On the Use of Galaxy Catalogs in Gravitational-wave Parameter Estimation
A major challenge in gravitational-wave (GW) multimessenger astrophysics is the imprecise localization of GW compact binary mergers. We investigate the use of a method to include galaxy catalog information in performing parameter estimation of these events. We test its effectiveness with the GW even...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9f36 |
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| author | Geoffrey Mo Carl-Johan Haster Erik Katsavounidis |
| author_facet | Geoffrey Mo Carl-Johan Haster Erik Katsavounidis |
| author_sort | Geoffrey Mo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A major challenge in gravitational-wave (GW) multimessenger astrophysics is the imprecise localization of GW compact binary mergers. We investigate the use of a method to include galaxy catalog information in performing parameter estimation of these events. We test its effectiveness with the GW events GW170817, GW190425, and GW190814, as well as with simulated binary neutron star mergers. For GW170817, we recover the true host galaxy as the most probable galaxy after a straightforward mass reweighting, with significantly decreased localization area and volume. On the simulated sample, however, we do not find improvement compared to performing a simple galaxy catalog crossmatch with a regular GW localization. Future investigations into sampling methods may yield improvements that increase the viability of this method. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-54577dd20be44c92913f4140e073724e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-54577dd20be44c92913f4140e073724e2025-01-21T07:15:04ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01979210210.3847/1538-4357/ad9f36On the Use of Galaxy Catalogs in Gravitational-wave Parameter EstimationGeoffrey Mo0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6331-112XCarl-Johan Haster1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8040-9807Erik Katsavounidis2MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research , 70 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; gmo@mit.edu; MIT LIGO Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 185 Albany Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USADepartment of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nevada , Las Vegas, 4505 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA; Nevada Center for Astrophysics, University of Nevada , Las Vegas, 4505 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USAMIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research , 70 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA ; gmo@mit.edu; MIT LIGO Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 185 Albany Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USAA major challenge in gravitational-wave (GW) multimessenger astrophysics is the imprecise localization of GW compact binary mergers. We investigate the use of a method to include galaxy catalog information in performing parameter estimation of these events. We test its effectiveness with the GW events GW170817, GW190425, and GW190814, as well as with simulated binary neutron star mergers. For GW170817, we recover the true host galaxy as the most probable galaxy after a straightforward mass reweighting, with significantly decreased localization area and volume. On the simulated sample, however, we do not find improvement compared to performing a simple galaxy catalog crossmatch with a regular GW localization. Future investigations into sampling methods may yield improvements that increase the viability of this method.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9f36Gravitational wavesGravitational wave astronomyNeutron starsCatalogsCompact binary stars |
| spellingShingle | Geoffrey Mo Carl-Johan Haster Erik Katsavounidis On the Use of Galaxy Catalogs in Gravitational-wave Parameter Estimation The Astrophysical Journal Gravitational waves Gravitational wave astronomy Neutron stars Catalogs Compact binary stars |
| title | On the Use of Galaxy Catalogs in Gravitational-wave Parameter Estimation |
| title_full | On the Use of Galaxy Catalogs in Gravitational-wave Parameter Estimation |
| title_fullStr | On the Use of Galaxy Catalogs in Gravitational-wave Parameter Estimation |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the Use of Galaxy Catalogs in Gravitational-wave Parameter Estimation |
| title_short | On the Use of Galaxy Catalogs in Gravitational-wave Parameter Estimation |
| title_sort | on the use of galaxy catalogs in gravitational wave parameter estimation |
| topic | Gravitational waves Gravitational wave astronomy Neutron stars Catalogs Compact binary stars |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9f36 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT geoffreymo ontheuseofgalaxycatalogsingravitationalwaveparameterestimation AT carljohanhaster ontheuseofgalaxycatalogsingravitationalwaveparameterestimation AT erikkatsavounidis ontheuseofgalaxycatalogsingravitationalwaveparameterestimation |