Are wormholes or 'gravastars' mimicking gravitational-wave signals from black holes?
Earlier this year, researchers working on the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (aLIGO) made the first ever detection of gravitational waves. The waves are believed to have been created by the merger of two binary black holes, in an event dubbed GW150914. Now, however, new theoretical work done by an international team of researchers suggests that other hypothetical exotic stellar objects – such as wormholes or "gravastars" – could produce a very similar gravitational-wave signal. While it is theoretically possible to differentiate between the different sources, it is impossible to tell whether GW150914 had a more exotic origin than merging black holes because the signal was not strong enough to be resolved.
The researchers point out that, in the future, the detection of stronger gravitational-wave signals could reveal more information about their sources – especially once the sensitivity of aLIGO is increased to its ultimate design level. In addition, future space-based detectors, such as the European Space Agency's Evolved Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (eLISA), could reveal tiny discrepancies between detected and predicted signals, if they exist.
Ringing frequencies
Einstein's general theory of relativity provides a very clear theoretical framework for the type of gravitational-wave signal that would be produced during the collision and subsequent merger of massive, compact bodies, such as black holes. Gravitational waves are produced constantly before, during and just after a merger. The waves' frequencies will vary, telling us when the black holes' orbit begins to reduce and they begin their slow inward collapse, or "inspiral". The smaller the initial distance between the two, the more radiation is emitted as the black holes plunge into one another. This produces a characteristic "chirp" waveform, wherein the frequency and the amplitude of the waves increase until they peak at the merger.
But such a cataclysmic merger initially gives birth to a highly distorted black hole, which rids itself of its deformity almost instantly, by ringing like a bell and producing further gravitational radiation. The system quickly loses energy and the strength of the waves decays exponentially to form a "ringdown" signal, all of which was picked up by aLIGO for GW150914.
The chirp and the ringdown signal are of immense interest as these carry crucial information about the mass and spin of both the initial black holes, and of the newly formed one. "This ringdown phase is very important: just as a Stradivarius violin vibrates in a characteristic way, so too do black holes. Thus, by studying carefully how it rings, you hope to know the black hole itself," says physicist Vitor Cardoso from the University of Lisbon, Portugal.
These vibrational modes of a nascent black hole – known as quasinormal modes – must be detected within the signal, to be absolutely certain that the gravitational waves have arisen from coalescing black holes. Our current understanding suggests that these vibrational modes are inherently linked to a black hole's key feature – its event horizon, or the boundary past which nothing, not even light, can escape from its gravitational pull.
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http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2016/apr/29/are-wormholes-or-gravastars-mimicking-gravitational-wave-signals-from-black-holes (http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2016/apr/29/are-wormholes-or-gravastars-mimicking-gravitational-wave-signals-from-black-holes)