Upper Limits on the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run

Authors

B. P. Abbott, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
R. Abbott, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
T. D. Abbott, Louisiana State UniversityFollow
M. R. Abernathy, American UniversityFollow
F. Acernese, Università degli Studi di SalernoFollow
K. Ackley, University of FloridaFollow
C. Adams, LIGO LivingstonFollow
T. Adams, Université Savoie Mont BlancFollow
P. Addesso, Università degli Studi del SannioFollow
R. X. Adhikari, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
V. B. Adya, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)Follow
C. Affeldt, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)Follow
M. Agathos, FOM-Institute of Subatomic Physics - NIKHEFFollow
K. Agatsuma, FOM-Institute of Subatomic Physics - NIKHEFFollow
N. Aggarwal, LIGO, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyFollow
O. D. Aguiar, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas EspaciaisFollow
L. Aiello, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - INFNFollow
A. Ain, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics IndiaFollow
P. Ajith, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, MumbaiFollow
B. Allen, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)Follow
A. Allocca, Università di PisaFollow
P. A. Altin, The Australian National UniversityFollow
A. Ananyeva, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
S. B. Anderson, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
W. G. Anderson, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeFollow
S. Appert, California Institute of Technology
K. Arai, California Institute of Technology
M. C. Araya, California Institute of Technology
J. S. Areeda, California State University, Fullerton
N. Arnaud, Laboratoire de l'Accélérateur Linéaire
K. G. Arun, Chennai Mathematical Institute
S. Ascenzi, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - INFN
G. Ashton, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-24-2017

Abstract

A wide variety of astrophysical and cosmological sources are expected to contribute to a stochastic gravitational-wave background. Following the observations of GW150914 and GW151226, the rate and mass of coalescing binary black holes appear to be greater than many previous expectations. As a result, the stochastic background from unresolved compact binary coalescences is expected to be particularly loud. We perform a search for the isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background using data from Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory's (aLIGO) first observing run. The data display no evidence of a stochastic gravitational-wave signal. We constrain the dimensionless energy density of gravitational waves to be Ω0<1.7×10-7 with 95% confidence, assuming a flat energy density spectrum in the most sensitive part of the LIGO band (20-86 Hz). This is a factor of ∼33 times more sensitive than previous measurements. We also constrain arbitrary power-law spectra. Finally, we investigate the implications of this search for the background of binary black holes using an astrophysical model for the background.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Physical Review Letters

Recommended Citation

Abbott, B., Abbott, R., Abbott, T., Abernathy, M., Acernese, F., Ackley, K., Adams, C., Adams, T., Addesso, P., Adhikari, R., Adya, V., Affeldt, C., Agathos, M., Agatsuma, K., Aggarwal, N., Aguiar, O., Aiello, L., Ain, A., Ajith, P., Allen, B., Allocca, A., Altin, P., Ananyeva, A., Anderson, S., Anderson, W., Appert, S., Arai, K., Araya, M., Areeda, J., Arnaud, N., Arun, K., Ascenzi, S., & Ashton, G. (2017). Upper Limits on the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run. Physical Review Letters, 118 (12) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.121101