Calibration of the Advanced LIGO detectors for the discovery of the binary black-hole merger GW150914

Abbott, B.P. et al. (2017) Calibration of the Advanced LIGO detectors for the discovery of the binary black-hole merger GW150914. Physical Review D, 95(6), 062003. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.062003)

Abstract

In Advanced LIGO, detection and astrophysical source parameter estimation of the binary black hole merger GW150914 requires a calibrated estimate of the gravitational-wave strain sensed by the detectors. Producing an estimate from each detector’s differential arm length control loop readout signals requires applying time domain filters, which are designed from a frequency domain model of the detector’s gravitational-wave response. The gravitational-wave response model is determined by the detector’s opto-mechanical response and the properties of its feedback control system. The measurements used to validate the model and characterize its uncertainty are derived primarily from a dedicated photon radiation pressure actuator, with cross-checks provided by optical and radio frequency references. We describe how the gravitational-wave readout signal is calibrated into equivalent gravitational-wave-induced strain and how the statistical uncertainties and systematic errors are assessed. Detector data collected over 38 calendar days, from September 12 to October 20, 2015, contain the event GW150914 and approximately 16 days of coincident data used to estimate the event false alarm probability. The calibration uncertainty is less than 10% in magnitude and 10° in phase across the relevant frequency band, 20 Hz to 1 kHz.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Gravitational wave detectors.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Grant, Mr Alastair and Pascucci, Daniela and Messenger, Dr Christopher and Masso Reid, Ms Mariela and Isa, Hafizah Noor Binti and Bell, Dr Angus and Hammond, Professor Giles and Hild, Professor Stefan and Barr, Dr Bryan and Sorazu Lucio, Dr Borja and Leavey, Mr Sean and Steinlechner, Dr Jessica and Veitch, Dr John and Hennig, Ms Margot and Heng, Professor Ik Siong and van Veggel, Dr Marielle and Houston, Mr Ewan and Newton, Dr Gavin and Hu, Mr Yiming and Graef, Dr Christian and Pearlstone, Mr Brynley and Hendry, Professor Martin and Douglas, Miss Rebecca and Scott, Dr Jamie and Danilishin, Dr Stefan and Rowan, Professor Sheila and Martin, Dr Iain and Robertson, Professor Norna and Chan, Mr Man Leong and Robie, Mr Raymond and Cumming, Dr Alan and Gordon, Mr Neil and Berry, Dr Christopher and Hennig, Mr Jan-Simon and Cunningham, Dr Liam and Barclay, Miss Sheena and Powell, Miss Jade and Woan, Professor Graham and WRIGHT, Jennifer and Steinlechner, Dr Sebastian and Mangano, Miss Valentina and Hough, Professor James and Lee, Kyung Ha and Huttner, Dr Sabina and Strain, Professor Kenneth and Jones, Mr Russell and Haughian, Dr Karen and HART, Martin and Pitkin, Dr Matthew and Murray, Dr Peter and Fletcher, Mr Mark
• Authors: Abbott, B.P., Abbott, R., Abbott, T.D., Abernathy, M.R., Ackley, K., Adams, C., Addesso, P., Adhikari, R.X., Adya, V.B., Affeldt, C., Aggarwal, N., Aguiar, O.D., Ain, A., Ajith, P., Allen, B., Altin, P.A., Amariutei, D.V., Anderson, S.B., Anderson, W.G., Arai, K., Araya, M.C., Arceneaux, C.C., Areeda, J.S., Arun, K.G., Ashton, G., Ast, M., Aston, S.M., Aufmuth, P., Aulbert, C., Babak, S., Baker, P.T., Ballmer, S.W., Barayoga, J.C., Barclay, S.E., Barish, B.C., Barker, D., Barr, B., Barsotti, L., Bartlett, J., Bartos, I., Bassiri, R., Batch, J.C., Baune, C., Behnke, B., Bell, A.S., Bell, C.S., Berger, B.K., Bergman, J., Bergmann, G., Berry, C.P.L., Betzwieser, J., Bhagwat, S., Bhandare, R., Bilenko, I.A., Billingsley, G., Birch, J., Birney, R., Biscans, S., Bisht, A., Biwer, C., Blackburn, J.K., Blair, C.D., Blair, D., Blair, R.M., Bock, O., Bodiya, T.P., Bogan, C., Bohe, A., Bojtos, P., Bond, C., Bork, R., Bose, S., Brady, P.R., Braginsky, V.B., Brau, J.E., Brinkmann, M., Brockill, P., Brooks, A.F., Brown, D.A., Brown, D.D., Brown, N.M., Buchanan, C.C., Buikema, A., Buonanno, A., Byer, R.L., Cadonati, L., Cahillane, C., Calderón