Directly comparing GW150914 with numerical solutions of Einstein’s equations for binary black hole coalescence

Abbott, B. P.,Abbott, R.,Abbott, T. D.,Abernathy, M. R.,Acernese, F.,Ackley, K.,Adams, C.,Adams, T.,Addesso, P.,Adhikari, R. X.,Adya, V. B.,Affeldt, C.,Agathos, M.,Agatsuma, K.,Aggarwal, N.,Aguiar, O. American Physical Society 2016 Physical Review D Vol.94 No.6

<P>We compare GW150914 directly to simulations of coalescing binary black holes in full general relativity, including several performed specifically to reproduce this event. Our calculations go beyond existing semianalytic models, because for all simulations-including sources with two independent, precessing spins - we perform comparisons which account for all the spin-weighted quadrupolar modes, and separately which account for all the quadrupolar and octopolar modes. Consistent with the posterior distributions reported by Abbott et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 241102 (2016)] (at the 90% credible level), we find the data are compatible with a wide range of nonprecessing and precessing simulations. Follow-up simulations performed using previously estimated binary parameters most resemble the data, even when all quadrupolar and octopolar modes are included. Comparisons including only the quadrupolar modes constrain the total redshifted mass M-z epsilon [64 M-circle dot - 82 M-circle dot], mass ratio 1/q = m(2)/m(1) epsilon [0.6; 1], and effective aligned spin chi(eff) epsilon [-0.3, 0.2] where chi(eff) = (S-1/m(1)+S-2/m(2)). (L) over cap /M. Including both quadrupolar and octopolar modes, we find the mass ratio is even more tightly constrained. Even accounting for precession, simulations with extreme mass ratios and effective spins are highly inconsistent with the data, at any mass. Several nonprecessing and precessing simulations with similar mass ratio and chi(eff) are consistent with the data. Though correlated, the components' spins (both in magnitude and directions) are not significantly constrained by the data: the data is consistent with simulations with component spin magnitudes a(1,2) up to at least 0.8, with random orientations. Further detailed follow-up calculations are needed to determine if the data contain a weak imprint from transverse (precessing) spins. For nonprecessing binaries, interpolating between simulations, we reconstruct a posterior distribution consistent with previous results. The final black hole's redshifted mass is consistent with M-f,M-z in the range 64.0 M-circle dot - 73.5 M-circle dot and the final black hole's dimensionless spin parameter is consistent with a(f) = 0.62-0.73. As our approach invokes no intermediate approximations to general relativity and can strongly reject binaries whose radiation is inconsistent with the data, our analysis provides a valuable complement to Abbott et al.</P>

Properties of the Binary Black Hole Merger GW150914

Abbott, B. P.,Abbott, R.,Abbott, T. D.,Abernathy, M. R.,Acernese, F.,Ackley, K.,Adams, C.,Adams, T.,Addesso, P.,Adhikari, R. X.,Adya, V. B.,Affeldt, C.,Agathos, M.,Agatsuma, K.,Aggarwal, N.,Aguiar, O. American Physical Society 2016 Physical Review Letters Vol.116 No.24

<P>On September 14, 2015, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detected a gravitational-wave transient (GW150914); we characterize the properties of the source and its parameters. The data around the time of the event were analyzed coherently across the LIGO network using a suite of accurate waveform models that describe gravitational waves from a compact binary system in general relativity. GW150914 was produced by a nearly equal mass binary black hole of masses 36(-4)(+5) M-circle dot and 29(-4)(-4) M-circle dot; for each parameter we report the median value and the range of the 90% credible interval. The dimensionless spin magnitude of the more massive black hole is bound to be < 0.7 ( at 90% probability). The luminosity distance to the source is 410(-180)(+160) Mpc, corresponding to a redshift 0.09(-0.04)(+0.03) assuming standard cosmology. The source location is constrained to an annulus section of 610 deg(2), primarily in the southern hemisphere. The binary merges into a black hole of mass 62(-4)(+4) M-circle dot and spin 0.67(-0.07)(+0.05). This black hole is significantly more massive than any other inferred from electromagnetic observations in the stellar-mass regime.</P>

GW170817: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Neutron Star Inspiral

