Gravitational-wave observatory
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GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence Open
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…
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Advanced LIGO Open
The Advanced LIGO gravitational wave detectors are second-generation instruments designed and built for the two LIGO observatories in Hanford, WA and Livingston, LA, USA. The two instruments are identical in design, and are specialized ver…
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GW170814: A Three-Detector Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Coalescence Open
On August 14, 2017 at 10∶30:43 UTC, the Advanced Virgo detector and the two Advanced LIGO detectors coherently observed a transient gravitational-wave signal produced by the coalescence of two stellar mass black holes, with a false-alarm r…
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Laser Interferometer Space Antenna Open
Following the selection of The Gravitational Universe by ESA, and the successful flight of LISA Pathfinder, the LISA Consortium now proposes a 4 year mission in response to ESA's call for missions for L3. The observatory will be based on t…
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Properties of the Binary Neutron Star Merger GW170817 Open
On August 17, 2017, the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors observed a low-mass compact binary inspiral. The initial sky localization of the source of the gravitational-wave signal, GW170817, allowed electromagnet…
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Exploring the sensitivity of next generation gravitational wavedetectors Open
The second-generation of gravitational-wave detectors are just starting operation, and have already yielding their first detections. Research is now concentrated on how to maximize the scientific potential of gravitational-wave astronomy. …
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A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant Open
On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) wa…
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Frequency-domain gravitational waves from nonprecessing black-hole binaries. II. A phenomenological model for the advanced detector era Open
We present a new frequency-domain phenomenological model of the\ngravitational-wave signal from the inspiral, merger and ringdown of\nnon-precessing (aligned-spin) black-hole binaries. The model is calibrated to\n19 hybrid effective-one-bo…
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Tests of general relativity with the binary black hole signals from the LIGO-Virgo catalog GWTC-1 Open
The detection of gravitational waves by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo provides an opportunity to test general relativity in a regime that is inaccessible to traditional astronomical observations and laboratory tests. We present four tes…
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Is the Gravitational-Wave Ringdown a Probe of the Event Horizon? Open
It is commonly believed that the ringdown signal from a binary coalescence provides a conclusive proof for the formation of an event horizon after the merger. This expectation is based on the assumption that the ringdown waveform at interm…
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GW150914: The Advanced LIGO Detectors in the Era of First Discoveries Open
Following a major upgrade, the two advanced detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) held their first observation run between September 2015 and January 2016. With a strain sensitivity of 10^{-23}/sqrt[Hz…
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Tests of general relativity with binary black holes from the second LIGO-Virgo gravitational-wave transient catalog Open
Gravitational waves enable tests of general relativity in the highly dynamical and strong-field regime. Using events detected by LIGO-Virgo up to 1 October 2019, we evaluate the consistency of the data with predictions from the theory. We …
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The PyCBC search for gravitational waves from compact binary coalescence Open
We describe the PyCBC search for gravitational waves from compactobject binary coalescences in advanced gravitational-wave detector data. The search was used in the first Advanced LIGO observing run and unambiguously identified two black h…
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Quantum-Enhanced Advanced LIGO Detectors in the Era of Gravitational-Wave Astronomy Open
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) has been directly detecting gravitational waves from compact binary mergers since 2015. We report on the first use of squeezed vacuum states in the direct measurement of gravit…
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Overview of KAGRA: Detector design and construction history Open
KAGRA is a newly built gravitational-wave telescope, a laser interferometer comprising arms with a length of 3 km, located in Kamioka, Gifu, Japan. KAGRA was constructed under the ground and it is operated using cryogenic mirrors that help…
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Cosmic Explorer: The U.S. Contribution to Gravitational-Wave Astronomy\n beyond LIGO Open
This white paper describes the research and development needed over the next\ndecade to realize "Cosmic Explorer," the U.S. node of a future third-generation\ndetector network that will be capable of observing and characterizing compact\ng…
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Gravitational waves from binary supermassive black holes missing in pulsar observations Open
Placing bounds on gravitational wave detection Gravitational waves are expected to be generated by the interaction of the massive bodies in black-hole binary systems. As gravitational waves distort spacetime, it should be possible to verif…
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Sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO detectors at the beginning of gravitational wave astronomy Open
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 kH…
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Shape of the acoustic gravitational wave power spectrum from a first order phase transition Open
We present results from large-scale numerical simulations of a first order\nthermal phase transition in the early universe, in order to explore the shape\nof the acoustic gravitational wave and the velocity power spectra. We compare\nthe r…
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Gravitational Wave Astronomy with the SKA Open
On a time scale of years to decades, gravitational wave (GW) astronomy will become a reality.Low frequency (∼10 -9 Hz) GWs are detectable through long-term timing observations of the most stable pulsars.Radio observatories worldwide are cu…
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Sensitivity and performance of the Advanced LIGO detectors in the third observing run Open
On April 1st, 2019, the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (aLIGO), joined by the Advanced Virgo detector, began the third observing run, a year-long dedicated search for gravitational radiation. The LIGO detector…
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FERMI GBM OBSERVATIONS OF LIGO GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE EVENT GW150914 Open
With an instantaneous view of 70% of the sky, the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is an excellent partner in the search for electromagnetic counterparts to gravitational-wave (GW) events. GBM observations at the time of the Laser Inter…
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The Quest for B Modes from Inflationary Gravitational Waves Open
The search for the curl component (B mode) in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization induced by inflationary gravitational waves is described. The canonical single-field slow-roll model of inflation is presented, and we explain…
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Prospects for observing and localizing gravitational-wave transients with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo Open
We present a possible observing scenario for the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational wave detectors over the next decade, with the intention of providing information to the astronomy community to facilitate planning for multi-me…
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Science with the Einstein Telescope: a comparison of different designs Open
The Einstein Telescope (ET), the European project for a third-generation gravitational-wave detector, has a reference configuration based on a triangular shape consisting of three nested detectors with 10 km arms, where each detector has a…
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AION: An Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network Open
We outline the experimental concept and key scientific capabilities of AION (Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network), a proposed UK-based experimental programme using cold strontium atoms to search for ultra-light dark matter, to expl…
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The NANOGrav 15 yr Data Set: Observations and Timing of 68 Millisecond Pulsars Open
We present observations and timing analyses of 68 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) comprising the 15 yr data set of the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav). NANOGrav is a pulsar timing array (PTA) experiment t…
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Electromagnetic evidence that SSS17a is the result of a binary neutron star merger Open
Photons from a gravitational wave event Two neutron stars merging together generate a gravitational wave signal and have also been predicted to emit electromagnetic radiation. When the gravitational wave event GW170817 was detected, astron…
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Inflationary primordial black holes for the LIGO gravitational wave events and pulsar timing array experiments Open
Primordial black holes (PBHs) are one of the candidates to explain the gravitational wave (GW) signals observed by the LIGO detectors. Among several phenomena in the early Universe, cosmic inflation is a major example to generate PBHs from…
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Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap Open
The grand challenges of contemporary fundamental physics—dark matter, dark energy, vacuum energy, inflation and early universe cosmology, singularities and the hierarchy problem—all involve gravity as a key component. And of all gravitatio…