Search for gravitational waves from a long-lived remnant of the binary neutron star merger GW170817

• Main Authors: Ajith, P, Angelova, S. V, Araya, M. C, Avila-Alvarez, A, Bader, M. K. M, Barnum, S, Bassiri, R, Belahcene, I, Berger, B. K, Bero, J. J, Bertolini, A, Bisht, A, Boetzel, Y, Brunett, S, Bulten, H. J, Cadonati, L, Canizares, P, Diaz, J. Casanueva, Casentini, C, Cerretani, G, Chassande-Mottin, E, Cho, H. S, Corban, P, D'Antonio, S, Daw, E. J, Deléglise, S, Dooley, K. L, Doravari, S, Edo, T. B, Edwards, M. C, Estelles, H, Etienne, Z. B, Fair, H, Fairhurst, S, Fisher, R. P, Fritschel, P, Gammaitoni, L, García-Quirós, C, Gayathri, V, Gemme, G, Grado, A, Graef, C, Gray, C, Grunewald, S, Heptonstall, A. W, Hough, J, Huttner, S. H, Jaranowski, P, Jonker, R. J. G, Kang, G, Kapadia, S. J, Katolik, M, Kinley-Hanlon, M, Kozak, D. B, Kumar, P, Lanza, R. K, Lartaux-Vollard, A, Lazzarini, A, Lee, H. W, Letendre, N, Lousto, C. O, Mendoza-Gandara, D, Michel, C, Mohapatra, S. R. P, Moore, C. J, Nagar, A, Nardecchia, I, Neunzert, A, North, C, Nuttall, L. K, Ohme, F, Pannarale, F, Pearlstone, B. L, Pedraza, M, Pichot, M, Rabeling, D. S, Raffai, P, Rapagnani, P, Riles, K, Sadecki, T, Sanchez, L. E, Sawadsky, A, Schulte, B. W, Schutz, B. F, Sellers, D, Shen, H, Siemens, X, Sigg, D, Singh, A, Swinkels, B. L, Tornasi, Z, Torrie, C. I, Trinastic, J, Tringali, M. C, Tsukada, L, Urban, A. L, Usman, S. A, Vecchio, A, Vetrano, F, Xiao, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 04-10-2019
• Subjects: Physics - General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology; Physics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1810.02581

The Astrophysical Journal 875:160 (2019) One unanswered question about the binary neutron star coalescence GW170817 is
the nature of its post-merger remnant. A previous search for post-merger
gravitational waves targeted high-frequency signals from a possible neutron
star remnant with a maximum signal duration of 500 s. Here we revisit the
neutron star remnant scenario with a focus on longer signal durations up until
the end of the Second Advanced LIGO-Virgo Observing run, 8.5 days after the
coalescence of GW170817. The main physical scenario for such emission is the
power-law spindown of a massive magnetar-like remnant. We use four independent
search algorithms with varying degrees of restrictiveness on the signal
waveformand different ways of dealing with noise artefacts. In agreement with
theoretical estimates, we find no significant signal candidates. Through
simulated signals, we quantify that with the current detector sensitivity,
nowhere in the studied parameter space are we sensitive to a signal from more
than 1 Mpc away, compared to the actual distance of 40 Mpc. This study however
serves as a prototype for post-merger analyses in future observing runs with
expected higher sensitivity.