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PhysRevLett 116 061102 PDF
PhysRevLett 116 061102 PDF
PhysRevLett 116 061102 PDF
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I. INTRODUCTION
In 1916, the year after the final formulation of the field
equations of general relativity, Albert Einstein predicted
the existence of gravitational waves. He found that
the linearized weak-field equations had wave solutions:
transverse waves of spatial strain that travel at the speed of
light, generated by time variations of the mass quadrupole
moment of the source [1,2]. Einstein understood that
gravitational-wave amplitudes would be remarkably
small; moreover, until the Chapel Hill conference in
1957 there was significant debate about the physical
reality of gravitational waves [3].
Also in 1916, Schwarzschild published a solution for the
field equations [4] that was later understood to describe a
black hole [5,6], and in 1963 Kerr generalized the solution
to rotating black holes [7]. Starting in the 1970s theoretical
work led to the understanding of black hole quasinormal
modes [810], and in the 1990s higher-order postNewtonian calculations [11] preceded extensive analytical
studies of relativistic two-body dynamics [12,13]. These
advances, together with numerical relativity breakthroughs
in the past decade [1416], have enabled modeling of
binary black hole mergers and accurate predictions of
their gravitational waveforms. While numerous black hole
candidates have now been identified through electromagnetic observations [1719], black hole mergers have not
previously been observed.
*
0031-9007=16=116(6)=061102(16)
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FIG. 1. The gravitational-wave event GW150914 observed by the LIGO Hanford (H1, left column panels) and Livingston (L1, right
column panels) detectors. Times are shown relative to September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC. For visualization, all time series are filtered
with a 35350 Hz bandpass filter to suppress large fluctuations outside the detectors most sensitive frequency band, and band-reject
filters to remove the strong instrumental spectral lines seen in the Fig. 3 spectra. Top row, left: H1 strain. Top row, right: L1 strain.
0.5
GW150914 arrived first at L1 and 6.90.4
ms later at H1; for a visual comparison, the H1 data are also shown, shifted in time by this
amount and inverted (to account for the detectors relative orientations). Second row: Gravitational-wave strain projected onto each
detector in the 35350 Hz band. Solid lines show a numerical relativity waveform for a system with parameters consistent with those
recovered from GW150914 [37,38] confirmed to 99.9% by an independent calculation based on [15]. Shaded areas show 90% credible
regions for two independent waveform reconstructions. One (dark gray) models the signal using binary black hole template waveforms
[39]. The other (light gray) does not use an astrophysical model, but instead calculates the strain signal as a linear combination of
sine-Gaussian wavelets [40,41]. These reconstructions have a 94% overlap, as shown in [39]. Third row: Residuals after subtracting the
filtered numerical relativity waveform from the filtered detector time series. Bottom row:A time-frequency representation [42] of the
strain data, showing the signal frequency increasing over time.
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propagation time, the events have a combined signal-tonoise ratio (SNR) of 24 [45].
Only the LIGO detectors were observing at the time of
GW150914. The Virgo detector was being upgraded,
and GEO 600, though not sufficiently sensitive to detect
this event, was operating but not in observational
mode. With only two detectors the source position is
primarily determined by the relative arrival time and
localized to an area of approximately 600 deg2 (90%
credible region) [39,46].
