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

  • (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration)
  • California Institute of Technology
  • Louisiana State University
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  • National Institute for Nuclear Physics
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  • National Science Foundation
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  • University of Mississippi
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  • Leibniz University Hannover
  • University of Pisa
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  • Australian National University
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Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

85 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish
Article number022001
JournalPhysical Review D
Volume96
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Jul 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Physical Society.

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) for the construction and operation of the LIGO Laboratory and Advanced LIGO as well as the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of the United Kingdom, the Max-Planck-Society (MPS), and the State of Niedersachsen/Germany for support of the construction of Advanced LIGO and construction and operation of the GEO600 detector. Additional support for Advanced LIGO was provided by the Australian Research Council. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, for the construction and operation of the Virgo detector and the creation and support of the EGO consortium. The authors also gratefully acknowledge research support from these agencies as well as by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India, Department of Science and Technology, India, Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, India, the Spanish Ministerio de Economa y Competitividad, the Vicepresidncia i Conselleria dInnovaci, Recerca i Turisme and the Conselleria dEducaci i Universitat del Govern de les Illes Balears, the National Science Centre of Poland, the European Commission, the Royal Society, the Scottish Funding Council, the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA), the Lyon Institute of Origins (LIO), the National Research Foundation of Korea, Industry Canada and the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Canada, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, International Center for Theoretical Physics South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP-SAIFR), Russian Foundation for Basic Research, the Leverhulme Trust, the Research Corporation, Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan and the Kavli Foundation. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the NSF, STFC, MPS, INFN, CNRS and the State of Niedersachsen/Germany for provision of computational resources.

FundersFunder number
Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation
Department of Science and Technology, India, Science & Engineering Research Board
Spanish Ministerio de Economa y Competitividad
National Science Foundation1708081, 1104371, 1458952, 1607585, 1308527, 1404139, 1505629, 1506360, 1608423
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Kavli Foundation
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation
Science and Technology Facilities CouncilST/N000064/1, ST/N00003X/1, ST/J000019/1, ST/P000258/1, ST/H002006/1, ST/L000954/1, ST/M005844/1, PP/F001118/1, ST/H008438/1, ST/J000345/1, PP/F00110X/1, ST/I000887/1, ST/J000302/1, 1653071, ST/N000072/1, ST/N005481/1, ST/I006277/1, ST/L000911/1, ST/N005422/1, ST/N005716/1, PPA/G/S/2002/00652, ST/J000361/1, ST/N005406/1, Gravitational Waves, ST/G504284/1, ST/K000845/1, ST/I006285/1, ST/L003465/1, ST/I006242/1, 1654298, PP/F001096/1, ST/M006735/1, ST/I006269/1, ST/N000080/1, ST/I001085/1, ST/L000946/1, ST/F500972/1, ST/L000962/1, ST/N000633/1, ST/I001026/1, ST/J00166X/1, ST/N005430/1
Leverhulme Trust
Royal Society
Scottish Funding Council
Scottish Universities Physics Alliance
European Commission
Australian Research Council
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India
Science and Engineering Research Board
Russian Foundation for Basic Research
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Hungarian Scientific Research Fund
National Research Foundation of Korea
Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
Narodowe Centrum Nauki
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Universitat de les Illes Balears
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research

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