Abstract
On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected signal is consistent with the merger of two black holes with masses of 85+21−14 M⊙ and 66+17−18 M⊙ (90% credible intervals). We infer that the primary black hole mass lies within the gap produced by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova processes, with only a 0.32% probability of being below 65 M⊙. We calculate the mass of the remnant to be 142+28−16 M⊙, which can be considered an intermediate mass black hole (IMBH). The luminosity distance of the source is 5.3+2.4−2.6 Gpc, corresponding to a redshift of 0.82+0.28−0.34. The inferred rate of mergers similar to GW190521 is 0.13+0.30−0.11 Gpc−3 yr−1.
Recommended Citation
R. Abbott et al., "GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of 150 M⊙," Physical Review Letters, vol. 125, no. 10, American Physical Society (APS), Sep 2020.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.101102
Department(s)
Physics
Keywords and Phrases
Experimental studies of gravity; General relativity; Gravitational waves
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0031-9007; 1079-7114
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2020 American Physical Society (APS), All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Publication Date
04 Sep 2020
