Exploring the Potential for Detecting Rotational Instabilities in Binary Neutron Star Merger Remnants with Gravitational Wave Detectors

Abstract

We explore the potential for detecting rotational instabilities in the post-merger phase of binary neutron star mergers using different network configurations of upgraded and next-generation gravitational wave detectors. Our study employs numerically generated post-merger waveforms, which reveal the re-excitation of the $l=m=2$ $f$-mode at a time of $O(10{\rm})$ms after merger. We evaluate the detectability of these signals by injecting them into colored Gaussian noise and performing a reconstruction as a sum of wavelets using Bayesian inference. Computing the overlap between the reconstructed and injected signal, restricted to the instability part of the post-merger phase, we find that one could infer the presence of rotational instabilities with a network of planned 3rd-generation detectors, depending on the total mass and distance to the source. For a recently suggested high-frequency detector design, we find that the instability part would be detectable even at 200 Mpc, significantly increasing the anticipated detection rate. For a network consisting of the existing HLV detectors, but upgraded to twice the A+ sensitivity, we confirm that the peak frequency of the whole post-merger gravitational-wave emission could be detectable with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 8 at a distance of 40Mpc.