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Gravitational wave memory of primordial black hole mergers

Silvia Gasparotto1,2,*, Gabriele Franciolini3,†, and Valerie Domcke3,‡

  • *Contact author: sgasparotto@ifae.es
  • †Contact author: gabriele.franciolini@cern.ch
  • ‡Contact author: valerie.domcke@cern.ch
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 103021 – Published 12 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ngfw-dvwz

Abstract

The gravitational wave signal of binary compact objects has two main contributions at frequencies below the characteristic merger frequency; the gravitational wave signal associated with the early inspiral stage of the binary and the nonlinear gravitational wave memory. We compare the sensitivity of upcoming gravitational wave detectors to these two contributions, with a particular interest in events with a merger phase at frequencies higher than the detector’s peak sensitivity. We demonstrate that for light primordial black holes, current and upcoming detectors are more sensitive to the inspiral signal. Our analysis incorporates the evolution history of primordial black hole binaries, key to accurately estimating the relevant event rates. We also discuss the waveform templates of the memory signal at ground- and space-based interferometers, and the implications for a matched filtering search. This allows us to compare the sensitivity of high-frequency gravitational wave detectors, sensitive to the merger phase, with the sensitivity of existing interferometers.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 103021– Published 12 November, 2025
  • Received 13 May 2025
  • Accepted 5 September 2025
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