Bustillo, J., Callister, T., Camp, J.B., Cannon, K.C., Cao, J., Capano, C.D., Caride, S., Caudill, S., Cavaglià, M., Cepeda, C., Chakraborty, R., Chalermsongsak, T., Chamberlin, S.J., Chan, M., Chao, S., Charlton, P., Chen, H.Y., Chen, Y., Cheng, C., Cho, H.S., Cho, M., Chow, J.H., Christensen, N., Chu, Q., Chung, S., Ciani, G., Clara, F., Clark, J.A., Collette, C.G., Cominsky, L., Constancio, M., Cook, D., Corbitt, T.R., Cornish, N., Corsi, A., Costa, C.A., Coughlin, M.W., Coughlin, S.B., Countryman, S.T., Couvares, P., Coward, D.M., Cowart, M.J., Coyne, D.C., Coyne, R., Craig, K., Creighton, J.D.E., Cripe, J., Crowder, S.G., Cumming, A., Cunningham, L., Dal Canton, T., Danilishin, S.L., Danzmann, K., Darman, N.S., Dave, I., Daveloza, H.P., Davies, G.S., Daw, E.J., Debra, D., Del Pozzo, W., Denker, T., Dent, T., Dergachev, V., Derosa, R., Desalvo, R., Dhurandhar, S., Díaz, M.C., Di Palma, I., Dojcinoski, G., Donovan, F., Dooley, K.L., Doravari, S., Douglas, R., Downes, T.P., Drago, M., Drever, R.W.P., Driggers, J.C., Du, Z., Dwyer, S.E., Edo, T.B., Edwards, M.C., Effler, A., Eggenstein, H.-B., Ehrens, P., Eichholz, J., Eikenberry, S.S., Engels, W., Essick, R.C., Etzel, T., Evans, M., Evans, T.M., Everett, R., Factourovich, M., Fair, H., Fairhurst, S., Fan, X., Fang, Q., Farr, B., Farr, W.M., Favata, M., Fays, M., Fehrmann, H., Fejer, M.M., Ferreira, E.C., Fisher, R.P., Fletcher, M., Frei, Z., Freise, A., Frey, R., Fricke, T.T., Fritschel, P., Frolov, V.V., Fulda, P., Fyffe, M., Gabbard, H.A.G., Gair, J.R., Gaonkar, S.G., Gaur, G., Gehrels, N., George, J., Gergely, L., Ghosh, A., Giaime, J.A., Giardina, K.D., Gill, K., Glaefke, A., Goetz, E., Goetz, R., Gondan, L., González, G., Gopakumar, A., Gordon, N.A., Gorodetsky, M.L., Gossan, S.E., Graef, C., Graff, P.B., Grant, A., Gras, S., Gray, C., Green, A.C., Grote, H., Grunewald, S., Guo, X., Gupta, A., Gupta, M.K., Gushwa, K.E., Gustafson, E.K., Gustafson, R., Hacker, J.J., Hall, B.R., Hall, E.D., Hammond, G., Haney, M., Hanke, M.M., Hanks, J., Hanna, C., Hannam, M.D., Hanson, J., Hardwick, T., Harry, G.M., Harry, I.W., Hart, M.J., Hartman, M.T., Haster, C.-J., Haughian, K., Heintze, M.C., Hendry, M., Heng, I.S., Hennig, J., Heptonstall, A.W., Heurs, M., Hild, S., Hoak, D., Hodge, K.A., Hollitt, S.E., Holt, K., Holz, D.E., Hopkins, P., Hosken, D.J., Hough, J., Houston, E.A., Howell, E.J., Hu, Y.M., Huang, S., Huerta, E.A., Hughey, B., Husa, S., Huttner, S.H., Huynh-Dinh, T., Idrisy, A., Indik, N., Ingram, D.R., Inta, R., Isa, H.N., Isi, M., Islas, G., Isogai, T., Iyer, B.R., Izumi, K., Jang, H., Jani, K., Jawahar, S., Jiménez-Forteza, F., Johnson, W.W., Jones, D.I., Jones, R., Ju, L., Haris, K., Kalaghatgi, C.V., Kalogera, V., Kandhasamy, S., Kang, G., Kanner, J.B., Karki, S., Kasprzack, M., Katsavounidis, E., Katzman, W., Kaufer, S., 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• Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy; Q Science > QC Physics
• 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
• Research Group: Institute for Gravitational Research
• Journal Name: Physical Review D
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 2470-0010
• ISSN (Online): 2470-0029
• Published Online: 28 March 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 American Physical Society
• First Published: First published in Physical Review D 95(6): 062003
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons license