Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger.

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Abstract

On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10(-21). It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203,000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410(-180)(+160) Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09(-0.04)(+0.03). In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36(-4)(+5)M⊙ and 29(-4)(+4)M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62(-4)(+4)M⊙, with 3.0(-0.5)(+0.5)M⊙c(2) radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.

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Gravitational wave extraction from an inspiraling configuration of merging black holes

Michael Koppitz, James van Meter, Joan Centrella … (2005)

We present new techniqes for evolving binary black hole systems which allow the accurate determination of gravitational waveforms directly from the wave zone region of the numerical simulations. Rather than excising the black hole interiors, our approach follows the "puncture" treatment of black holes, but utilzing a new gauge condition which allows the black holes to move successfully through the computational domain. We apply these techniques to an inspiraling binary, modeling the radiation generated during the final plunge and ringdown. We demonstrate convergence of the waveforms and good conservation of mass-energy, with just over 3% of the system's mass converted to gravitional radiation.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Phys. Rev. Lett.

Title: Physical review letters

Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)

ISSN (Electronic): 1079-7114

ISSN (Print): 0031-9007

Publication date (Electronic): Feb 12 2016

Volume: 116

Issue: 6

Affiliations

[1 ] LIGO, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.

[2 ] Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA.

[3 ] Università di Salerno, Fisciano, I-84084 Salerno, Italy.

[4 ] INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, I-80126 Napoli, Italy.

[5 ] University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611, USA.

[6 ] LIGO Livingston Observatory, Livingston, Louisiana 70754, USA.

[7 ] Laboratoire d'Annecy-le-Vieux de Physique des Particules (LAPP), Université Savoie Mont Blanc, CNRS/IN2P3, F-74941 Annecy-le-Vieux, France.

[8 ] Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, D-30167 Hannover, Germany.

[9 ] Nikhef, Science Park, 1098 XG Amsterdam, Netherlands.

[10 ] LIGO, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.

[11 ] Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, 12227-010 São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil.

[12 ] INFN, Gran Sasso Science Institute, I-67100 L'Aquila, 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 Universität Hannover, D-30167 Hannover, Germany.

[18 ] Università 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, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS/IN2P3, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France.

[24 ] Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai, India 603103.

[25 ] Università di Roma Tor Vergata, I-00133 Roma, Italy.

[26 ] University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom.

[27 ] Universität Hamburg, D-22761 Hamburg, Germany.

[28 ] INFN, Sezione di Roma, I-00185 Roma, Italy.

[29 ] Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, D-14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany.

[30 ] APC, AstroParticule et Cosmologie, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/Irfu, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cité, F-75205 Paris Cedex 13, France.

[31 ] Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA.

[32 ] Università 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 Miklós út 29-33, Hungary.

[39 ] Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.

[40 ] Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

[41 ] Università 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 ] Università 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, Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Observatoire Côte d'Azur, CS 34229, Nice cedex 4, France.

[54 ] MTA Eötvös University, "Lendulet" Astrophysics Research Group, Budapest 1117, Hungary.

[55 ] Institut de Physique de Rennes, CNRS, Université de Rennes 1, F-35042 Rennes, France.

[56 ] Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 99164, USA.

[57 ] Università 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 Universités, CNRS, ENS-PSL Research University, Collège 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 Lumière Matière, Université de Lyon, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, UMR CNRS 5306, 69622 Villeurbanne, France.

[65 ] Laboratoire des Matériaux Avancés (LMA), IN2P3/CNRS, Université de Lyon, F-69622 Villeurbanne, Lyon, France.

[66 ] Universitat de les Illes Balears, IAC3-IEEC, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

[67 ] Università di Napoli "Federico II," Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, I-80126 Napoli, Italy.

[68 ] NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA.

[69 ] 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 ] Università 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 ] Università 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, Dóm tér 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 Biał ystok, 15-424 Biał 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 Świerk-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 ] Università 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 Física Teórica, University Estadual Paulista/ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research, São 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 Góra, 65-265 Zielona Góra, Poland.

[128 ] Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104, USA.

[129 ] Università di Siena, I-53100 Siena, Italy.

[130 ] Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas 78212, USA.

[131 ] University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.

[132 ] Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio 43022, USA.

[133 ] Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas 79699, USA.

Article

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102

PubMed ID: 26918975

SO-VID: 1b91db8d-a11d-4ed4-9e38-fbb12ab88cc6

History

Data availability:

Comments

Jon Tennant added an editorial note to Gravitational Waves

An important new dicovery that supports a previous theory made by none other than Albert Einstein almost 100 years ago. The gravitational waves represent the warping of space-time caused by the collision of two black holes, more than a billion light years away from Earth. The discovery was made by the LIGO collaboration, and might be one of the most important developments in recent years for science.

2016-02-15 08:50 UTC

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