A Tale of Two Black Holes: Multiband Gravitational-Wave Measurement of Recoil Kicks
Abstract
The non-linear dynamics of General Relativity leave their imprint on remnants of black hole mergers in the form of a recoil ``kick''. The kick has profound astrophysical implications across the black hole mass range from stellar to super-massive. However, a robust measurement of the kick for generic binaries from gravitational-wave observations has proved so far to be extremely challenging. In this \emph{letter}, we demonstrate the prospects of measuring black hole kicks through a multiband gravitational-wave network consisting of space mission LISA, the current earth-based detector network and a third-generation detector. For two distinct cases of remnant black hole kick (68 km/s, 1006 km/s) emerging from near identical pre-merger configuration of GW190521 -- the first confirmed intermediate-mass black hole -- we find that the multiband network will recover with 90\% credible level the projection of the kick vector relative to the orbital plane within tens of km/s accuracy. Such precise measurement of the kick offer a new set of multi-messenger follow-ups and unprecedented tests of astrophysical formation channels.
- Publication:
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arXiv e-prints
- Pub Date:
- June 2024
- DOI:
- 10.48550/arXiv.2406.11926
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2406.11926
- Bibcode:
- 2024arXiv240611926R
- Keywords:
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- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;
- Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
- E-Print:
- 11 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables