Observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger

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. A. Arain, University of FloridaFollow
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

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-11-2016

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 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410-180+160 Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09-0.04+0.03. In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36-4+5M⊙ 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.

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., Arain, M., Araya, M., Arceneaux, C., Areeda, J., Arnaud, N., Arun, K., Ascenzi, S., & Ashton, G. (2016). Observation of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger. Physical Review Letters, 116 (6) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102