GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First Half of the Third Observing Run

Abbott, R and Abbott, T D and Somala, Surendra Nadh and et al, . (2021) GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First Half of the Third Observing Run. Physical Review X, 11 (2). pp. 1-52. ISSN 2160-3308

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Abstract

We report on gravitational-wave discoveries from compact binary coalescences detected by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo in the first half of the third observing run (O3a) between 1 April 2019 15:00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15:00 UTC. By imposing a false-alarm-rate threshold of two per year in each of the four search pipelines that constitute our search, we present 39 candidate gravitational-wave events. At this threshold, we expect a contamination fraction of less than 10%. Of these, 26 candidate events were reported previously in near-real time through gamma-ray coordinates network notices and circulars; 13 are reported here for the first time. The catalog contains events whose sources are black hole binary mergers up to a redshift of approximately 0.8, as well as events whose components cannot be unambiguously identified as black holes or neutron stars. For the latter group, we are unable to determine the nature based on estimates of the component masses and spins from gravitational-wave data alone. The range of candidate event masses which are unambiguously identified as binary black holes (both objects ≥3 Mo˙) is increased compared to GWTC-1, with total masses from approximately 14 Mo˙ for GW190924_021846 to approximately 150 Mo˙ for GW190521. For the first time, this catalog includes binary systems with significantly asymmetric mass ratios, which had not been observed in data taken before April 2019. We also find that 11 of the 39 events detected since April 2019 have positive effective inspiral spins under our default prior (at 90% credibility), while none exhibit negative effective inspiral spin. Given the increased sensitivity of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, the detection of 39 candidate events in approximately 26 weeks of data (approximately 1.5 per week) is consistent with GWTC-1. © 2021 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.

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IITH Creators:

IITH Creators	ORCiD
Somala, Surendra Nadh	https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2663-3351

Item Type:

Article

Additional Information:

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) for the construction and operation of the LIGO Laboratory and Advanced LIGO as well as the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of the United Kingdom, the Max-Planck-Society (MPS), and the State of Niedersachsen/Germany for support of the construction of Advanced LIGO and construction and operation of the GEO600 detector. Additional support for Advanced LIGO was provided by the Australian Research Council. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, for the construction and operation of the Virgo detector and the creation and support of the EGO consortium.

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Binary systems; Black holes; False alarm rate; Mass ratio; Near-real time; Neutron stars; Ray coordinates; Total mass

Subjects:

Civil Engineering

Divisions:

Department of Civil Engineering

Depositing User:

. LibTrainee 2021

Date Deposited:

07 Sep 2022 13:33

Last Modified:

07 Sep 2022 13:33