and that the frequency at which modes become unstable is well approximated by f 0 . For comparison, theoretical arguments suggest an upper bound of ∼ 10 3 modes saturating by wave breaking [27] . More modes may be excited if they grow more slowly or saturate below their wave breaking energy. We can also use the measured constraints to place upper limits on the amount of energy dissipated by the p - g instability. As Fig.  3 shows, p - g effects dissipate ≲ 2.7 × 10 51     erg throughout the entire inspiral at 90% confidence. In comparison, GWs carry away ≳ 1 0 53     erg . This implies time-domain phase shifts | Δ ϕ | ≲ 7.6     rad (0.6 orbits) at 100 Hz and | Δ ϕ | ≲ 32     rad (2.6 orbits) at 1000 Hz after accounting for the joint uncertainty in component masses, spins, linear tides, and p - g effects. 3 10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.061104.f3 FIG. 3. Upper limits on the cumulative energy dissipated by the p - g instability as a function of frequency. We note the relatively strong constraints at lower frequencies where p - g effects are more pronounced. A g mode with natural frequency f g is predicted to become unstable at a frequency f crit ≃ 45     Hz ( f g / 10 - 4 λ f dyn ) 1 / 2 , where f dyn is the dynamical frequency of the NS and λ is a slowly varying function typically between 0.1–1 [25,27] . Since the modes grow quickly, the frequency at which the instability saturates is likely close to the frequency at which the modes become unstable ( f 0 ≃ f crit ). If we assume that the observed peak near f 0 ∼ 70     Hz is not due to noise alone, then the maximum a posteriori estimate for f 0 along with approximate values for the masses ( 1.4     M ⊙ ) and radii (11 km) of the components [3] imply f g ≃ 0.5     Hz . With several more signals comparable to GW170817, it should be possible to improve the amplitude constraint to A 0 ≲ 10 - 7 . Obtaining even tighter constraints will likely require many more detections, especially since most events will have smaller SNR. Future measurements will also benefit from a better understanding of how the instability saturates. To date, there have only been detailed theoretical studies of the instability’s threshold and growth rate [23–26] , not its saturation. As a result, we cannot be certain of the fidelity of our phenomenological model. While this Letter was in review, related work was posted [47] with the conclusion that the H ! p g model is strongly favored over the H p g model by a factor of at least 1 0 4 . In Ref.  [48] , some of the authors of this work investigate the origin of the discrepancy by analyzing publicly available posterior samples from Ref.  [47] . Contrary to the claims in Ref.  [47] , they find that samples from Ref.  [47] yield B ! p g p g ∼ 1 and therefore conclude that their posterior data, like what is presented here, do not disfavor the H p g model. Reference  [48] suggests that the error stems from using too few temperatures when implementing thermodynamic integration. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) for the construction and operation of the LIGO Laboratory and Advanced LIGO as well as the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of the United Kingdom, the Max-Planck-Society (MPS), and the State of Niedersachsen, Germany for support of the construction of Advanced LIGO and construction and operation of the GEO600 detector. Additional support for Advanced LIGO was provided by the Australian Research Council. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, for the construction and operation of the Virgo detector and the creation and support of the EGO consortium. The authors also gratefully acknowledge research support from these agencies as well as by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India, the Department of Science and Technology, India, the Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), India, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, India, the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación, the Vicepresidència i Conselleria d’Innovació, Recerca i Turisme and the Conselleria d’Educació i Universitat del Govern de les Illes Balears, the Conselleria d’Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport de la Generalitat Valenciana, the National Science Centre of Poland, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Russian Science Foundation, the European Commission, the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), the Royal Society, the Scottish Funding Council, the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA), the Lyon Institute of Origins (LIO), the Paris Île-de-France Region, the National Research, Development and Innovation Office Hungary (NKFI), the National Research Foundation of Korea, Industry Canada and the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Canada, the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations, and Communications, the International Center for Theoretical Physics South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-SAIFR), the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Leverhulme Trust, the Research Corporation, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan and the Kavli Foundation. 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FundersFunder number
Not addedST/N005422/1, ST/M005844/1, ST/N00003X/1, ST/N005406/2, ST/K000845/1, ST/N000633/1, ST/N000668/1, ST/N000072/1, ST/P000258/1, ST/H002006/1, ST/J00166X/1, ST/N005430/1
National Science Foundation1707965, 1708081, 1921006, 1806824, 1707835, 1806461, 1806165, 1806990
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNNX14AB40G
Kavli Foundation
National Kidney Foundation of Iowa
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation
Science and Technology Facilities CouncilPPA/G/S/2002/00652, Gravitational Waves, ST/I006269/1
Leverhulme Trust
Royal Society
Scottish Funding Council
Scottish Universities Physics Alliance
European Commission
Australian Research Council
Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science18F18013, 18H03698
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Science and Engineering Research Board
Russian Foundation for Basic Research
Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Generalitat Valenciana
Hungarian Scientific Research Fund
National Research Foundation of Korea
Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
Narodowe Centrum Nauki
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Russian Science Foundation
European Regional Development Fund
Universitat de les Illes Balears
Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal
Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research

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