Moving Beyond Quasinormal Modes and Reinterpreting Direct Waves in Binary Black Hole Merger-Ringdowns

Based on black-hole perturbation-theory calculations and an effective-one-body picture of binary black hole mergers, it has been suggested that a direct wave may be present and measurable in the ringdown. Furthermore, it has been suggested that this signal might originate from substantially inside the light ring (or photon sphere) of the remnant black hole, perhaps even from close to the event horizon. In this paper, we present three independent strands of evidence against such claims. In the process, we show that there is indeed an early-time part of the ringdown signal that cannot be directly modeled by quasinormal modes. However, there is no evidence that this is a direct wave as it has previously been defined, and we show that the properties of this component are related to the remnant's light ring rather than its horizon.