Abbott, B. P.,Abbott, R.,Abbott, T. D.,Acernese, F.,Ackley, K.,Adams, C.,Adams, T.,Addesso, P.,Adhikari, R. X.,Adya, V. B.,Affeldt, C.,Afrough, M.,Agarwal, B.,Agathos, M.,Agatsuma, K.,Aggarwal, N.,Agu American Physical Society 2017 Physical Review Letters Vol.119 No.16

<P>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 x 10(4) years. We infer the component masses of the binary to be between 0.86 and 2.26 M-circle dot, 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-circle dot, with the total mass of the system 2.74(-0.01)(+0.04) M-circle dot. The source was localized within a sky region of 28 deg(2) (90% probability) and had a luminosity distance of 40(-14)(+8) Mpc, the closest and most precisely localized gravitational-wave signal yet. The association with the gamma-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 gamma-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.</P>

GW170608: Observation of a 19 Solar-mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence

Abbott, B. P.,Abbott, R.,Abbott, T. D.,Acernese, F.,Ackley, K.,Adams, C.,Adams, T.,Addesso, P.,Adhikari, R. X.,Adya, V. B.,Affeldt, C.,Afrough, M.,Agarwal, B.,Agathos, M.,Agatsuma, K.,Aggarwal, N.,Agu American Astronomical Society 2017 ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS - Vol.851 No.2

<P>On 2017 June 8 at 02:01:16.49 UTC, a gravitational-wave (GW) signal from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes was observed by the two Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory detectors with a network signal-to-noise ratio of. 13. This system is the lightest black hole binary so far observed, with component masses of 12(2)(+7) M-circle dot and 7(2)(+2) M-circle dot (90% credible intervals). These lie in the range of measured black hole masses in low-mass X-ray binaries, thus allowing us to compare black holes detected through GWs with electromagnetic observations. The source's luminosity distance is 340(-140)(+140) Mpc, corresponding to redshift 0.07(-0.03)(+0.03). We verify that the signal waveform is consistent with the predictions of general relativity.</P>

THE RATE OF BINARY BLACK HOLE MERGERS INFERRED FROM ADVANCED LIGO OBSERVATIONS SURROUNDING GW150914

Abbott, B. P.,Abbott, R.,Abbott, T. D.,Abernathy, M. R.,Acernese, F.,Ackley, K.,Adams, C.,Adams, T.,Addesso, P.,Adhikari, R. X.,Adya, V. B.,Affeldt, C.,Agathos, M.,Agatsuma, K.,Aggarwal, N.,Aguiar, O. American Astronomical Society 2016 ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS - Vol.833 No.1

<P>A transient gravitational-wave signal, GW150914, was identified in the twin Advanced LIGO detectors on 2015 September 2015 at 09: 50: 45 UTC. To assess the implications of this discovery, the detectors remained in operation with unchanged configurations over a period of 39 days around the time of the signal. At the detection statistic threshold corresponding to that observed for GW150914, our search of the 16 days of simultaneous two-detector observational data is estimated to have a false-alarm rate (FAR) of <4.9 x 10(-6) yr(-1), yielding a p-value for GW150914 of <2 x 10(-7). Parameter estimation follow-up on this trigger identifies its source as a binary black hole (BBH) merger with component masses (m(1), m(2)) = (36(-4)(+5), 29(-4)(+4))M-circle dot at redshift z = 0.09(-0.04)(+0.03) (median and 90% credible range). Here, we report on the constraints these observations place on the rate of BBH coalescences. Considering only GW150914, assuming that all BBHs in the universe have the same masses and spins as this event, imposing a search FAR threshold of 1 per 100 years, and assuming that the BBH merger rate is constant in the comoving frame, we infer a 90% credible range of merger rates between 2-53 Gpc(-3) yr(-1)(comoving frame). Incorporating all search triggers that pass a much lower threshold while accounting for the uncertainty in the astrophysical origin of each trigger, we estimate a higher rate, ranging from 13-600 Gpc(-3) yr(-1) depending on assumptions about the BBH mass distribution. All together, our various rate estimates fall in the conservative range 2-600 Gpc(-3) yr(-1).</P>

Estimating the Contribution of Dynamical Ejecta in the Kilonova Associated with GW170817

