GW150914: Implications for the stochastic gravitational-wave background from binary black holes

Authors

B. P. Abbott, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
R. Abbott, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
T. D. Abbott, Louisiana State UniversityFollow
M. R. Abernathy, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
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 di SalernoFollow
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
S. B. Anderson, California Institute of TechnologyFollow
W. G. Anderson, University of Wisconsin-MilwaukeeFollow
K. Arai, California Institute of Technology
M. C. Araya, California Institute of Technology
C. C. Arceneaux, University of Mississippi
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, University of Southampton
M. Ast, Universität Hamburg

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-31-2016

Abstract

The LIGO detection of the gravitational wave transient GW150914, from the inspiral and merger of two black holes with masses 30M, suggests a population of binary black holes with relatively high mass. This observation implies that the stochastic gravitational-wave background from binary black holes, created from the incoherent superposition of all the merging binaries in the Universe, could be higher than previously expected. Using the properties of GW150914, we estimate the energy density of such a background from binary black holes. In the most sensitive part of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo band for stochastic backgrounds (near 25 Hz), we predict ΩGW(f=25 Hz)=1.1-0.9+2.7×10-9 with 90% confidence. This prediction is robustly demonstrated for a variety of formation scenarios with different parameters. The differences between models are small compared to the statistical uncertainty arising from the currently poorly constrained local coalescence rate. We conclude that this background is potentially measurable by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors operating at their projected final sensitivity.

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., Anderson, S., Anderson, W., Arai, K., Araya, M., Arceneaux, C., Areeda, J., Arnaud, N., Arun, K., Ascenzi, S., Ashton, G., & Ast, M. (2016). GW150914: Implications for the stochastic gravitational-wave background from binary black holes. Physical Review Letters, 116 (13) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.131102