Accuracy of source localization for eccentric inspiraling binary mergers using a ground-based detector network

Abstract

The problem of gravitational wave parameter estimation and source localization is crucial in gravitational wave astronomy. Gravitational waves emitted by compact binary coalescences in the sensitivity band of second-generation ground-based detectors could have non-negligible eccentricities. Thus it is an interesting topic to study how the eccentricity of a binary source affects and improves the accuracy of its localization (and the signal-to-noise ratio). In this work we continue to investigate this effect with the enhanced postcircular waveform model. Using the Fisher information matrix method, we determine the accuracy of source localization with three ground-based detector networks. As expected, the accuracy of source localization is improved considerably with more detectors in a network. We find that the accuracy also increases significantly by increasing the eccentricity for the large total mass ($M\ge 40M_\odot$) binaries with all three networks. For the small total mass ($M<40 M_\odot$) binaries, this effect is negligible. For the smaller total mass ($M<5 M_\odot$) binaries, the accuracy could be even worse at some orientations with increasing eccentricity. This phenomenon comes mainly from how well the frequency of the higher harmonic modes induced by increasing eccentricity coincides with the sensitive bandwidth of the detectors. For the case of the $100 M_\odot$ black hole binary, the improvement factor is about $2$ in general when the eccentricity grows from $0.0$ to $0.4$. For the cases of the $22 M_\odot$ black hole binary and the $2.74 M_\odot$ neutron star binary, the improvement factor is less than $1.1$, and it may be less than 1 at some orientations.