Gravitational Wave Identification of High Mass-Ratio Black Hole Neutron Star Mergers

Depending on the compactness of the neutron star and the mass of the black hole, the coalescence of a mixed binary system would yield a disruption of the neutron star before it mergers with the black hole or a coalescence in which the neutron star is essentially swallowed by the black hole almost undisturbed. The latter case will occur for cases of high mass-ratio. We present results of a study aimed at characterizing the ability of LIGO/VIRGO in discerning between binary black hole and mixed binary mergers when the neutron star undergoes minimal disruption.