Gravitational-Wave Data Analysis with High-Precision Numerical Relativity Simulations of Boson Star Mergers

Gravitational-wave signals detected to date are commonly interpreted under the paradigm that they originate from pairs of black holes or neutron stars. Here, we explore the alternative scenario of boson-star signals being present in the data stream. We perform accurate and long (<a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mo>∼</a:mo><a:mn>20</a:mn></a:math> orbits) numerical simulations of boson-star binaries and inject the resulting strain into LIGO noise. Our Bayesian inference reveals that some boson-star signals are degenerate with current approximants, albeit with biased parameters, while others exhibit smoking-gun signatures leaving behind conspicuous residuals. Published by the American Physical Society 2024