Abbott, B. P.,Abbott, R.,Abbott, T. D.,Acernese, F.,Ackley, K.,Adams, C.,Adams, T.,Addesso, P.,Adhikari, R. X.,Adya, V. B.,Affeldt, C.,Afrough, M.,Agarwal, B.,Agathos, M.,Agatsuma, K.,Aggarwal, N.,Agu American Astronomical Society 2017 ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS - Vol.850 No.2

<P>The source of the gravitational-wave (GW) signal GW170817, very likely a binary neutron star merger, was also observed electromagnetically, providing the first multi-messenger observations of this type. The two-week-long electromagnetic (EM) counterpart had a signature indicative of an r-process-induced optical transient known as a kilonova. This Letter examines how the mass of the dynamical ejecta can be estimated without a direct electromagnetic observation of the kilonova, using GW measurements and a phenomenological model calibrated to numerical simulations of mergers with dynamical ejecta. Specifically, we apply the model to the binary masses inferred from the GW measurements, and use the resulting mass of the dynamical ejecta to estimate its contribution (without the effects of wind ejecta) to the corresponding kilonova light curves from various models. The distributions of dynamical ejecta mass range between M-ej = 10(-3) - 10(-2) M-circle dot for various equations of state, assuming that the neutron stars are rotating slowly. In addition, we use our estimates of the dynamical ejecta mass and the neutron star merger rates inferred from GW170817 to constrain the contribution of events like this to the r-process element abundance in the Galaxy when ejecta mass from post-merger winds is neglected. We find that if greater than or similar to 10% of the matter dynamically ejected from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers is converted to r-process elements, GW170817-like BNS mergers could fully account for the amount of r-process material observed in the Milky Way.</P>

GW170817: Measurements of Neutron Star Radii and Equation of State

Abbott, B. P.,Abbott, R.,Abbott, T. D.,Acernese, F.,Ackley, K.,Adams, C.,Adams, T.,Addesso, P.,Adhikari, R. X.,Adya, V. B.,Affeldt, C.,Agarwal, B.,Agathos, M.,Agatsuma, K.,Aggarwal, N.,Aguiar, O. D.,A American Physical Society 2018 Physical Review Letters Vol.121 No.16

<P>On 17 August 2017, the LIGO and Virgo observatories made the first direct detection of gravitational waves from the coalescence of a neutron star binary system. The detection of this gravitational-wave signal, GW170817, offers a novel opportunity to directly probe the properties of matter at the extreme conditions found in the interior of these stars. The initial, minimal-assumption analysis of the LIGO and Virgo data placed constraints on the tidal effects of the coalescing bodies, which were then translated to constraints on neutron star radii. Here, we expand upon previous analyses by working under the hypothesis that both bodies were neutron stars that are described by the same equation of state and have spins within the range observed in Galactic binary neutron stars. Our analysis employs two methods: the use of equation-of-state-insensitive relations between various macroscopic properties of the neutron stars and the use of an efficient parametrization of the defining function p(rho) of the equation of state itself. From the LIGO and Virgo data alone and the first method, we measure the two neutron star radii as R-1 = 10.8(-1.7)(+2.0) km for the heavier star and R-2 = 10.7(-1.5)(+2.1) km for the lighter star at the 90% credible level. If we additionally require that the equation of state supports neutron stars with masses larger than 1.97 M-circle dot as required from electromagnetic observations and employ the equation-of-state parametrization, we further constrain R-1 = 11.9(-1.4)(+1.4) km and R-2 = 11.9(-1.4)(+1.4) km at the 90% credible level. Finally, we obtain constraints on p(rho) at supranuclear densities, with pressure at twice nuclear saturation density measured at 3.5(-1.7)(+2.7) x 10(34) dyn cm(-2) at the 90% level.</P>

Tevatron Run II combination of the effective leptonic electroweak mixing angle

Aaltonen, T.,Abazov, V. M.,Abbott, B.,Acharya, B. S.,Adams, M.,Adams, T.,Agnew, J. P.,Alexeev, G. D.,Alkhazov, G.,Alton, A.,Amerio, S.,Amidei, D.,Anastassov, A.,Annovi, A.,Antos, J.,Apollinari, G.,App American Physical Society 2018 Physical Review D Vol.97 No.11

