Multifractal chaos in gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers

We investigate the multifractal nature of gravitational waves emitted during the merger of binary black holes, with masses of 45 and 72 solar masses, coalesced at a distance of 1.3 billion light-years from Earth. Strain signals as a function of time were obtained from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, along with data from three independent laboratories. By applying multifractal analysis techniques, we reveal a complex hierarchy of scaling exponents, uncovering intricate fluctuations within the intrinsic dynamics. Additionally, using the maximum entropy approach, we extract universal properties associated with the event and propose a method for directly calculating the autocorrelation time from short segments of observational data. Our findings indicate that the gravitational wave signal is embedded in a highly irregular structure, with the dynamics exhibiting characteristics of both chaos and turbulence. The numerical results from the three laboratories show consistency in identifying these chaotic behaviors, alongside a complex background signal, providing new insights into the statistical properties and complexity of spacetime perturbations. These results highlight the potential of multifractal analysis in understanding the intricate dynamics of gravitational wave signals and their underlying chaotic processes.