GW170817: observation of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral
TL;DR: The association of GRB 170817A, detected by Fermi-GBM 1.7 s after the coalescence, corroborates the hypothesis of a neutron star merger and provides the first direct evidence of a link between these mergers and short γ-ray bursts.
Abstract: On August 17, 2017 at 12∶41:04 UTC the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors made their first observation of a binary neutron star inspiral. The signal, GW170817, was detected with a combined signal-to-noise ratio of 32.4 and a false-alarm-rate estimate of less than one per 8.0×10^{4} years. We infer the component masses of the binary to be between 0.86 and 2.26 M_{⊙}, in agreement with masses of known neutron stars. Restricting the component spins to the range inferred in binary neutron stars, we find the component masses to be in the range 1.17-1.60 M_{⊙}, with the total mass of the system 2.74_{-0.01}^{+0.04}M_{⊙}. The source was localized within a sky region of 28 deg^{2} (90% probability) and had a luminosity distance of 40_{-14}^{+8} Mpc, the closest and most precisely localized gravitational-wave signal yet. The association with the γ-ray burst GRB 170817A, detected by Fermi-GBM 1.7 s after the coalescence, corroborates the hypothesis of a neutron star merger and provides the first direct evidence of a link between these mergers and short γ-ray bursts. Subsequent identification of transient counterparts across the electromagnetic spectrum in the same location further supports the interpretation of this event as a neutron star merger. This unprecedented joint gravitational and electromagnetic observation provides insight into astrophysics, dense matter, gravitation, and cosmology.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors studied the effect of gravity and charge on the deflection angle of light-like and timelike neutral rays in Reissner-Nordstrom (RN) spacetimes.
Abstract: In this work we study the deflection angle and gravitational lensing of both lightlike and timelike neutral rays in Reissner–Nordstrom (RN) black hole spacetimes. The exact deflection angle is found as an elliptical function of the impact parameter b and velocity of the ray, and the charge Q of the spacetime. In obtaining this angle, we found the critical impact parameter and radius of particle sphere that are also dependent on and Q. In general, both the increase of velocity and charge reduces the as well as . To study the effect of and Q on the deflection angle , its weak and strong deflection limits, relativistic and non-relativistic limits, and small charge and extremal RN limits are analyzed carefully. It is found that both the increase of velocity and charge reduces the deflection angle. For weak deflection, the velocity and charge corrections appear respectively in the and orders. For strong deflections, these two corrections appear in the same order. The apparent angles and magnifications of weak and strong regular lensing, and retro-lensing are studied for both lightlike and timelike rays. In general, in all cases the increase of velocity or charge will decrease the apparent angle of any order. We show that velocity correction is much larger than that of charge in the weak lensing case, while their effects in the strong regular lensing and retro-lensing are comparable. It is further shown that the apparent angle and magnification in strong regular lensing and retro-lensing can be effectively unified. These observables at different orders in these two kinds of lensing are staggered: the apparent angles can be ordered in a staggered way and the magnifications form two staggered geometric series. Finally, we argue that the correction of and Q on the apparent angle can be correlated to mass or mass hierarchy of timelike particles with certain energy. In addition, the effects of and Q on shadow size of black holes are discussed.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a fully geometric approach to dark energy in the framework of F(R,&#x 1d4a2;) theories of gravity is presented, where R is the Ricci curvature scalar and 4a 2; is the Gauss-Bonnet topological invariant.
Abstract: We analyze a fully geometric approach to dark energy in the framework of F(R,𝒢) theories of gravity, where R is the Ricci curvature scalar and 𝒢 is the Gauss–Bonnet topological invariant. The latte...
53 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the appearance of a short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) 170817A-like jet as seen by an on-axis observer was compared to the previously observed population of SGRB afterglows and prompt emission events.
Abstract: The peculiar short gamma-ray burst (SGRB) GRB 170817A has been firmly associated to the gravitational wave event GW170817, which has been unanimously interpreted as due to the coalescence of a double neutron star binary. The unprecedented behaviour of the non-thermal afterglow led to a debate over its nature, which was eventually settled by high-resolution VLBI observations that strongly support the off-axis structured jet scenario. Using information on the jet structure derived from multi-wavelength fitting of the afterglow emission and of the apparent VLBI image centroid motion, we compute the appearance of a GRB 170817A-like jet as seen by an on-axis observer and compare it to the previously observed population of SGRB afterglows and prompt emission events. We find that the intrinsic properties of the GRB 170817A jet are representative of a typical event in the SGRB population, hinting at a quasi-universal jet structure. The diversity in the SGRB afterglow population could therefore be ascribed in large part to extrinsic (redshift, density of the surrounding medium, viewing angle) rather than intrinsic properties. Although more uncertain, the comparison can be extended to the prompt emission properties, leading to similar conclusions.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the connection between the stiffness of an hadronic equation of state (EoS) with a sharp phase transition to quark matter to its tidal deformability.
