Sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO detectors at the beginning of gravitational wave astronomy

Martynov, D. V. et al. (2016) Sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO detectors at the beginning of gravitational wave astronomy. Physical Review D, 93(11), 112004. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.93.112004)

Abstract

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) consists of two widely separated 4 km laser interferometers designed to detect gravitational waves from distant astrophysical sources in the frequency range from 10 Hz to 10 kHz. The first observation run of the Advanced LIGO detectors started in September 2015 and ended in January 2016. A strain sensitivity of better than 10−23/√Hz was achieved around 100 Hz. Understanding both the fundamental and the technical noise sources was critical for increasing the astrophysical strain sensitivity. The average distance at which coalescing binary black hole systems with individual masses of 30  M⊙ could be detected above a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 8 was 1.3 Gpc, and the range for binary neutron star inspirals was about 75 Mpc. With respect to the initial detectors, the observable volume of the Universe increased by a factor 69 and 43, respectively. These improvements helped Advanced LIGO to detect the gravitational wave signal from the binary black hole coalescence, known as GW150914.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bell, Dr Angus and Hammond, Professor Giles and Barr, Dr Bryan and Sorazu Lucio, Dr Borja and Hennig, Ms Margot and van Veggel, Dr Marielle and Rowan, Professor Sheila and Martin, Dr Iain and Robertson, Professor Norna and Cumming, Dr Alan and Cunningham, Dr Liam and Hough, Professor James and Strain, Professor Kenneth and Jones, Mr Russell
• Authors: Martynov, D. V., Hall, E. D., Abbott, B. P., Abbott, R., Abbott, T. D., Adams, C., Adhikari, R. X., Anderson, R. A., Anderson, S. B., Arai, K., Arain, M. A., Aston, S. M., Austin, L., Ballmer, S. W., Barbet, M., Barker, D., Barr, B., Barsotti, L., Bartlett, J., Barton, M. A., Bartos, I., Batch, J. C., Bell, A.S., Belopolski, I., Bergman, J., Betzwieser, J., Billingsley, G., Birch, J., Biscans, S., Biwer, C., Black, E., Blair, C. D., Bogan, C., Bork, R., Bridges, D. O., Brooks, A. F., Celerier, C., Ciani, G., Clara, F., Cook, D., Countryman, S. T., Cowart, M. J., Coyne, D. C., Cumming, A., Cunningham, L., Damjanic, M., Dannenberg, R., Danzmann, K., Da Silva Costa, C. F., Daw, E. J., DeBra, D., DeRosa, R. T., DeSalvo, R., Dooley, K. L., Doravari, S., Driggers, J. C., Dwyer, S. E., Effler, A., Etzel, T., Evans, M., Evans, T. M., Factourovich, M., Fair, H., Feldbaum, D., Fisher, R. P., Foley, S., Frede, M., Fritschel, P., Frolov, V. V., Fulda, P., Fyffe, M., Galdi, V., Giaime, J. A., Giardina, K. D., Gleason, J. R., Goetz, R., Gras, S., Gray, C., Greenhalgh, R. J. S., Grote, H., Guido, C. J., Gushwa, K. E., Gustafson, E. K., Gustafson, R., Hammond, G., Hanks, J., Hanson, J., Hardwick, T., Harry, G. M., Heefner, J., Heintze, M. C., Heptonstall, A. W., Hoak, D., Hough, J., Ivanov, A., Izumi, K., Jacobson, M., James, E., Jones, R., Kandhasamy, S., Karki, S., Kasprzack, M., Kaufer, S., Kawabe, K., Kells, W., Kijbunchoo, N., King, E. J., King, P. J., Kinzel, D. L., Kissel, J. S., Kokeyama, K., Korth, W. Z., Kuehn, G., Kwee, P., Landry, M., Lantz, B., Le Roux, A., Levine, B. M., Lewis, J. B., Lhuillier, V., Lockerbie, N. A., Lormand, M., Lubinski, M. J., Lundgren, A. P., MacDonald, T., MacInnis, M., Macleod, D. M., Mageswaran, M., Mailand, K., Márka, S., Márka, Z., Markosyan, A. S., Maros, E., Martin, I. W., Martin, R. M., Marx, J. N., Mason, K., Massinger, T. J., Matichard, F., Mavalvala, N., McCarthy, R., McClelland, D. E., McCormick, S., McIntyre, G., McIver, J., Merilh, E. L., Meyer, M. S., Meyers, P. M., Miller, J., Mittleman, R., Moreno, G., Mueller, C. L., Mueller, G., Mullavey, A., Munch, J., Nuttall, L. K., Oberling, J., O’Dell, J., Oppermann, P., Oram, R. J., O’Reilly, B., Osthelder, C., Ottaway, D. J., Overmier, H., Palamos, J. R., Paris, H. R., Parker, W., Patrick, Z., Pele, A., Penn, S., Phelps, M., Pickenpack, M., Pierro, V., Pinto, I., Poeld, J., Principe, M., Prokhorov, L., Puncken, O., Quetschke, V., Quintero, E. A., Raab, F. J., Radkins, H., Raffai, P., Ramet, C. R., Reed, C. M., Reid, S., Reitze, D. H., Robertson, N. A., Rollins, J. G., Roma, V. J., Romie, J. H., Rowan, S., Ryan, K., Sadecki, T., Sanchez, E. J., Sandberg, V., Sannibale, V., Savage, R. L., Schofield, R. M. S., Schultz, B., Schwinberg, P., Sellers, D., Sevigny, A., Shaddock, D. A., Shao, Z., Shapiro, B., Shawhan, P., Shoemaker, D. H., Sigg, D., Slagmolen, B. J. J., Smith, J. R., Smith, M. R., Smith-Lefebvre, N. D., Sorazu, B., Staley, A., Stein, A. J., Stochino, A., Strain, K. A., Taylor, R., Thomas, M., Thomas, P., Thorne, K. A., Thrane, E., Torrie, C. I., Traylor, G., Vajente, G., Valdes, G., van Veggel, A. A., Vargas, M., Vecchio, A., Veitch, P..J., Venkateswara, K., Vo, T., Vorvick, C., Waldman, S. J., Walker, M., Ward, R. L., Warner, J., Weaver, B., Weiss, R., Welborn, T., Weßels, P., Wilkinson, C., Willems, P. A., Williams, L., Willke, B., Winkelmann, L., Wipf, C. C., Worden, J., Wu, G., Yamamoto, H., Yancey, C. C., Yu, H., Zhang, L., Zucker, M. E., and Zweizig, J.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Research Centre: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy > Institute for Gravitational Research
• Journal Name: Physical Review D
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 1550-7998
• ISSN (Online): 1550-2368
• Published Online: 02 June 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 American Physical Society
• First Published: First published in Physical Review D 93(11): 112004
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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