Optimizing LIGO with LISA forewarnings to improve black-hole spectroscopy

Abstract

The early inspiral of massive stellar-mass black-hole binaries merging in LIGO's sensitivity band will be detectable at low frequencies by the upcoming space mission LISA. LISA will predict, with years of forewarning, the time and frequency with which binaries will be observed by LIGO. We will, therefore, find ourselves in the position of knowing that a binary is about to merge, with the unprecedented opportunity to optimize ground-based operations to increase their scientific payoff. We apply this idea to detections of multiple ringdown modes, or black-hole spectroscopy. Narrow-band tunings can boost the detectors' sensitivity at frequencies corresponding to the first subdominant ringdown mode and largely improve our prospects to experimentally test the Kerr nature of astrophysical black holes. We define a new consistency parameter between the different modes, called δGR, and show that, in terms of this measure, optimized configurations have the potential to double the effectiveness of black-hole spectroscopy when compared to standard broadband setups.

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