Observation of Gravitational Waves from Two Neutron Star-Black Hole Coalescences

The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2021 · 649 citations

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Astronomy

We report the observation of gravitational waves from two compact binary coalescences in LIGO's and Virgo's third observing run with properties consistent with neutron star-black hole (NSBH) binaries. The two events are named GW200105_162426 and GW200115_042309, abbreviated as GW200105 and GW200115; the first was observed by LIGO Livingston and Virgo and the second by all three LIGO-Virgo detectors. The source of GW200105 has component masses, whereas the source of GW200115 has component masses and (all measurements quoted at the 90% credible level). The probability that the secondary's mass is below the maximal mass of a neutron star is 89%-96% and 87%-98%, respectively, for GW200105 and GW200115, with the ranges arising from different astrophysical assumptions. The source luminosity distances are and, respectively. The magnitude of the primary spin of GW200105 is less than 0.23 at the 90% credible level, and its orientation is unconstrained. For GW200115, the primary spin has a negative spin projection onto the orbital angular momentum at 88% probability. We are unable to constrain the spin or tidal deformation of the secondary component for either event. We infer an NSBH merger rate density of when assuming that GW200105 and GW200115 are representative of the NSBH population or under the assumption of a broader distribution of component masses. © 2021. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

Upper limits on the isotropic gravitational-wave background from Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo’s third observing run

Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2021 · 425 citations

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Computational physics

We report results of a search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background (GWB) using data from Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's third observing run (O3) combined with upper limits from the earlier O1 and O2 runs. Unlike in previous observing runs in the advanced detector era, we include Virgo in the search for the GWB. The results of the search are consistent with uncorrelated noise, and therefore we place upper limits on the strength of the GWB. We find that the dimensionless energy density GW 5.8 10 -9 at the 95% credible level for a flat (frequency-independent) GWB, using a prior which is uniform in the log of the strength of the GWB, with 99% of the sensitivity coming from the band 20-76.6 Hz; GW f 3.4 10 -9 at 25 Hz for a power-law GWB with a spectral index of 2=3 (consistent with expectations for compact binary coalescences), in the band 20-90.6 Hz; and GW f 3.9 10 -10 at 25 Hz for a spectral index of 3, in the band 20-291.6 Hz. These upper limits improve over our previous results by a factor of 6.0 for a flat GWB, 8.8 for a spectral index of 2=3, and 13.1 for a spectral index of 3. We also search for a GWB arising from scalar and vector modes, which are predicted by alternative theories of gravity; we do not find evidence of these, and place upper limits on the strength of GWBs with these polarizations. We demonstrate that there is no evidence of correlated noise of magnetic origin by performing a Bayesian analysis that allows for the presence of both a GWB and an effective magnetic background arising from geophysical Schumann resonances. We compare our upper limits to a fiducial model for the GWB from the merger of compact binaries, updating the model to use the most recent datadriven population inference from the systems detected during O3a. Finally, we combine our results with observations of individual mergers and show that, at design sensitivity, this joint approach may yield stronger constraints on the merger rate of binary black holes at z 2 than can be achieved with individually resolved mergers alone.

Population Properties of Compact Objects from the Second LIGO–Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog

The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2021 · 900 citations

• Computer Science
• Physics
• Astrophysics

Abstract We report on the population of 47 compact binary mergers detected with a false-alarm rate of &lt; <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>yr</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:math> in the second LIGO–Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog. We observe several characteristics of the merging binary black hole (BBH) population not discernible until now. First, the primary mass spectrum contains structure beyond a power law with a sharp high-mass cutoff; it is more consistent with a broken power law with a break at <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>39.7</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>9.1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>20.3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> or a power law with a Gaussian feature peaking at <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>33.1</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>5.6</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>4.0</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> (90% credible interval). While the primary mass distribution must extend to <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mo>∼</mml:mo> <mml:mn>65</mml:mn> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> or beyond, only <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>2.9</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1.7</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3.5</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> <mml:mo>%</mml:mo> </mml:math> of systems have primary masses greater than <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>45</mml:mn> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>M</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>⊙</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> . Second, we find that a fraction of BBH systems have component spins misaligned with the orbital angular momentum, giving rise to precession of the orbital plane. Moreover, <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>12</mml:mn> </mml:math> %– <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mn>44</mml:mn> </mml:math> % of BBH systems have spins tilted by more than 90°, giving rise to a negative effective inspiral spin parameter, <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>χ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>eff</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> </mml:math> . Under the assumption that such systems can only be formed by dynamical interactions, we infer that between 25% and 93% of BBHs with nonvanishing <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mo stretchy="false">∣</mml:mo> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>χ</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>eff</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo stretchy="false">∣</mml:mo> <mml:mo>&gt;</mml:mo> <mml:mn>0.01</mml:mn> </mml:math> are dynamically assembled. Third, we estimate merger rates, finding <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msub> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi class="MJX-tex-calligraphic" mathvariant="script">R</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>BBH</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> </mml:msub> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:msubsup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mn>23.9</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>−</mml:mo> <mml:mn>8.6</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>+</mml:mo> <mml:mn>14.3</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msubsup> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:mspace width="0.25em"/> <mml:msup> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>Gpc</mml:mi> </mml:mrow> <mml:mro

