Detection and Parameter Estimation of Gravitational Waves from Compact Binary Inspirals with Analytical Double-Precessing Templates

Abstract

We study the performance of various analytical frequency-domain templates for detection and parameter estimation of gravitational waves from spin-precessing, quasi-circular, compact binary inspirals. We begin by assessing the extent to which non-spinning, spin-aligned, and the new (analytical, frequency-domain, small-spin) double-precessing frequency-domain templates can be used to detect signals from such systems. For effective, dimensionless spin values above $0.2$, the use of non-spinning or spin-aligned templates for detection purposes will result in a loss of up to $30%$ of all events, while in the case of the double-precessing model, this never exceeds $6%$. Moreover, even for signals from systems with small spins, non-spinning and spin-aligned templates introduce large biases in the extracted masses and spins. The use of a model that encodes spin-induced precession effects, such as the double-precessing model, improves the mass and spin extraction by up to an order of magnitude. The additional information encoded in the spin-orbit interaction is invaluable if one wishes to extract the maximum amount of information from gravitational wave signals.

18 pages, 12 figures, published version