GW170817: Observation of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral
GW170817: Observation of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral
On August 17, 2017 at 12∶41:04 UTC the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors made their first observation of a binary neutron star inspiral. The signal, GW170817, was detected with a combined signal-to-noise ratio of 32.4 and a false-alarm-rate estimate of less than one per 8.0×104 years. We infer the component masses of the binary to be between 0.86 and 2.26 M⊙, in agreement with masses of known neutron stars. Restricting the component spins to the range inferred in binary neutron stars, we find the component masses to be in the range 1.17–1.60 M⊙, with the total mass of the system 2.74+0.04−0.01M⊙. The source was localized within a sky region of 28 deg2 (90% probability) and had a luminosity distance of 40+8−14 Mpc, the closest and most precisely localized gravitational-wave signal yet. The association with the γ-ray burst GRB 170817A, detected by Fermi-GBM 1.7 s after the coalescence, corroborates the hypothesis of a neutron star merger and provides the first direct evidence of a link between these mergers and short γ-ray bursts. Subsequent identification of transient counterparts across the electromagnetic spectrum in the same location further supports the interpretation of this event as a neutron star merger. This unprecedented joint gravitational and electromagnetic observation provides insight into astrophysics, dense matter, gravitation, and cosmology.
1-18
Abbott, B.P.
20b32f53-5355-40eb-9d69-91c95d56e693
Ho, Wynn
d78d4c52-8f92-4846-876f-e04a8f803a45
Jones, David
b8f3e32c-d537-445a-a1e4-7436f472e160
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration
20 October 2017
Abbott, B.P.
20b32f53-5355-40eb-9d69-91c95d56e693
Ho, Wynn
d78d4c52-8f92-4846-876f-e04a8f803a45
Jones, David
b8f3e32c-d537-445a-a1e4-7436f472e160
Abbott, B.P.
,
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration
(2017)
GW170817: Observation of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral.
Physical Review Letters, 119 (16), , [161101].
(doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.161101).
Abstract
On August 17, 2017 at 12∶41:04 UTC the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors made their first observation of a binary neutron star inspiral. The signal, GW170817, was detected with a combined signal-to-noise ratio of 32.4 and a false-alarm-rate estimate of less than one per 8.0×104 years. We infer the component masses of the binary to be between 0.86 and 2.26 M⊙, in agreement with masses of known neutron stars. Restricting the component spins to the range inferred in binary neutron stars, we find the component masses to be in the range 1.17–1.60 M⊙, with the total mass of the system 2.74+0.04−0.01M⊙. The source was localized within a sky region of 28 deg2 (90% probability) and had a luminosity distance of 40+8−14 Mpc, the closest and most precisely localized gravitational-wave signal yet. The association with the γ-ray burst GRB 170817A, detected by Fermi-GBM 1.7 s after the coalescence, corroborates the hypothesis of a neutron star merger and provides the first direct evidence of a link between these mergers and short γ-ray bursts. Subsequent identification of transient counterparts across the electromagnetic spectrum in the same location further supports the interpretation of this event as a neutron star merger. This unprecedented joint gravitational and electromagnetic observation provides insight into astrophysics, dense matter, gravitation, and cosmology.
Text
PhysRevLett.119.161101
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Accepted/In Press date: 2 October 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 October 2017
Published date: 20 October 2017
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 417128
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/417128
ISSN: 1079-7114
PURE UUID: 8cdf71f6-b56c-4976-9070-f072987cb35f
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Date deposited: 19 Jan 2018 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 03:06
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Author:
B.P. Abbott
Corporate Author: The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration
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