A model-independent search for gravitational-wave echoes

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:17110077,
            doi = {10.48660/17110077},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/17110077},
            author = {Ghosh, Archisman},
            keywords = {Quantum Gravity},
            language = {en},
            title = {A model-independent search for gravitational-wave echoes},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2017},
            month = {nov},
            note = {PIRSA:17110077 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
          

Abstract

Exotic compact objects (e.g. boson stars, dark matter stars, gravastars), and certain quantum modifications to black holes (e.g. firewalls) are speculated to give out ``echoes'' or bursts of radiation appearing at regular time intervals due to a perturbation by any infalling matter or field. In particular, these echoes are also expected to appear soon after their formation. The presence (or absence) of gravitational-wave echoes following observations of coalescences of compact binaries by detectors like Advanced LIGO and Virgo, might be able to directly probe (or constrain) the nature of the remnant compact object. For a large class of these objects, the echoes are expected to appear at time scales that are amenable to a search. However, there can be a substantial variation in the detailed waveform models, and this might make a template-based search inffective. We propose and demonstrate a model-independent search method that relies only on the constancy of the time difference between subsequent echoes.