Source confusion of massive black-hole binaries for the Taiji mission

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Authors: Qing Diao, Hongxin Wang, Manjia Liang, He Wang, Ziren Luo, Minghui Du, Peng Xu
Cited by: 0
References: 101

Abstract

We systematically investigate the source confusion of massive black hole binaries (MBHBs) for the Taiji space-based gravitational wave mission. Source confusion, arising from the overlap of signals in both time and frequency domains, can degrade parameter recovery accuracy. To assess this effect, we simulate three representative models MBHB populations to estimate event overlap events. Assuming 100 detections per year, only 0.31-4.2 overlaps are expected annually. Based on Fisher information matrix with the $\texttt{IMRPhenomD}$ and $\texttt{IMRPhenomHM}$ waveform models, we find that overlap significantly enlarges parameter uncertainties, while the inclusion of higher-order modes (HMs) effectively mitigates this effect. Severe confusion ($Δ\mathcal{M}_z / \mathcal{M}_z

Fields of Study & Subjects

Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research Geophysics and Gravity Measurements Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena

Publication details

Journal / source
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Volume
113
Issue
12
Publication date
12 May 2026
Language
EN