Abstract: We explore the connection between the stiffness of an hadronic equation of state (EoS) with a sharp phase transition to quark matter to its tidal deformability. For this we employ a hadronic relativistic mean field model with a parameterized effective nucleon mass to vary the stiffness in conjunction with a constant speed of sound EoS for quark matter. We compute multiple scenarios with phase transitions according to the four possible cases of a hybrid star EoS with a stable second branch. We demonstrate at the example of GW170817 how the effective nucleon mass can be constrained by using gravitational wave data. We find, that certain values of the effective nucleon mass are incompatible with GW170817 and a phase transition simultaneously. By using the recent NICER measurements of J0030+0451 at the $1\sigma$ level we constrain our results further and find that strong phase transitions with a visible jump in the mass-radius relation are ruled out at densities below 1.7 times saturation density.
53 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an improved version of the TEOBResum model with enhanced analytical information in its tidal sector is presented, which enhances the effect of the gravitoelectric and magnetic terms.
Abstract: Gravitational-wave astronomy with coalescing binary neutron star sources requires the availability of gravitational waveforms with tidal effects accurate up to merger. This article presents an improved version of \TEOBResum, a nonspinning effective-one-body (EOB) waveform model with enhanced analytical information in its tidal sector. The tidal potential governing the conservative dynamics employs resummed expressions based on post-Newtonian (PN) and gravitational self-force (GSF) information. In particular, we compute a GSF-resummed expression for the leading-order octupolar gravitoelectric term and incorporate the leading-order gravitomagnetic term (either in PN-expanded or GSF-resummed form). The multipolar waveform and fluxes are augmented with gravitoelectric and magnetic terms recently obtained in PN. The new analytical information enhances tidal effects toward merger accelerating the coalescence. We quantify the impact on the gravitational-wave phasing of each physical effect. The most important contribution is given by the resummed gravitoelectric octupolar term entering the EOB interaction potential, that can yield up to 1~rad of dephasing (depending on the NS model) with respect to its nonresummed version. The model's energetics and the gravitational wave phasing are validated with eccentricity-reduced and multi-resolution numerical relativity simulations with different equations of state and mass ratios. We also present EOB-NR waveform comparisons for higher multipolar modes beyond the dominant quadrupole one.
53 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a cosmological analysis based on full-mission Planck observations of temperature and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation.
Abstract: This paper presents cosmological results based on full-mission Planck observations of temperature and polarization anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. Our results are in very good agreement with the 2013 analysis of the Planck nominal-mission temperature data, but with increased precision. The temperature and polarization power spectra are consistent with the standard spatially-flat 6-parameter ΛCDM cosmology with a power-law spectrum of adiabatic scalar perturbations (denoted “base ΛCDM” in this paper). From the Planck temperature data combined with Planck lensing, for this cosmology we find a Hubble constant, H0 = (67.8 ± 0.9) km s-1Mpc-1, a matter density parameter Ωm = 0.308 ± 0.012, and a tilted scalar spectral index with ns = 0.968 ± 0.006, consistent with the 2013 analysis. Note that in this abstract we quote 68% confidence limits on measured parameters and 95% upper limits on other parameters. We present the first results of polarization measurements with the Low Frequency Instrument at large angular scales. Combined with the Planck temperature and lensing data, these measurements give a reionization optical depth of τ = 0.066 ± 0.016, corresponding to a reionization redshift of . These results are consistent with those from WMAP polarization measurements cleaned for dust emission using 353-GHz polarization maps from the High Frequency Instrument. We find no evidence for any departure from base ΛCDM in the neutrino sector of the theory; for example, combining Planck observations with other astrophysical data we find Neff = 3.15 ± 0.23 for the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom, consistent with the value Neff = 3.046 of the Standard Model of particle physics. The sum of neutrino masses is constrained to ∑ mν < 0.23 eV. The spatial curvature of our Universe is found to be very close to zero, with | ΩK | < 0.005. Adding a tensor component as a single-parameter extension to base ΛCDM we find an upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r0.002< 0.11, consistent with the Planck 2013 results and consistent with the B-mode polarization constraints from a joint analysis of BICEP2, Keck Array, and Planck (BKP) data. Adding the BKP B-mode data to our analysis leads to a tighter constraint of r0.002 < 0.09 and disfavours inflationarymodels with a V(φ) ∝ φ2 potential. The addition of Planck polarization data leads to strong constraints on deviations from a purely adiabatic spectrum of fluctuations. We find no evidence for any contribution from isocurvature perturbations or from cosmic defects. Combining Planck data with other astrophysical data, including Type Ia supernovae, the equation of state of dark energy is constrained to w = −1.006 ± 0.045, consistent with the expected value for a cosmological constant. The standard big bang nucleosynthesis predictions for the helium and deuterium abundances for the best-fit Planck base ΛCDM cosmology are in excellent agreement with observations. We also constraints on annihilating dark matter and on possible deviations from the standard recombination history. In neither case do we find no evidence for new physics. The Planck results for base ΛCDM are in good agreement with baryon acoustic oscillation data and with the JLA sample of Type Ia supernovae. However, as in the 2013 analysis, the amplitude of the fluctuation spectrum is found to be higher than inferred from some analyses of rich cluster counts and weak gravitational lensing. We show that these tensions cannot easily be resolved with simple modifications of the base ΛCDM cosmology. Apart from these tensions, the base ΛCDM cosmology provides an excellent description of the Planck CMB observations and many other astrophysical data sets.
