Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration; The Virgo Collaboration; Karsten Danzmann; Michele Heurs; Fumiko Kawazoe; Harald Lück; Daniel Steinmeyer; Henning Fedor Cornelius Vahlbruch; Benno Willke; Holger Wittel; Bruce Allen; A. Bisht; Timo Denker; Stefan Kaufer; Christian Krüger; J. D. Lough; A. Sawadsky; Dirk Schütte

doi:10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22

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Original language	English
Article number	L22
Journal	Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume	818
Issue number	2
Publication status	Published - 20 Feb 2016

Abstract

The discovery of the gravitational-wave (GW) source GW150914 with the Advanced LIGO detectors provides the first observational evidence for the existence of binary black hole (BH) systems that inspiral and merge within the age of the universe. Such BH mergers have been predicted in two main types of formation models, involving isolated binaries in galactic fields or dynamical interactions in young and old dense stellar environments. The measured masses robustly demonstrate that relatively "heavy" BHs (≳25 M_⊙) can form in nature. This discovery implies relatively weak massive-star winds and thus the formation of GW150914 in an environment with a metallicity lower than about 1/2 of the solar value. The rate of binary-BH (BBH) mergers inferred from the observation of GW150914 is consistent with the higher end of rate predictions (≳1 Gpc^-3yr^?1) from both types of formation models. The low measured redshift (z ≃ 0.1) of GW150914 and the low inferred metallicity of the stellar progenitor imply either BBH formation in a low-mass galaxy in the local universe and a prompt merger, or formation at high redshift with a time delay between formation and merger of several Gyr. This discovery motivates further studies of binary-BH formation astrophysics. It also has implications for future detections and studies by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, and GW detectors in space.

Keywords

gravitational waves, stars: black holes, stars: massive

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Physics and Astronomy(all)
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Sciences(all)
Space and Planetary Science

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Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914. / The LIGO Scientific Collaboration; The Virgo Collaboration; Danzmann, Karsten et al.
In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 818, No. 2, L22, 20.02.2016.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer review

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, The Virgo Collaboration, Danzmann, K, Heurs, M, Kawazoe, F, Lück, H, Steinmeyer, D, Vahlbruch, HFC, Willke, B, Wittel, H, Allen, B, Bisht, A, Denker, T, Kaufer, S, Krüger, C, Lough, JD, Sawadsky, A & Schütte, D 2016, 'Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914', Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 818, no. 2, L22. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, The Virgo Collaboration, Danzmann, K., Heurs, M., Kawazoe, F., Lück, H., Steinmeyer, D., Vahlbruch, H. F. C., Willke, B., Wittel, H., Allen, B., Bisht, A., Denker, T., Kaufer, S., Krüger, C., Lough, J. D., Sawadsky, A., & Schütte, D. (2016). Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914. Astrophysical Journal Letters, 818(2), Article L22. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, The Virgo Collaboration, Danzmann K, Heurs M, Kawazoe F, Lück H et al. Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914. Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2016 Feb 20;818(2):L22. doi: 10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration ; The Virgo Collaboration ; Danzmann, Karsten et al. / Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914. In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. 2016 ; Vol. 818, No. 2.

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title = "Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914",

abstract = "The discovery of the gravitational-wave (GW) source GW150914 with the Advanced LIGO detectors provides the first observational evidence for the existence of binary black hole (BH) systems that inspiral and merge within the age of the universe. Such BH mergers have been predicted in two main types of formation models, involving isolated binaries in galactic fields or dynamical interactions in young and old dense stellar environments. The measured masses robustly demonstrate that relatively {"}heavy{"} BHs (≳25 M⊙) can form in nature. This discovery implies relatively weak massive-star winds and thus the formation of GW150914 in an environment with a metallicity lower than about 1/2 of the solar value. The rate of binary-BH (BBH) mergers inferred from the observation of GW150914 is consistent with the higher end of rate predictions (≳1 Gpc-3yr?1) from both types of formation models. The low measured redshift (z ≃ 0.1) of GW150914 and the low inferred metallicity of the stellar progenitor imply either BBH formation in a low-mass galaxy in the local universe and a prompt merger, or formation at high redshift with a time delay between formation and merger of several Gyr. This discovery motivates further studies of binary-BH formation astrophysics. It also has implications for future detections and studies by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, and GW detectors in space.",

