Observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger
Observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger
On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10?21. It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203?000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1?. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410+160?180??Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09+0.03?0.04. In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36+5?4M? and 29+4?4M?, and the final black hole mass is 62+4?4M?, with 3.0+0.5?0.5M?c2 radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger
Abbott, B.P.
20b32f53-5355-40eb-9d69-91c95d56e693
Abbott, R.
ceb7bd1e-f214-46dd-9972-a194692a86aa
Abbott, T.D.
40955bf8-1011-46ab-a787-34050875d7fe
Jones, D.I.
b8f3e32c-d537-445a-a1e4-7436f472e160
LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration
11 February 2016
Abbott, B.P.
20b32f53-5355-40eb-9d69-91c95d56e693
Abbott, R.
ceb7bd1e-f214-46dd-9972-a194692a86aa
Abbott, T.D.
40955bf8-1011-46ab-a787-34050875d7fe
Jones, D.I.
b8f3e32c-d537-445a-a1e4-7436f472e160
Abbott, B.P., Abbott, R. and Abbott, T.D.
,
LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration
(2016)
Observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger.
Physical Review Letters, 116 (6), [061102].
(doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102).
Abstract
On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10?21. It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203?000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1?. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410+160?180??Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09+0.03?0.04. In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36+5?4M? and 29+4?4M?, and the final black hole mass is 62+4?4M?, with 3.0+0.5?0.5M?c2 radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger
Other
PhysRevLett.116.061102
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e-pub ahead of print date: 11 February 2016
Published date: 11 February 2016
Organisations:
Applied Mathematics
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Local EPrints ID: 404321
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/404321
PURE UUID: 759c6a15-e7b7-4a91-a98e-aa0a46ceec9d
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Date deposited: 05 Jan 2017 14:03
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:06
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Author:
B.P. Abbott
Author:
R. Abbott
Author:
T.D. Abbott
Corporate Author: LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration
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