The basic physics of the binary black hole merger GW150914
Creators
- Abbott, B.P.1
- Abbott, R.1
- Adhikari, R.X.1
- Anderson, S.B.1
- Arai, K.1
- Araya, M.C.1
- Barayoga, J.C.1
- Barish, B.C.1
- Billingsley, G.1
- Blackburn, J.K.1
- Bork, R.1
- Brooks, A.F.1
- Brunett, S.1
- Cahillane, C.1
- Callister, T.1
- Cepeda, C.B.1
- Couvares, P.1
- Coyne, D.C.1
- Dergachev, V.1
- Drever, R. W. P.1
- Ehrens, P.1
- Etzel, T.1
- Gossan, S. E.1
- Gushwa, K. E.1
- Gustafson, E. K.1
- Hall, E. D.1
- Heptonstall, A. W.1
- Isi, M.1
- Kanner, J. B.1
- Kells, W.1
- Kondrashov, V.1
- Korth, W.Z.1
- Kozak, D.B.1
- Lazzarini, A.1
- Lewis, J.B.1
- Maros, E.1
- Marx, J.N.1
- McIntyre, G.1
- McIver, J.1
- Meshkov, S.1
- Pedraza, M.1
- Perreca, A.1
- Price, L.R.1
- Quintero, E.A.1
- Rollins, J.G.1
- Sachdev, S.1
- Sanchez, E.J.1
- Singer, A.1
- Smith, N.D.1
- Smith, R.J.E.1
- Taylor, R.1
- Thirugnanasambandam, M.P.1
- Torrie, C.I.1
- Vajente, G.1
- Vass, S.1
- Wallace, L.1
- Weinstein, A.J.1
- Williams, R.D.1
- Wipf, C.C.1
- Yamamoto, H.1
- Zhang, L.1
- Zweizig, J.1
- Bacon, P.2
- Barsuglia, M.2
- Bouffanais, Y.2
- Buy, C.2
- Capocasa, E.2
- Chassande-Mottin, E.2
- Fiorucci, D.2
- Tacca, M.2
- Lebigot, E.O.3, 2
- and others
- 1. CALTECH, LIGO, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
- 2. Univ Paris Diderot, Observ Paris, Sorbonne Paris Cite, CNRS, IN2P3, CEA Irfu, APC, AstroParticule and Cosmol, F-75205 Paris 13 (France)
- 3. Tsinghua Univ, Beijing 100084, Peoples R China. (China)
Description
The first direct gravitational-wave detection was made by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory on September 14, 2015. The GW150914 signal was strong enough to be apparent, without using any waveform model, in the filtered detector strain data. Here, features of the signal visible in the data are analyzed using concepts from Newtonian physics and general relativity, accessible to anyone with a general physics background. The simple analysis presented here is consistent with the fully general-relativistic analyses published elsewhere, in showing that the signal was produced by the inspiral and subsequent merger of two black holes. The black holes were each of approximately 35 solar mass, still orbited each other as close as ∼ 350 km apart and subsequently merged to form a single black hole. Similar reasoning, directly from the data, is used to roughly estimate how far these black holes were from the Earth, and the energy that they radiated in gravitational waves. (authors)
Availability note (English)
Available from doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/andp.201600209Additional details
Identifiers
Publishing Information
- Journal Title
- Annalen der Physik (Leipzig)
- Journal Volume
- 529
- Journal Issue
- no.1-2
- Journal Page Range
- p. 1-17
- ISSN
- 0003-3804
INIS
- Country of Publication
- Germany
- Country of Input or Organization
- France
- INIS RN
- 53103047
- Subject category
- S79: ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; S46: INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY;
- Descriptors DEI
- BLACK HOLES; DETECTION; FILTERS; GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY; GRAVITATIONAL WAVES; INTERFEROMETERS; LASERS; ORBITS; RELATIVISTIC RANGE; SIGNALS; WAVE FORMS
- Descriptors DEC
- ENERGY RANGE; FIELD THEORIES; MEASURING INSTRUMENTS; RELATIVITY THEORY