GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence
read the original 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 5 $\sigma$. 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 $3.4_{-0.9}^{+0.7} \times 10^{-22}$. The inferred source-frame initial black hole masses are $14.2_{-3.7}^{+8.3} M_{\odot}$ and $7.5_{-2.3}^{+2.3} M_{\odot}$ and the final black hole mass is $20.8_{-1.7}^{+6.1} M_{\odot}$. 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 $440_{-190}^{+180}$ Mpc corresponding to a redshift $0.09_{-0.04}^{+0.03}$. All uncertainties define a 90 % credible interval. This second gravitational-wave observation provides improved constraints on stellar populations and on deviations from general relativity.
This paper has not been read by Pith yet.
Forward citations
Cited by 26 Pith papers
-
GRMHD accretion beyond the black hole paradigm: Light from within the shadow
3D GRMHD simulations of accretion onto a JMN-1 horizonless singularity produce a magnetically arrested disk with an accretion rate of ~3e-6 Eddington matching M87* observations and EHT-consistent images, plus central ...
-
Charged Superradiant Instability of Spherically Symmetric Regular Black Holes in de Sitter Spacetime: Time- and Frequency-Domain Analysis
ABG-dS black holes show charged superradiant instability exclusively for the spherically symmetric ℓ=0 mode, with growth rates that peak at intermediate Λ and q and rise with Q, differing from RN-dS due to nonlinear e...
-
Cosmic Collider Gravitational Waves sourced by Right-handed Neutrino production from Bubbles: Testing Seesaw, Leptogenesis and Dark Matter
Bubble collisions in a seesaw model produce right-handed neutrinos that source novel gravitational waves detectable by LISA, ET, and LVK while allowing the lightest RHN to explain dark matter or enable leptogenesis.
-
GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third Observing Run
LIGO and Virgo detected 39 compact binary coalescence events in O3a, including 13 new ones, with black hole binaries up to 150 solar masses and the first significantly asymmetric mass ratios.
-
New Sensitivity Curves for Gravitational-Wave Signals from Cosmological Phase Transitions
Defines peak-integrated sensitivity curves (PISCs) that fold in the expected spectral shape of gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions and supplies semianalytical fits plus public data for major detectors.
-
Primordial Black Hole from Tensor-induced Density Fluctuation: First-order Phase Transitions and Domain Walls
Tensor perturbations from first-order phase transitions and domain wall annihilation induce curvature fluctuations at second order that form primordial black holes, allowing asteroid-mass PBHs to comprise all dark mat...
-
Beyond the Separatrix: Analytic Continuation of Darwin Variables for Plunging Geodesics in Schwarzschild Spacetime
An analytic continuation of Darwin variables yields a real parametrization of bound, scattering, and plunging geodesics in Schwarzschild spacetime.
-
Asteroid-mass Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter from Supersymmetry
Supersymmetry with heavy particles above ~10^5 GeV enhances asteroid-mass PBH production via transient equation-of-state softening, allowing them to comprise all dark matter unlike in the Standard Model.
-
Irreducible Gravitational Wave Background as a Particle Detector
Spectral features imprinted by long-lived BSM particles on any primordial GWB directly determine the particles' mass and decay rate once the model and initial abundance are specified.
-
Particle motions and gravitational waveforms in rotating black hole spacetimes of loop quantum gravity
The LQG parameter ξ enlarges equatorial bound orbit energy ranges, confines off-equatorial trajectories, and produces larger deviations from Kerr waveforms in EMRI models for two rotating LQG black holes, though signa...
-
Reflectionless and echo modes in asymmetric Damour-Solodukhin wormholes
In asymmetric Damour-Solodukhin wormholes, reflectionless and echo modes share asymptotic spectral properties parallel to the real frequency axis with matching spacing, and reflectionless modes lie closer to the axis ...
