Abstract
<p> We describe the observation of GW170104, a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of a pair of stellar-mass black holes. The signal was measured on January 4, 2017 at 10∶11:58.6 UTC by the twin advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory during their second observing run, with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a false alarm rate less than 1 in 70 000 years. The inferred component black hole masses are 31.2 þ8.4 −6.0M⊙ and 19.4 þ5.3 −5.9M⊙ (at the 90% credible level). The black hole spins are best constrained through measurement of the effective inspiral spin parameter, a mass-weighted combination of the spin components perpendicular to the orbital plane, χeff ¼ −0.12 þ0.21 −0.30. This result implies that spin configurations with both component spins positively aligned with the orbital angular momentum are disfavored. The source luminosity distance is 880 þ450 −390 Mpc corresponding to a redshift of z ¼ 0.18 þ0.08 −0.07 .We constrain the magnitude of modifications to the gravitational-wave dispersion relation and perform null tests of general relativity. Assuming that gravitons are dispersed in vacuum like massive particles, we bound the graviton mass to mg ≤ 7.7 × 10−23 eV=c2. In all cases, we find that GW170104 is consistent with general relativity.</p>
Original language | American English |
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Journal | Physical Review Letters |
Volume | 118 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 2 2017 |
Keywords
- gravitational waves
- black holes
- LIGO
- general relativity
Disciplines
- Astrophysics and Astronomy
- Cosmology, Relativity, and Gravity