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 5σ. 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 3.4-0.9+0.7 x 10-22. The inferred source-frame initial black hole masses are 14.2-3.7+8.3M⊙ and 7.5+2.3-2.3M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 20.8z+6.1-1.7M⊙. 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 440+180-190 Mpc corresponding to a redshift of 0.09+0.03-0.04. All uncertainties define a 90% credible interval. This second gravitational-wave observation provides improved constraints on stellar populations and on deviations from general relativity.

Department(s)

Physics

Keywords and Phrases

Bins; Frequency bands; Gravitational effects; Gravity waves; Interferometers; Laser interferometry; Matched filters; Relativity; Signal to noise ratio; Stars; Black hole mass; Credible interval; General Relativity; Gravitational-wave signals; Laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatories; Off-line analysis; Stellar populations; Stellar-mass black holes; Gravitation

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0031-9007

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2016 American Physical Society (APS), All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jun 2016

Download

Full Text Link

Included in

Physics Commons

Share

 
COinS