Gravitational-Wave Astronomy
LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA compact-binary catalogs, multimessenger neutron-star mergers, the nanohertz pulsar-timing background and tests of general relativity.
Most influential
- Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
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 $1.0 \times 10^{-21}$. It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for t…
Article14,246 citationsarXiv:1602.03837doi:10.1103/physrevlett.116.061102 - GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs
We present the results from three gravitational-wave searches for coalescing compact binaries with component masses above 1$\mathrm{M}_\odot$ during the first and second observing runs of the Advanced gravitational-wave detector network. During the first observing run (O1), from September $12^\mathrm{th}$, 2015 to January $19^\mathrm{th}$, 2016, gravitationa…
Article3,529 citationsarXiv:1811.12907doi:10.1103/physrevx.9.031040 - GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First Half of the Third Observing Run
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. By imposing a false-alarm-rate threshold of two per year in each of the four search pipelines that constitute our search, we prese…
Article2,246 citationsarXiv:2010.14527doi:10.1103/physrevx.11.021053 - GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object
We report the observation of a compact binary coalescence involving a 22.2 - 24.3 $M_{\odot}$ black hole and a compact object with a mass of 2.50 - 2.67 $M_{\odot}$ (all measurements quoted at the 90$\%$ credible level). The gravitational-wave signal, GW190814, was observed during LIGO's and Virgo's third observing run on August 14, 2019 at 21:10:39 UTC and …
Article1,830 citationsarXiv:2006.12611doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab960f - GW190425: Observation of a Compact Binary Coalescence with Total Mass ∼ 3.4 M ⊙
On 2019 April 25, the LIGO Livingston detector observed a compact binary coalescence with signal-to-noise ratio 12.9. The Virgo detector was also taking data that did not contribute to detection due to a low signal-to-noise ratio, but were used for subsequent parameter estimation. The 90% credible intervals for the component masses range from 1.12 to 2.52 $M…
Article1,607 citationsarXiv:2001.01761doi:10.3847/2041-8213/ab75f5 - Tests of General Relativity with GW150914
The LIGO detection of GW150914 provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the two-body motion of a compact-object binary in the large velocity, highly nonlinear regime, and to witness the final merger of the binary and the excitation of uniquely relativistic modes of the gravitational field. We carry out several investigations to determine whether GW1509…
Article1,780 citationsarXiv:1602.03841doi:10.1103/physrevlett.116.221101 - GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of 150 M ⊙
On May 21, 2019 at 03:02:29 UTC Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo observed a short duration gravitational-wave signal, GW190521, with a three-detector network signal-to-noise ratio of 14.7, and an estimated false-alarm rate of 1 in 4900 yr using a search sensitive to generic transients. If GW190521 is from a quasicircular binary inspiral, then the detected si…
Article1,312 citationsarXiv:2009.01075doi:10.1103/physrevlett.125.101102 - Search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background with the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array
Pulsar timing arrays aim to detect nanohertz-frequency gravitational waves (GWs). A background of GWs modulates pulsar arrival times and manifests as a stochastic process, common to all pulsars, with a signature spatial correlation. Here we describe a search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background (GWB) using observations of 30 millisecond …
Article1,160 citationsarXiv:2306.16215doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acdd02 - Binary Black Hole Mergers in the First Advanced LIGO Observing Run
The first observational run of the Advanced LIGO detectors, from September 12, 2015 to January 19, 2016, saw the first detections of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers. In this paper we present full results from a search for binary black hole merger signals with total masses up to $100 M_\odot$ and detailed implications from our observations …
Article1,395 citationsarXiv:1606.04856doi:10.1103/physrevx.6.041015 - GW170608: Observation of a 19 Solar-mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence
On June 8, 2017 at 02:01:16.49 UTC, a gravitational-wave signal from the merger of two stellar-mass black holes was observed by the two Advanced LIGO detectors with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13. This system is the lightest black hole binary so far observed, with component masses $12^{+7}_{-2}\,M_\odot$ and $7^{+2}_{-2}\,M_\odot$ (90% credible interv…
Article1,231 citationsarXiv:1711.05578doi:10.3847/2041-8213/aa9f0c - Did LIGO Detect Dark Matter?
We consider the possibility that the black-hole (BH) binary detected by LIGO may be a signature of dark matter. Interestingly enough, there remains a window for masses $20\,M_\odot \lesssim M_{\rm bh} \lesssim 100\, M_\odot$ where primordial black holes (PBHs) may constitute the dark matter. If two BHs in a galactic halo pass sufficiently close, they radiate…
Article1,226 citationsarXiv:1603.00464doi:10.1103/physrevlett.116.201301 - A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant
The detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves heralds the age of gravitational-wave multi-messenger astronomy. On 17 August 2017 the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors observed GW170817, a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system. Less than 2 seconds after the merger, a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was d…
Article1,201 citationsarXiv:1710.05835doi:10.1038/nature24471 - Population of Merging Compact Binaries Inferred Using Gravitational Waves through GWTC-3
We report on the population properties of compact binary mergers inferred from gravitational-wave observations of these systems during the first three LIGO-Virgo observing runs. The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 3 (GWTC-3) contains signals consistent with three classes of binary mergers: binary black hole, binary neutron star, and neutron star–black h…
Abstract excerpt by R. Abbott et al., CC-BY, https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevx.13.011048; truncated.
Article890 citationsdoi:10.1103/physrevx.13.011048 - Bilby: A User-friendly Bayesian Inference Library for Gravitational-wave Astronomy
Bayesian parameter estimation is fast becoming the language of gravitational-wave astronomy. It is the method by which gravitational-wave data is used to infer the sources' astrophysical properties. We introduce a user-friendly Bayesian inference library for gravitational-wave astronomy, Bilby. This python code provides expert-level parameter estimation infr…
Article1,147 citationsarXiv:1811.02042doi:10.3847/1538-4365/ab06fc - Electromagnetic counterparts of compact object mergers powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei
The most promising astrophysical sources of kHz gravitational waves (GWs) are the inspiral and merger of binary neutron star(NS)/black hole systems. Maximizing the scientific return of a GW detection will require identifying a coincident electro-magnetic (EM) counterpart. One of the most likely sources of isotropic EM emission from compact object mergers is …
Article1,183 citationsarXiv:1001.5029doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.16864.x
Newest work
- Gravitational lensing of gravitational waves by a Kerr black holePreprintarXiv:2610.39181
- Energy-flux noise induced by imperfections of the Gaussian beam in the Li-Baker HFGW detectorPreprintarXiv:2610.39248
- Scalar-induced gravitational waves in spatially covariant gravity with two tensorial degrees of freedomPreprintarXiv:2610.39252
- Robustness-based selection of laser-locking architectures for time-delay interferometry in space-based gravitational-wave detectorsPreprintarXiv:2610.39432
- The Pointing Error Due To Laser Propagation in Space Plasma for TianQin Gravitational Wave DetectionPreprintarXiv:2610.39587doi:10.1029/2025sw004784
- Searching for axion-like particles with space-based optical lattice clock networksPreprintarXiv:2610.39725
- Robust statistical significance for Gravitational Wave inferencePreprintarXiv:2610.39785
- RAKI: High-Order Alternative Finite Differences for General Relativistic MagnetohydrodynamicsPreprintarXiv:2610.39792
- The first mass peak of merging black holes from core binding energies and jet-driven explosionsPreprintarXiv:2610.39801
- Tidal disruption or plunge: the role of neutron star internal structure in black hole-neutron star mergersPreprintarXiv:2610.39862