GW170104: Observation of a 50-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence at Redshift 0.2

Abstract

We describe the observation of GW170104, a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of a pair of stellar-mass black holes. The signal was measured on January 4, 2017 at 10∶11:58.6 UTC by the twin advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory during their second observing run, with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a false alarm rate less than 1 in 70 000 years. The inferred component black hole masses are <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mrow><a:mn>31.</a:mn><a:msubsup><a:mrow><a:mn>2</a:mn></a:mrow><a:mrow><a:mo>−</a:mo><a:mn>6.0</a:mn></a:mrow><a:mrow><a:mo>+</a:mo><a:mn>8.4</a:mn></a:mrow></a:msubsup><a:msub><a:mrow><a:mi>M</a:mi></a:mrow><a:mrow><a:mo stretchy="false">⊙</a:mo></a:mrow></a:msub></a:mrow></a:math> and <d:math xmlns:d="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><d:mrow><d:mrow><d:mn>19.</d:mn><d:msubsup><d:mrow><d:mn>4</d:mn></d:mrow><d:mrow><d:mo>−</d:mo><d:mn>5.9</d:mn></d:mrow><d:mrow><d:mo>+</d:mo><d:mn>5.3</d:mn></d:mrow></d:msubsup></d:mrow><d:msub><d:mrow><d:mi>M</d:mi></d:mrow><d:mrow><d:mo stretchy="false">⊙</d:mo></d:mrow></d:msub></d:mrow></d:math> (at the 90% credible level). The black hole spins are best constrained through measurement of the effective inspiral spin parameter, a mass-weighted combination of the spin components perpendicular to the orbital plane, <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><g:mrow><g:msub><g:mrow><g:mi>χ</g:mi></g:mrow><g:mrow><g:mi>eff</g:mi></g:mrow></g:msub><g:mo>=</g:mo><g:mrow><g:mo>−</g:mo><g:mn>0.1</g:mn><g:msubsup><g:mrow><g:mn>2</g:mn></g:mrow><g:mrow><g:mo>−</g:mo><g:mn>0.30</g:mn></g:mrow><g:mrow><g:mo>+</g:mo><g:mn>0.21</g:mn></g:mrow></g:msubsup></g:mrow></g:mrow></g:math>. This result implies that spin configurations with both component spins positively aligned with the orbital angular momentum are disfavored. The source luminosity distance is <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><i:mrow><i:mrow><i:mn>88</i:mn><i:msubsup><i:mrow><i:mn>0</i:mn></i:mrow><i:mrow><i:mo>−</i:mo><i:mn>390</i:mn></i:mrow><i:mrow><i:mo>+</i:mo><i:mn>450</i:mn></i:mrow></i:msubsup><i:mtext> </i:mtext><i:mtext> </i:mtext></i:mrow><i:mi>Mpc</i:mi></i:mrow></i:math> corresponding to a redshift of <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><k:mi>z</k:mi><k:mo>=</k:mo><k:mrow><k:mn>0.1</k:mn><k:msubsup><k:mn>8</k:mn><k:mrow><k:mo>−</k:mo><k:mn>0.07</k:mn></k:mrow><k:mrow><k:mo>+</k:mo><k:mn>0.08</k:mn></k:mrow></k:msubsup></k:mrow></k:math>. We constrain the magnitude of modifications to the gravitational-wave dispersion relation and perform null tests of general relativity. Assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum like massive particles, we bound the graviton mass to <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><m:mrow><m:msub><m:mrow><m:mi>m</m:mi></m:mrow><m:mrow><m:mi>g</m:mi></m:mrow></m:msub><m:mo>≤</m:mo><m:mn>7.7</m:mn><m:mo>×</m:mo><m:msup><m:mrow><m:mn>10</m:mn></m:mrow><m:mrow><m:mo>−</m:mo><m:mn>23</m:mn></m:mrow></m:msup><m:mtext> </m:mtext><m:mtext> </m:mtext><m:mi>eV</m:mi><m:mo stretchy="false">/</m:mo><m:msup><m:mrow><m:mi>c</m:mi></m:mrow><m:mrow><m:mn>2</m:mn></m:mrow></m:msup></m:mrow></m:math>. In all cases, we find that GW170104 is consistent with general relativity. Published by the American Physical Society 2017

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
• Università di Camerino IT
• Universität Hamburg DE
• Australian National University AU
• Polish Academy of Sciences PL
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma Tor Vergata IT
• The University of Western Australia AU
• Leibniz University Hannover DE
• Korea Institute of Science & Technology Information KR
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Roma I IT
• European Gravitational Observatory IT
• University of Sannio IT
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign US
• University of Minnesota US
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology US
• University of the West of Scotland GB
• 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
• Laboratoire des Matériaux Avancés FR
• University of Mississippi US
• Syracuse University US
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa IT
• California State University, Fullerton US
• Université Savoie Mont Blanc FR
• Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center PL
• University of Cambridge GB
• Université Paris-Sud FR
• ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery AU
• University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee US
• HUN-REN Wigner Research Centre for Physics HU
• Tata Institute of Fundamental Research IN
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Perugia IT
• Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology IN
• Délégation Paris 7 FR
• University of Glasgow GB
• Stanford University US
• West Virginia University US
• Eötvös Loránd University HU
• University of Birmingham GB
• Chennai Mathematical Institute IN
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli IT
• International Centre for Theoretical Sciences IN
• Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University US
• Lomonosov Moscow State University RU
• LIGO Scientific Collaboration US
• Radboud University Nijmegen NL

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