The basic features of GW150914 point to it being
produced by the coalescence of two black holesi.e.,
their orbital inspiral and merger, and subsequent final black
hole ringdown. Over 0.2 s, the signal increases in frequency
and amplitude in about 8 cycles from 35 to 150 Hz, where
the amplitude reaches a maximum. The most plausible
explanation for this evolution is the inspiral of two orbiting
masses, m1 and m2 , due to gravitational-wave emission. At
the lower frequencies, such evolution is characterized by
the chirp mass [11]
M
m1 m2 3=5
c3 5 8=3 11=3 _ 3=5
f
;
f
m1 m2 1=5 G 96
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(b)
(a)
FIG. 3. Simplified diagram of an Advanced LIGO detector (not to scale). A gravitational wave propagating orthogonally to the
detector plane and linearly polarized parallel to the 4-km optical cavities will have the effect of lengthening one 4-km arm and shortening
the other during one half-cycle of the wave; these length changes are reversed during the other half-cycle. The output photodetector
records these differential cavity length variations. While a detectors directional response is maximal for this case, it is still significant for
most other angles of incidence or polarizations (gravitational waves propagate freely through the Earth). Inset (a): Location and
orientation of the LIGO detectors at Hanford, WA (H1) and Livingston, LA (L1). Inset (b): The instrument noise for each detector near
the time of the signal detection; this is an amplitude spectral density, expressed in terms of equivalent gravitational-wave strain
amplitude. The sensitivity is limited by photon shot noise at frequencies above 150 Hz, and by a superposition of other noise sources at
lower frequencies [47]. Narrow-band features include calibration lines (3338, 330, and 1080 Hz), vibrational modes of suspension
fibers (500 Hz and harmonics), and 60 Hz electric power grid harmonics.
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FIG. 4. Search results from the generic transient search (left) and the binary coalescence search (right). These histograms show the
number of candidate events (orange markers) and the mean number of background events (black lines) in the search class where
GW150914 was found as a function of the search detection statistic and with a bin width of 0.2. The scales on the top give the
significance of an event in Gaussian standard deviations based on the corresponding noise background. The significance of GW150914
is greater than 5.1 and 4.6 for the binary coalescence and the generic transient searches, respectively. Left: Along with the primary
search (C3) we also show the results (blue markers) and background (green curve) for an alternative search that treats events
independently of their frequency evolution (C2 C3). The classes C2 and C3 are defined in the text. Right: The tail in the black-line
background of the binary coalescence search is due to random coincidences of GW150914 in one detector with noise in the other
detector. (This type of event is practically absent in the generic transient search background because they do not pass the time-frequency
consistency requirements used in that search.) The purple curve is the background excluding those coincidences, which is used to assess
the significance of the second strongest event.
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365
4 M
294
4 M
624
4 M
0.05
0.670.07
410160
180 Mpc
0.03
0.090.04
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11
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Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, 12227-010 So Jos dos Campos, So Paulo, Brazil
12
INFN, Gran Sasso Science Institute, I-67100 LAquila, Italy
13
INFN, Sezione di Roma Tor Vergata, I-00133 Roma, Italy
14
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune 411007, India
15
International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore 560012, India
16
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA
17
Leibniz Universitt Hannover, D-30167 Hannover, Germany
18
Universit di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa, Italy
19
INFN, Sezione di Pisa, I-56127 Pisa, Italy
20
Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 0200, Australia
21
The University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi 38677, USA
22
California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California 92831, USA
23
LAL, Universit Paris-Sud, CNRS/IN2P3, Universit Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France
24
Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai, India 603103
25
Universit di Roma Tor Vergata, I-00133 Roma, Italy
26
University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom
27
Universitt Hamburg, D-22761 Hamburg, Germany
28
INFN, Sezione di Roma, I-00185 Roma, Italy
29
Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut fr Gravitationsphysik, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany
30
APC, AstroParticule et Cosmologie, Universit Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Observatoire de Paris,
Sorbonne Paris Cit, F-75205 Paris Cedex 13, France
31
Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA
32
Universit di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
33
INFN, Sezione di Perugia, I-06123 Perugia, Italy
34
European Gravitational Observatory (EGO), I-56021 Cascina, Pisa, Italy
35
Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 13244, USA
36
SUPA, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom
37
LIGO Hanford Observatory, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
38
Wigner RCP, RMKI, H-1121 Budapest, Konkoly Thege Mikls t 29-33, Hungary
39
Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
40
Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA
41
Universit di Padova, Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, I-35131 Padova, Italy
42
INFN, Sezione di Padova, I-35131 Padova, Italy
43
CAMK-PAN, 00-716 Warsaw, Poland
44
Astronomical Observatory Warsaw University, 00-478 Warsaw, Poland
45
University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
46
Universit degli Studi di Genova, I-16146 Genova, Italy
47
INFN, Sezione di Genova, I-16146 Genova, Italy
