Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO

Abbott, B. P. et al. (2017) Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first observing run of Advanced LIGO. Physical Review D, 96(2), 022001. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.96.022001)

Abstract

During their first observational run, the two Advanced LIGO detectors attained an unprecedented sensitivity, resulting in the first direct detections of gravitational-wave signals produced by stellar-mass binary black hole systems. This paper reports on an all-sky search for gravitational waves (GWs) from merging intermediate mass black hole binaries (IMBHBs). The combined results from two independent search techniques were used in this study: the first employs a matched-filter algorithm that uses a bank of filters covering the GW signal parameter space, while the second is a generic search for GW transients (bursts). No GWs from IMBHBs were detected; therefore, we constrain the rate of several classes of IMBHB mergers. The most stringent limit is obtained for black holes of individual mass 100 M⊙, with spins aligned with the binary orbital angular momentum. For such systems, the merger rate is constrained to be less than 0.93 Gpc−3 yr−1 in comoving units at the 90% confidence level, an improvement of nearly 2 orders of magnitude over previous upper limits.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: TOLAND, Karl and Grant, Mr Alastair and Pearlstone, Brynley and Robie, Raymond and Messenger, Dr Christopher and Isa, Hafizah Noor Binti and Bell, Dr Angus and Williams, Dr Daniel and Pascucci, Daniela and Hammond, Professor Giles and Hild, Professor Stefan and Barr, Dr Bryan and Sorazu Lucio, Dr Borja and Lee, Kyung Ha and Keitel, David and Leavey, Mr Sean and Barclay, Sheena Elaine and Steinlechner, Dr Jessica and Houston, Ewan and Phelps, Margot H and Heng, Professor Ik Siong and van Veggel, Dr Marielle and Newton, Dr Gavin and Graef, Dr Christian and Zhang, Mr Teng and Hendry, Professor Martin and Douglas, Miss Rebecca and Scott, Dr Jamie and Mangano, Valentina and Rowan, Professor Sheila and Martin, Dr Iain and Robertson, Professor Norna and Chan, Mr Man Leong and Tornasi, Zeno and SPENCER, Andrew and Cumming, Dr Alan and Berry, Dr Christopher and Hennig, Mr Jan-Simon and Cunningham, Dr Liam and Woan, Professor Graham and WRIGHT, Jennifer and Steinlechner, Dr Sebastian and Powell, Jade and Hough, Professor James 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., Acernese, F., Ackley, K., Adams, C., Adams, T., Addesso, P., Adhikari, R. X., Adya, V. B., Affeldt, C., Afrough, M., Agarwal, B., Agatsuma, K., Aggarwal, N., Aguiar, O. D., Aiello, L., Ain, A., Allen, B., Allen, G., Allocca, A., Almoubayyed, H., Altin, P. A., Amato, A., Ananyeva, A., Anderson, S. B., Anderson, W. G., Antier, S., Appert, S., Arai, K., Araya, M. C., Areeda, J. S., Arnaud, N., Arun, K. G., Ascenzi, S., Ashton, G., Ast, M., Aston, S. M., Astone, P., Aufmuth, P., Aulbert, C., AultONeal, K., Avila-Alvarez, A., Babak, S., Bacon, P., Bader, M. K. M., Bae, S., Baker, P. T., Baldaccini, F., Ballardin, G., Ballmer, S. W., Banagiri, S., Barayoga, J. C., Barclay, S.E., Barish, B. C., Barker, D., Barone, F., Barr, B., Barsotti, L., Barsuglia, M., Barta, D., Bartlett, J., Bartos, I., Bassiri, R., Basti, A., Batch, J. C., Baune, C., Bawaj, M., Bazzan, M., Bécsy, B., Beer, C., Bejger, M., Belahcene, I., Bell, A.S., Berger, B. K., Bergmann, G., Berry, C. P. L., Bersanetti, D., Bertolini, A., Betzwieser, J., Bhagwat, S., Bhandare, R., Bilenko, I. A., Billingsley, G., Billman, C. R., Birch, J., Birney, R., Birnholtz, O., Biscans, S., Bisht, A., Bitossi, M., Biwer, C., Bizouard, M. A., Blackburn, J. K., Blackman, J., Blair, C. D., Blair, D. G., Blair, R. M., Bloemen, S., Bock, O., Bode, N., Boer, M., Bogaert, G., Bohe, A., Bondu, F., Bonnand, R., Boom, B. A., Bork, R., Boschi, V., Bose, S., Bouffanais, Y., Bozzi, A., Bradaschia, C., Brady, P. R., Braginsky, V. B., Branchesi, M., Brau, J. E., Briant, T., Brillet, A., Brinkmann, M., Brisson, V., Brockill, P., Broida, J. E., Brooks, A. F., Brown, D. A., Brown, D. D., Brown, N. M., Brunett, S., Buchanan, C. C., Buikema, A., Bulik, T., Bulten, H. J., Buonanno, A., Buskulic, D., Buy, C., Byer, R. L., Cabero, M., Cadonati, L., Cagnoli, G., Cahillane, C., Calderón Bustillo, J., Callister, T. A., Calloni, E., Camp, J. B., Canepa, M., Canizares, P., Cannon, K. C., Cao, H., Cao, J., Capano, C. D., Capocasa, E., Carbognani, F., Caride, S., Carney, M. F., Casanueva Diaz, J., Casentini, C., Caudill, S., Cavaglià, M., Cavalier, F., Cavalieri, R., Cella, G., Cepeda, C. B., Cerboni Baiardi, L., Cerretani, G., Cesarini, E., Chamberlin, S. J., Chan, M., Chao, S., Charlton, P., Chassande-Mottin, E., Chatterjee, D., Cheeseboro, B. D., Chen, H. Y., Chen, Y., Cheng, H.-P., Chincarini, A., Chiummo, A., Chmiel, T., Cho, H. S., Cho, M., Chow, J. H., Christensen, N., Chu, Q., Chua, A. J. K., Chua, S., Chung, A. K. W., Chung, S., Ciani, G., Ciolfi, R., Cirelli, C. E., Cirone, A., Clara, F., Clark, J. A., Cleva, F., Cocchieri, C., Coccia, E., Cohadon, P.-F., Colla, A., Collette, C. G., Cominsky, L. R., Constancio, M., Conti, L., Cooper, S. J., Corban, P., Corbitt, T. R., Corley, K. R., Cornish, N., Corsi, A., Cortese, S., Costa, C. A., Coughlin, M. W., Coughlin, S. B., Coulon, J.-P., Countryman, S. T., Couvares, P., Covas, P. B., Cowan, E. E., Coward, D. 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• 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: 2470-0010
• ISSN (Online): 2470-0029
• Published Online: 11 July 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 American Physical Society
• First Published: First published in Physical Review D 96(2):022001
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher