Numerical relativity and semi-analytical waveforms for the fourth observing run of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detectors

ABSTRACT: The successful observation campaigns by the global gravitational wave detectors network and the expectation of hundreds of new systems detected in the upcoming observation run, O4, starting on May 2023, are paving the way for the detection of GW events with challenging physical properties.

Particularly, the large number of expected detections of binary black holes in O4 may lead to clear detection of orbital eccentricity and spin-precession, which would provide key information about the formation channels of such binaries.

However, so far the waveform models used by the community, including the LIGO, Virgo and Kagra collaborations, to detect and estimate the parameters of the gravitational wave signals assume quasi-circular orbits or non spin-precessing binaries.

In this presentation, I will describe the current status of ready-to-use quasi-circular waveform models for O4, as well as current efforts to model the gravitational signal from generic binary black holes, including the production of accurate eccentric numerical relativity simulations and some of their applications, such as comparisons with small mass ratio perturbation theory results to bridge the gap between comparable masses and extreme mass ratio systems in elliptical orbits.