10,728 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present results based on full-mission Planck observations of temperature and polarization anisotropies of the CMB, which are consistent with the six-parameter inflationary LCDM cosmology.
Abstract: We present results based on full-mission Planck observations of temperature and polarization anisotropies of the CMB. These data are consistent with the six-parameter inflationary LCDM cosmology. From the Planck temperature and lensing data, for this cosmology we find a Hubble constant, H0= (67.8 +/- 0.9) km/s/Mpc, a matter density parameter Omega_m = 0.308 +/- 0.012 and a scalar spectral index with n_s = 0.968 +/- 0.006. (We quote 68% errors on measured parameters and 95% limits on other parameters.) Combined with Planck temperature and lensing data, Planck LFI polarization measurements lead to a reionization optical depth of tau = 0.066 +/- 0.016. Combining Planck with other astrophysical data we find N_ eff = 3.15 +/- 0.23 for the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom and the sum of neutrino masses is constrained to < 0.23 eV. Spatial curvature is found to be |Omega_K| < 0.005. For LCDM we find a limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of r <0.11 consistent with the B-mode constraints from an analysis of BICEP2, Keck Array, and Planck (BKP) data. Adding the BKP data leads to a tighter constraint of r < 0.09. We find no evidence for isocurvature perturbations or cosmic defects. The equation of state of dark energy is constrained to w = -1.006 +/- 0.045. Standard big bang nucleosynthesis predictions for the Planck LCDM cosmology are in excellent agreement with observations. We investigate annihilating dark matter and deviations from standard recombination, finding no evidence for new physics. The Planck results for base LCDM are in agreement with BAO data and with the JLA SNe sample. However the amplitude of the fluctuations is found to be higher than inferred from rich cluster counts and weak gravitational lensing. Apart from these tensions, the base LCDM cosmology provides an excellent description of the Planck CMB observations and many other astrophysical data sets.
9,745 citations
TL;DR: This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger, and these observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems.
Abstract: 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 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 $410^{+160}_{-180}$ Mpc corresponding to a redshift $z = 0.09^{+0.03}_{-0.04}$. In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are $36^{+5}_{-4} M_\odot$ and $29^{+4}_{-4} M_\odot$, and the final black hole mass is $62^{+4}_{-4} M_\odot$, with $3.0^{+0.5}_{-0.5} M_\odot c^2$ 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.
9,596 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger were reported in this paper, with a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203,000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ.
Abstract: 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(-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 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410(-180)(+160) Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09(-0.04)(+0.03). In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36(-4)(+5)M⊙ and 29(-4)(+4)M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62(-4)(+4)M⊙, with 3.0(-0.5)(+0.5)M⊙c(2) 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.
4,375 citations
TL;DR: This second gravitational-wave observation provides improved constraints on stellar populations and on deviations from general relativity.
Abstract: We report the observation of a gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. The signal, GW151226, was observed by the twin detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) on December 26, 2015 at 03:38:53 UTC. The signal was initially identified within 70 s by an online matched-filter search targeting binary coalescences. Subsequent off-line analyses recovered GW151226 with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 13 and a significance greater than 5 σ. The signal persisted in the LIGO frequency band for approximately 1 s, increasing in frequency and amplitude over about 55 cycles from 35 to 450 Hz, and reached a peak gravitational strain of 3.4+0.7−0.9×10−22. The inferred source-frame initial black hole masses are 14.2+8.3−3.7M⊙ and 7.5+2.3−2.3M⊙ and the final black hole mass is 20.8+6.1−1.7M⊙. We find that at least one of the component black holes has spin greater than 0.2. This source is located at a luminosity distance of 440+180−190 Mpc corresponding to a redshift 0.09+0.03−0.04. All uncertainties define a 90 % credible interval. This second gravitational-wave observation provides improved constraints on stellar populations and on deviations from general relativity.
3,448 citations