GW190412: Observation of a binary-black-hole coalescence with asymmetric masses

Physical review. D/Physical review. D. · 2020 · 661 citations

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Astronomy

We report the observation of gravitational waves from a binary-black-hole coalescence during the first two weeks of LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run. The signal was recorded on April 12, 2019 at 05∶30∶44 UTC with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 19. The binary is different from observations during the first two observing runs most notably due to its asymmetric masses: a <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mo>∼</a:mo><a:mn>30</a:mn><a:mtext> </a:mtext><a:mtext> </a:mtext><a:msub><a:mi>M</a:mi><a:mo stretchy="false">⊙</a:mo></a:msub></a:math> black hole merged with a <d:math xmlns:d="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><d:mo>∼</d:mo><d:mn>8</d:mn><d:mtext> </d:mtext><d:mtext> </d:mtext><d:msub><d:mi>M</d:mi><d:mo stretchy="false">⊙</d:mo></d:msub></d:math> black hole companion. The more massive black hole rotated with a dimensionless spin magnitude between 0.22 and 0.60 (90% probability). Asymmetric systems are predicted to emit gravitational waves with stronger contributions from higher multipoles, and indeed we find strong evidence for gravitational radiation beyond the leading quadrupolar order in the observed signal. A suite of tests performed on GW190412 indicates consistency with Einstein’s general theory of relativity. While the mass ratio of this system differs from all previous detections, we show that it is consistent with the population model of stellar binary black holes inferred from the first two observing runs. Published by the American Physical Society 2020

GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:mn>150</mml:mn><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:mtext> </mml:mtext><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>M</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">⊙</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>

Physical Review Letters · 2020 · 1301 citations

• Computer Science
• Physics
• Astrophysics

On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses of 85_{-14}^{+21} M_{⊙} and 66_{-18}^{+17} M_{⊙} (90% credible intervals). We infer that the primary black hole mass lies within the gap produced by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova processes, with only a 0.32% probability of being below 65 M_{⊙}. We calculate the mass of the remnant to be 142_{-16}^{+28} M_{⊙}, which can be considered an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). The luminosity distance of the source is 5.3_{-2.6}^{+2.4} Gpc, corresponding to a redshift of 0.82_{-0.34}^{+0.28}. The inferred rate of mergers similar to GW190521 is 0.13_{-0.11}^{+0.30} Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1}.

Model comparison from LIGO–Virgo data on GW170817’s binary components and consequences for the merger remnant

Classical and Quantum Gravity · 2020 · 145 citations

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Astronomy

Abstract GW170817 is the very first observation of gravitational waves originating from the coalescence of two compact objects in the mass range of neutron stars, accompanied by electromagnetic counterparts, and offers an opportunity to directly probe the internal structure of neutron stars. We perform Bayesian model selection on a wide range of theoretical predictions for the neutron star equation of state. For the binary neutron star hypothesis, we find that we cannot rule out the majority of theoretical models considered. In addition, the gravitational-wave data alone does not rule out the possibility that one or both objects were low-mass black holes. We discuss the possible outcomes in the case of a binary neutron star merger, finding that all scenarios from prompt collapse to long-lived or even stable remnants are possible. For long-lived remnants, we place an upper limit of 1.9 kHz on the rotation rate. If a black hole was formed any time after merger and the coalescing stars were slowly rotating, then the maximum baryonic mass of non-rotating neutron stars is at most , and three equations of state considered here can be ruled out. We obtain a tighter limit of for the case that the merger results in a hypermassive neutron star.

GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object

The Astrophysical Journal Letters · 2020 · 463 citations

• Computer Science
• Physics
• Astrophysics

We report the observation of a compact binary coalescence involving a 22.2–24.3 M ⊙ black hole and a compact object with a mass of 2.50–2.67 M ⊙ (all measurements quoted at the 90% credible level). The gravitational-wave signal, GW190814, was observed during LIGO's and Virgo's third observing run on 2019 August 14 at 21:10:39 UTC and has a signal-to-noise ratio of 25 in the three-detector network. The source was localized to 18.5 deg2 at a distance of ${241}_{-45}^{+41}$ Mpc; no electromagnetic counterpart has been confirmed to date. The source has the most unequal mass ratio yet measured with gravitational waves, ${0.112}_{-0.009}^{+0.008}$, and its secondary component is either the lightest black hole or the heaviest neutron star ever discovered in a double compact-object system. The dimensionless spin of the primary black hole is tightly constrained to ≤0.07. Tests of general relativity reveal no measurable deviations from the theory, and its prediction of higher-multipole emission is confirmed at high confidence. We estimate a merger rate density of 1–23 Gpc−3 yr−1 for the new class of binary coalescence sources that GW190814 represents. Astrophysical models predict that binaries with mass ratios similar to this event can form through several channels, but are unlikely to have formed in globular clusters. However, the combination of mass ratio, component masses, and the inferred merger rate for this event challenges all current models of the formation and mass distribution of compact-object binaries.

A Gravitational-wave Measurement of the Hubble Constant Following the Second Observing Run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo

The Astrophysical Journal · 2019 · 245 citations

• Physics
• Astrophysics
• Astronomy

This paper presents the gravitational-wave measurement of the Hubble constant (H 0) using the detections from the first and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detector network. The presence of the transient electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star GW170817 led to the first standard-siren measurement of H 0. Here we additionally use binary black hole detections in conjunction with galaxy catalogs and report a joint measurement. Our updated measurement is H 0 = 69−8+16 km s−1 Mpc−1 (68.3% of the highest density posterior interval with a flat-in-log prior) which is an improvement by a factor of 1.04 (about 4%) over the GW170817-only value of 69−8+17 km s−1 Mpc−1. A significant additional contribution currently comes from GW170814, a loud and well-localized detection from a part of the sky thoroughly covered by the Dark Energy Survey. With numerous detections anticipated over the upcoming years, an exhaustive understanding of other systematic effects are also going to become increasingly important. These results establish the path to cosmology using gravitational-wave observations with and without transient electromagnetic counterparts.