GW170814: A Three-Detector Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Coalescence

Abstract

On August 14, 2017 at 10∶30:43 UTC, the Advanced Virgo detector and the two Advanced LIGO detectors coherently observed a transient gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of two stellar mass black holes, with a false-alarm rate of <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:mo>≲</a:mo><a:mn>1</a:mn></a:math> in 27 000 years. The signal was observed with a three-detector network matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 18. The inferred masses of the initial black holes are <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:mrow><c:mn>30.</c:mn><c:msubsup><c:mrow><c:mn>5</c:mn></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mo>−</c:mo><c:mn>3.0</c:mn></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mo>+</c:mo><c:mn>5.7</c:mn></c:mrow></c:msubsup><c:msub><c:mrow><c:mi>M</c:mi></c:mrow><c:mrow><c:mo stretchy="false">⊙</c:mo></c:mrow></c:msub></c:mrow></c:math> and <f:math xmlns:f="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><f:mn>25</f:mn><f:mo>.</f:mo><f:msubsup><f:mn>3</f:mn><f:mrow><f:mo>−</f:mo><f:mn>4.2</f:mn></f:mrow><f:mrow><f:mo>+</f:mo><f:mn>2.8</f:mn></f:mrow></f:msubsup><f:msub><f:mrow><f:mi>M</f:mi></f:mrow><f:mrow><f:mo stretchy="false">⊙</f:mo></f:mrow></f:msub></f:math> (at the 90% credible level). The luminosity distance of the source is <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><i:mrow><i:mn>54</i:mn><i:msubsup><i:mrow><i:mn>0</i:mn></i:mrow><i:mrow><i:mo>−</i:mo><i:mn>210</i:mn></i:mrow><i:mrow><i:mo>+</i:mo><i:mn>130</i:mn></i:mrow></i:msubsup><i:mtext> </i:mtext><i:mtext> </i:mtext><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:mn>0.1</k:mn><k:msubsup><k:mn>1</k:mn><k:mrow><k:mo>−</k:mo><k:mn>0.04</k:mn></k:mrow><k:mrow><k:mo>+</k:mo><k:mn>0.03</k:mn></k:mrow></k:msubsup></k:math>. A network of three detectors improves the sky localization of the source, reducing the area of the 90% credible region from <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><m:mrow><m:mn>1160</m:mn><m:mtext> </m:mtext><m:mtext> </m:mtext><m:mtext> </m:mtext><m:mrow><m:msup><m:mrow><m:mi>deg</m:mi></m:mrow><m:mrow><m:mn>2</m:mn></m:mrow></m:msup></m:mrow></m:mrow></m:math> using only the two LIGO detectors to <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><o:mrow><o:mn>60</o:mn><o:mtext> </o:mtext><o:mtext> </o:mtext><o:mrow><o:msup><o:mrow><o:mi>deg</o:mi></o:mrow><o:mrow><o:mn>2</o:mn></o:mrow></o:msup></o:mrow></o:mrow></o:math> using all three detectors. For the first time, we can test the nature of gravitational-wave polarizations from the antenna response of the LIGO-Virgo network, thus enabling a new class of phenomenological tests of gravity. Published by the American Physical Society 2017

Keywords

Affiliated Institutions

• National Institute for Space Research BR
• Université Paris Cité FR
• National Institute for Subatomic Physics NL
• Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules FR
• California Institute of Technology US
• Louisiana State University US
• Monash University AU
• 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
• 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
• Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique FR
• University of Sannio IT
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign US
• University of Minnesota US
• Pennsylvania State University 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
• Université Paris-Saclay FR
• Cardiff University GB
• Syracuse University US
• Rochester Institute of Technology US
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Pisa IT
• California State University, Fullerton US
• Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso IT
• 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
• Goddard Space Flight Center US
• Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University US
• Lomonosov Moscow State University RU
• LIGO Scientific Collaboration US
• University of Strathclyde GB

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