48
RRCAT, Indore MP 452013, India
49
Faculty of Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119991, Russia
50
SUPA, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, United Kingdom
51
University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
52
Department of Astrophysics/IMAPP, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, 6500 GL Nijmegen, Netherlands
53
Artemis, Universit Cte dAzur, CNRS, Observatoire Cte dAzur, CS 34229, Nice cedex 4, France
54
MTA Etvs University, Lendulet Astrophysics Research Group, Budapest 1117, Hungary
55
Institut de Physique de Rennes, CNRS, Universit de Rennes 1, F-35042 Rennes, France
56
Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA
57
Universit degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo, I-61029 Urbino, Italy
58
INFN, Sezione di Firenze, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy
59
University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA
60
Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, UPMC-Sorbonne Universits, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, Collge de France,
F-75005 Paris, France
61
VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands
62
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
63
Center for Relativistic Astrophysics and School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
64
Institut Lumire Matire, Universit de Lyon, Universit Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR CNRS 5306, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
65
Laboratoire des Matriaux Avancs (LMA), IN2P3/CNRS, Universit de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne, Lyon, France
66
Universitat de les Illes Balears, IAC3IEEC, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
67
Universit di Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
68
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
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Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H8, Canada
70
Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
71
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA
72
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
73
National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu City, 30013 Taiwan, Republic of China
74
Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales 2678, Australia
75
University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
76
Caltech CaRT, Pasadena, California 91125, USA
77
Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information, Daejeon 305-806, Korea
78
Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota 55057, USA
79
Universit di Roma La Sapienza, I-00185 Roma, Italy
80
University of Brussels, Brussels 1050, Belgium
81
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California 94928, USA
82
Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA
83
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, Texas 78520, USA
84
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA
85
The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3010, Australia
86
The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom
87
University of Sannio at Benevento, I-82100 Benevento, Italy and INFN, Sezione di Napoli, I-80100 Napoli, Italy
88
Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey 07043, USA
89
Universit di Trento, Dipartimento di Fisica, I-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
90
INFN, Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Applications, I-38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
91
Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom
92
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
93
School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom
94
Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar Ahmedabad Gujarat 382424, India
95
Institute for Plasma Research, Bhat, Gandhinagar 382428, India
96
University of Szeged, Dm tr 9, Szeged 6720, Hungary
97
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott, Arizona 86301, USA
98
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
99
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai 400005, India
100
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, HSIC, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
101
American University, Washington, D.C. 20016, USA
102
Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York 14623, USA
103
University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
104
University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
105
West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, USA
106
University of Bia ystok, 15-424 Bia ystok, Poland
107
SUPA, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow G1 1XQ, United Kingdom
108
IISER-TVM, CET Campus, Trivandrum Kerala 695016, India
109
Institute of Applied Physics, Nizhny Novgorod, 603950, Russia
110
Pusan National University, Busan 609-735, Korea
111
Hanyang University, Seoul 133-791, Korea
112
NCBJ, 05-400 wierk-Otwock, Poland
113
IM-PAN, 00-956 Warsaw, Poland
114
Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia
115
Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea
116
University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama 35899, USA
117
ESPCI, CNRS, F-75005 Paris, France
118
Universit di Camerino, Dipartimento di Fisica, I-62032 Camerino, Italy
119
Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70813, USA
120
College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23187, USA
121
Instituto de Fsica Terica, University Estadual Paulista/ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research,
So Paulo SP 01140-070, Brazil
122
University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, United Kingdom
123
IISER-Kolkata, Mohanpur, West Bengal 741252, India
124
Whitman College, 345 Boyer Avenue, Walla Walla, Washington 99362 USA
125
National Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Daejeon 305-390, Korea
126
Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York 14456, USA
127
Janusz Gil Institute of Astronomy, University of Zielona Gra, 65-265 Zielona Gra, Poland
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