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  • Letter

Quantifying modeling uncertainties when combining multiple gravitational-wave detections from binary neutron star sources

Nina Kunert1,*, Peter T. H. Pang2,3, Ingo Tews4, Michael W. Coughlin5, and Tim Dietrich1,6

  • 1Institute for Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam, D-14476 Potsdam, Germany
  • 2Nikhef, Science Park 105, 1098 XG Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • 3Institute for Gravitational and Subatomic Physics (GRASP), Utrecht University, Princetonplein 1, 3584 CC Utrecht, Netherlands
  • 4Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
  • 5School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
  • 6Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Am Mühlenberg 1, Potsdam 14476, Germany

  • *nkunert@uni-potsdam.de

Phys. Rev. D 105, L061301 – Published 8 March, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.105.L061301

Abstract

With the increasing sensitivity of gravitational-wave detectors, we expect to observe multiple binary neutron-star systems through gravitational waves in the near future. The combined analysis of these gravitational-wave signals offers the possibility to constrain the neutron-star radius and the equation of state of dense nuclear matter with unprecedented accuracy. However, it is crucial to ensure that uncertainties inherent in the gravitational-wave models will not lead to systematic biases when information from multiple detections is combined. To quantify waveform systematics, we perform an extensive simulation campaign of binary neutron-star sources and analyze them with a set of four different waveform models. For our analysis with 38 simulations, we find that statistical uncertainties in the neutron-star radius decrease to ±250  m (2% at 90% credible interval) but that systematic differences between currently employed waveform models can be twice as large. Hence, it will be essential to ensure that systematic biases will not become dominant in inferences of the neutron-star equation of state when capitalizing on future developments.

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