GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence

Abstract

We report the observation of a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. The signal, GW151226, was observed by the twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) on December 26, 2015 at 03:38:53 UTC. The signal was initially identified within 70 s by an online matched-filter search targeting binary coalescences. Subsequent off-line analyses recovered GW151226 with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a significance greater than <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mrow><a:mn>5</a:mn><a:mi>σ</a:mi></a:mrow></a:math>. The signal persisted in the LIGO frequency band for approximately 1 s, increasing in frequency and amplitude over about 55 cycles from 35 to 450 Hz, and reached a peak gravitational strain of <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mrow><c:mn>3.</c:mn><c:msubsup><c:mrow><c:mn>4</c:mn></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mo>−</c:mo><c:mn>0.9</c:mn></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mo>+</c:mo><c:mn>0.7</c:mn></c:mrow></c:msubsup><c:mo>×</c:mo><c:msup><c:mrow><c:mn>10</c:mn></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mo>−</c:mo><c:mn>22</c:mn></c:mrow></c:msup></c:mrow></c:math>. The inferred source-frame initial black hole masses are <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><e:mrow><e:msubsup><e:mn>14.2</e:mn><e:mrow><e:mo>−</e:mo><e:mn>3.7</e:mn></e:mrow><e:mrow><e:mo>+</e:mo><e:mn>8.3</e:mn></e:mrow></e:msubsup></e:mrow><e:msub><e:mi>M</e:mi><e:mo stretchy="false">⊙</e:mo></e:msub></e:math> and <h:math xmlns:h="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><h:mrow><h:mn>7.</h:mn><h:msubsup><h:mn>5</h:mn><h:mrow><h:mo>−</h:mo><h:mn>2.3</h:mn></h:mrow><h:mrow><h:mo>+</h:mo><h:mn>2.3</h:mn></h:mrow></h:msubsup></h:mrow><h:msub><h:mi>M</h:mi><h:mo stretchy="false">⊙</h:mo></h:msub></h:math>, and the final black hole mass is <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><k:mrow><k:msubsup><k:mn>20.8</k:mn><k:mrow><k:mo>−</k:mo><k:mn>1.7</k:mn></k:mrow><k:mrow><k:mo>+</k:mo><k:mn>6.1</k:mn></k:mrow></k:msubsup></k:mrow><k:msub><k:mi>M</k:mi><k:mo stretchy="false">⊙</k:mo></k:msub></k:math>. We find that at least one of the component black holes has spin greater than 0.2. This source is located at a luminosity distance of <n:math xmlns:n="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><n:mrow><n:mrow><n:mn>44</n:mn><n:msubsup><n:mrow><n:mn>0</n:mn></n:mrow><n:mrow><n:mo>−</n:mo><n:mn>190</n:mn></n:mrow><n:mrow><n:mo>+</n:mo><n:mn>180</n:mn></n:mrow></n:msubsup><n:mtext> </n:mtext><n:mtext> </n:mtext><n:mi>Mpc</n:mi></n:mrow></n:mrow></n:math> corresponding to a redshift of <p:math xmlns:p="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><p:mn>0.0</p:mn><p:msubsup><p:mn>9</p:mn><p:mrow><p:mo>−</p:mo><p:mn>0.04</p:mn></p:mrow><p:mrow><p:mo>+</p:mo><p:mn>0.03</p:mn></p:mrow></p:msubsup></p:math>. All uncertainties define a 90% credible interval. This second gravitational-wave observation provides improved constraints on stellar populations and on deviations from general relativity. Published by the American Physical Society 2016

Keywords

Affiliated Institutions

• Gran Sasso Science Institute IT
• National Institute for Space Research BR
• Université Paris Cité FR
• National Institute for Subatomic Physics NL
• California Institute of Technology US
• Louisiana State University US
• Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics IN
• Universität Hamburg DE
• Australian National University AU
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata IT
• The University of Western Australia AU
• Leibniz University Hannover DE
• Institut de Physique de Rennes FR
• Sorbonne Paris Cité FR
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I IT
• European Gravitational Observatory IT
• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique FR
• University of Sannio IT
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology US
• University of the West of Scotland GB
• American University US
• University of Salerno IT
• University of Florida US
• Columbia University US
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Genova IT
• Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics DE
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Padova IT
• University of Mississippi US
• Syracuse University US
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa IT
• California State University, Fullerton US
• Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives FR
• Laboratoire d’Annecy de Physique des Particules FR
• Université Paris-Sud FR
• University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee US
• HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics HU
• Centre de la Méditerranée Moderne et Contemporaine FR
• Montana State University US
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research IN
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia IT
• Université Côte d'Azur FR
• University of Southampton GB
• Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology IN
• Délégation Paris 7 FR
• University of Glasgow GB
• Stanford University US
• University of Birmingham GB
• Chennai Mathematical Institute IN
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli IT
• International Centre for Theoretical Sciences IN
• Lomonosov Moscow State University RU
• Washington State University US
• LIGO Scientific Collaboration US
• Radboud University Nijmegen NL

Related Publications