-
Worldline effective field theory of inspiralling black hole binaries in presence of dark photon and axionic dark matter
Computes 1PN conservative dynamics for gravitational/EM/Proca fields and 2PN for scalar, plus radiation effects from axion-photon coupling at high PN orders in binary black hole systems with dark matter.
-
Surrogate models for precessing binary black hole simulations with unequal masses
New surrogate models NRSur7dq4 and RemnantModel accurately predict waveforms and remnant properties for precessing unequal-mass binary black holes up to q=4, outperforming existing models by an order of magnitude.
-
Tests of General Relativity with the Binary Black Hole Signals from the LIGO-Virgo Catalog GWTC-1
Binary black hole signals in GWTC-1 are consistent with general relativity predictions, with an improved graviton mass bound of mg ≤ 4.7 × 10^{-23} eV/c² at 90% credible level.
-
GMRT Survey of Radio Emission from Magnetic Massive Stars -- I: Emission from Single Stars at sub-GHz Frequencies
GMRT sub-GHz survey of 44 magnetic hot stars detects emission in 11 cases and finds scaling of radio luminosity with magnetic field and rotation period consistent with higher-frequency work.
-
The properties and predictions of quasi-periodic oscillations around a black hole in nonlocal gravity
Nonlocal gravity shrinks the ISCO radius, boosts QPO frequencies, and constrains α/M ≤ 0.452 with M ≲ 43.6 M_⊙ for observed high-frequency QPOs under resonance models.
-
Bayesian Analysis of Gravitational Wave Microlensing Effects from Galactic Double White Dwarfs
Bayesian analysis of simulated Taiji observations shows microlensing from lenses above 10^5 solar masses can be distinguished from unlensed DWD signals when separation is below 3 Einstein radii, while lower masses or ...
-
Topologically equivalent yet radiatively distinct orbits in EMRI system
In dyonic black holes, periodic orbits with identical rotation numbers but spanning different curvature regions generate radiatively distinct gravitational waveforms in EMRIs.
-
Biased parameter inference of eccentric, spin-precessing binary black holes
Eccentric BBH signals recovered with quasi-circular precessing models show biases in chirp mass and χ_p; Bayes factors favor eccentric aligned-spin models when both eccentricity and precession are present.
-
Echoes and quasinormal modes of asymmetric black bounces
Computes quasinormal modes and echoes for black bounce solutions, finding echoes only in certain symmetric horizonless cases and none in asymmetric models that recover Reissner-Nordström externally.
-
Gravitational waves of extreme-mass-ratio inspirals in a rotating black hole with Dehnen dark matter halo
EMRI waveforms in a rotating black hole with Dehnen DM halo show amplitude and phase shifts from Kerr, with mismatch rising as DM mass parameter and black hole spin increase.
-
Cosmological searches for the neutrino mass scale and mass ordering
Thesis summarizing an upper limit of 0.12 eV on the neutrino mass sum, bias calibration via CMB lensing cross-correlations, and tighter limits plus stronger normal-ordering preference in non-phantom dynamical dark ene...
-
On-axis scattering of scalar fields by charged rotating black holes
Numerical on-axis scalar scattering cross sections by Kerr-Newman black holes match classical and semiclassical results.
-
Noncanonical Approaches To Inflation
A review thesis covering Mukhanov parametrization, general scalar-tensor theories, and new slow-roll techniques for canonical and noncanonical inflation observables.
-
Effective Field Theory Calculation of LIGO-like Compton Scattering
The paper computes the graviton-scalar Compton scattering cross section via EFT at ~30 PeV center-of-mass energy and derives an impact parameter that, after coherence enhancement, scales with the known LIGO GW strain ...
-
Scalar induced gravitational waves review
A review that unifies analytical expressions for scalar-induced gravitational waves and emphasizes calculations for non-radiation-dominated cosmologies.
discussion (0)
Sign in with ORCID, Apple, or X to comment. Anyone can read and Pith papers without signing in.