Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, the Virgo Collaboration
2016-02-11
1602.03837
10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102
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 1.0×10−211.0×10−21. 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 5.1 {\sigma}. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410+160−180410−180+160 Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09+0.03−0.04z=0.09−0.04+0.03. In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36+5−4M⊙36−4+5M⊙ and 29+4−4M⊙29−4+4M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62+4−4M⊙62−4+4M⊙, with 3.0+0.5−0.5M⊙c23.0−0.5+0.5M⊙c2 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.