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author = "{The LIGO Scientific Collaboration} and {The Virgo Collaboration} and Abbott, {B. P.} and R. Abbott and Abbott, {T. D.} and Abernathy, {M. R.} and F. Acernese and K. Ackley and C. Adams and T. Adams and P. Addesso and Adhikari, {R. X.} and Adya, {V. B.} and C. Affeldt and M. Agathos and K. Agatsuma and N. Aggarwal and Aguiar, {O. D.} and L. Aiello and A. Ain and P. Ajith and S. Bose and Brown, {D. A.} and Y. Chen and Danilishin, {S. L.} and Karsten Danzmann and Fricke, {T. T.} and Hanke, {M. M.} and J. Hennig and Michele Heurs and Fumiko Kawazoe and Lee, {H. K.} and Harald L{\"u}ck and J. Luo and Nguyen, {T. T.} and J. Schmidt and P. Schmidt and M. Shaltev and Daniel Steinmeyer and L. Sun and Vahlbruch, {Henning Fedor Cornelius} and M. Wang and X. Wang and Y. Wang and Wei, {L. W.} and Benno Willke and Holger Wittel and L. Zhang and Y. Zhang and M. Zhou and Bruce Allen and A. Bisht and Timo Denker and Stefan Kaufer and Christian Kr{\"u}ger and Lough, {J. D.} and A. Sawadsky and Dirk Sch{\"u}tte",

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AU - The LIGO Scientific Collaboration

AU - The Virgo Collaboration

AU - Abbott, B. P.

AU - Abbott, R.

AU - Abbott, T. D.

AU - Abernathy, M. R.

AU - Acernese, F.

AU - Ackley, K.

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AU - Adams, T.

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AU - Adhikari, R. X.

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AU - Affeldt, C.

AU - Agathos, M.

AU - Agatsuma, K.

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AU - Aiello, L.

AU - Ain, A.

AU - Ajith, P.

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AU - Brown, D. A.

AU - Chen, Y.

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AU - Danzmann, Karsten

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AU - Hennig, J.

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AU - Steinmeyer, Daniel

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AU - Vahlbruch, Henning Fedor Cornelius

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AU - Wang, X.

AU - Wang, Y.

AU - Wei, L. W.

AU - Willke, Benno

AU - Wittel, Holger

AU - Zhang, L.

AU - Zhang, Y.

AU - Zhou, M.

AU - Allen, Bruce

AU - Bisht, A.

AU - Denker, Timo

AU - Kaufer, Stefan

AU - Krüger, Christian

AU - Lough, J. D.

AU - Sawadsky, A.

AU - Schütte, Dirk

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N2 - The discovery of the gravitational-wave (GW) source GW150914 with the Advanced LIGO detectors provides the first observational evidence for the existence of binary black hole (BH) systems that inspiral and merge within the age of the universe. Such BH mergers have been predicted in two main types of formation models, involving isolated binaries in galactic fields or dynamical interactions in young and old dense stellar environments. The measured masses robustly demonstrate that relatively "heavy" BHs (≳25 M⊙) can form in nature. This discovery implies relatively weak massive-star winds and thus the formation of GW150914 in an environment with a metallicity lower than about 1/2 of the solar value. The rate of binary-BH (BBH) mergers inferred from the observation of GW150914 is consistent with the higher end of rate predictions (≳1 Gpc-3yr?1) from both types of formation models. The low measured redshift (z ≃ 0.1) of GW150914 and the low inferred metallicity of the stellar progenitor imply either BBH formation in a low-mass galaxy in the local universe and a prompt merger, or formation at high redshift with a time delay between formation and merger of several Gyr. This discovery motivates further studies of binary-BH formation astrophysics. It also has implications for future detections and studies by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, and GW detectors in space.

AB - The discovery of the gravitational-wave (GW) source GW150914 with the Advanced LIGO detectors provides the first observational evidence for the existence of binary black hole (BH) systems that inspiral and merge within the age of the universe. Such BH mergers have been predicted in two main types of formation models, involving isolated binaries in galactic fields or dynamical interactions in young and old dense stellar environments. The measured masses robustly demonstrate that relatively "heavy" BHs (≳25 M⊙) can form in nature. This discovery implies relatively weak massive-star winds and thus the formation of GW150914 in an environment with a metallicity lower than about 1/2 of the solar value. The rate of binary-BH (BBH) mergers inferred from the observation of GW150914 is consistent with the higher end of rate predictions (≳1 Gpc-3yr?1) from both types of formation models. The low measured redshift (z ≃ 0.1) of GW150914 and the low inferred metallicity of the stellar progenitor imply either BBH formation in a low-mass galaxy in the local universe and a prompt merger, or formation at high redshift with a time delay between formation and merger of several Gyr. This discovery motivates further studies of binary-BH formation astrophysics. It also has implications for future detections and studies by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, and GW detectors in space.

KW - gravitational waves

KW - stars: black holes

KW - stars: massive

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U2 - 10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22

DO - 10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22

M3 - Article

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VL - 818

JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters

JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters

SN - 2041-8205

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M1 - L22

ER -

Research@Leibniz University

Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914

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