<P>Drell-Yan lepton pairs produced in the process p (p) over bar -> l(+)l(-) + X through an intermediate gamma*/Z boson have an asymmetry in their angular distribution related to the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the electroweak force and the associated mixing of its neutral gauge bosons. The CDF and D0 experiments have measured the effective-leptonic electroweak mixing parameter sin(2) theta(lept)(eff) using electron and muon pairs selected from the full Tevatron proton-antiproton data sets collected in 2001-2011, corresponding to 9-10 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity. The combination of these measurements yields the most precise result from hadron colliders, sin(2)theta(lept)(eff) = 0.23148 +/- 0.00033. This result is consistent with, and approaches in precision, the best measurements from electron-positron colliders. The standard model inference of the on-shell electroweak mixing parameter sin(2) theta(W), or equivalently the W-boson mass M-W, using the ZFITTER software package yields sin(2) theta(W) = 0.22324 +/- 0.00033 or equivalently, M-W = 80.367 +/- 0.017 GeV/c(2).</P>

Spiral density waves in a young protoplanetary disk

Pé,rez, Laura M.,Carpenter, John M.,Andrews, Sean M.,Ricci, Luca,Isella, Andrea,Linz, Hendrik,Sargent, Anneila I.,Wilner, David J.,Henning, Thomas,Deller, Adam T.,Chandler, Claire J.,Dullemond, American Association for the Advancement of Scienc 2016 Science Vol.353 No.6307

<P>Gravitational forces are expected to excite spiral density waves in protoplanetary disks, disks of gas and dust orbiting young stars. However, previous observations that showed spiral structure were not able to probe disk midplanes, where most of the mass is concentrated and where planet formation takes place. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, we detected a pair of trailing symmetric spiral arms in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star Elias 2-27. The arms extend to the disk outer regions and can be traced down to the midplane. These millimeter-wave observations also reveal an emission gap closer to the star than the spiral arms. We argue that the observed spirals trace shocks of spiral density waves in the midplane of this young disk.</P>

All-sky search for long-duration gravitational wave transients in the first Advanced LIGO observing run

Abbott, B P,Abbott, R,Abbott, T D,Abernathy, M R,Acernese, F,Ackley, K,Adams, C,Adams, T,Addesso, P,Adhikari, R X,Adya, V B,Affeldt, C,Agathos, M,Agatsuma, K,Aggarwal, N,Aguiar, O D,Aiello, L,Ain, A,A Institute of Physics 2018 Classical and quantum gravity Vol.35 No.6

<P>We present the results of a search for long-duration gravitational wave transients in the data of the LIGO Hanford and LIGO Livingston second generation detectors between <img ALIGN='MIDDLE' ALT='$ \newcommand{\OOneStart}{{\rm 12 ~September ~2015}} \newcommand{\OOneStartShort}{{\rm September ~2015}} \OOneStartShort$ ' SRC='http://ej.iop.org/images/0264-9381/35/6/065009/cqgaaab76ieqn001.gif'/> and <img ALIGN='MIDDLE' ALT='$ \newcommand{\OOneStop}{{\rm 19~ January ~2016}} \newcommand{\OOneStopShort}{{\rm January~ 2016}} \OOneStopShort$ ' SRC='http://ej.iop.org/images/0264-9381/35/6/065009/cqgaaab76ieqn002.gif'/>, with a total observational time of <img ALIGN='MIDDLE' ALT='$ \newcommand{\OOneLivetime}{{\rm 49~d}} \OOneLivetime$ ' SRC='http://ej.iop.org/images/0264-9381/35/6/065009/cqgaaab76ieqn003.gif'/>. The search targets gravitational wave transients of 10–500 s duration in a frequency band of 24–2048 Hz, with minimal assumptions about the signal waveform, polarization, source direction, or time of occurrence. No significant events were observed. As a result we set 90% confidence upper limits on the rate of long-duration gravitational wave transients for different types of gravitational wave signals. We also show that the search is sensitive to sources in the Galaxy emitting at least  ∼10<SUP>−8</SUP> <img ALIGN='MIDDLE' ALT='$ \newcommand{\msuncd}{{\rm M_{\odot} c^2}} \newcommand{\msun}{{\rm M_{\odot}}} {\msuncd}$ ' SRC='http://ej.iop.org/images/0264-9381/35/6/065009/cqgaaab76ieqn004.gif'/> in gravitational waves.</P>