>>> Here I'll post updates on my research. The format is very blog-esque. There may come a time when I link my Github, assuming I ever start using my Github in earnest. All my code is in Python, and I use VScode.

>>> Gravitational wave signals in the ringdown after a binary black hole (BBH) merger event are composed from an infinite tower of damped sinosoids called quasinormal modes (QNMs). General relativity tells us what the frequencies of these modes should be based on the mass and spin of the final perturbed black hole. Observations of the QNM frequencies can be used to test general relativity.

>>> QNMs are well studied in the ringdown, but it's actually more accurate to look at nonlinear QNMs which come from "higher-order perterbations of the remnant black hole spacetime" (arXiv 2403.09767). By analyzing the signal to noise ratio (SNR) data from existing catalogs of data from BBH merger events it's possible to determine how easily next-generation gravitational wave detectors (like LISA) can detect these nonlinear QNMs, particularly the dominant mode (220x220). While other papers have determined detectablity for just this dominant mode using the catalog, this project is working towards calculating detectability for four more nonlinear QNMs.

to-do