LISA parameter estimation using numerical merger waveforms

Recent advances in numerical relativity provide a detailed description of the waveforms of coalescing massive black hole binaries (MBHBs), expected to be the strongest detectable LISA sources. We present a preliminary study of LISA's sensitivity to MBHB parameters using a hybrid numerical/analytic waveform for equal-mass, non-spinning holes. The Synthetic LISA software package is used to simulate the instrument response, and the Fisher information matrix method is used to estimate errors in the parameters. Initial results indicate that inclusion of the merger signal can significantly improve the precision of some parameter estimates. For example, the median parameter errors for an ensemble of systems with total redshifted mass of 106 M⊙ at a redshift of z ∼ 1 were found to decrease by a factor of slightly more than two for signals with merger as compared to signals truncated at the Schwarzchild ISCO.

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