Search for intermediate-mass black hole binaries in the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo

verfasst von
Virgo Collaboration , Virgo Collaboration , R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, N. Adhikari, R. X. Adhikari, V. B. Adya, C. Affeldt, D. Agarwal, M. Agathos, K. Agatsuma, N. Aggarwal, O. D. Aguiar, L. Aiello, A. Ain, P. Ajith, T. Akutsu, S. Albanesi, A. Allocca, P. A. Altin, A. Amato, C. Anand, S. Anand, A. Ananyeva, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, M. Ando, T. Andrade, N. Andres, T. Andrić, S. V. Angelova, S. Ansoldi, J. M. Antelis, S. Antier, S. Appert, S. Danilishin, K. Danzmann, M. Heurs, A. Hreibi, K. Isleif, J. Junker, H. Lück, M. Matiushechkina, M. Nery, B. W. Schulte, H. Vahlbruch, D. Wilken, B. Willke, D. S. Wu, Fabio Bergamin, Aparna Bisht, Nina Bode, Phillip Booker, Marc Brinkmann, N. Gohlke, A. Heidt, J. Heinze, S. Hochheim, Wolfgang Kastaun, R. Kirchhoff, Patrick Koch, N. Koper, Volker Kringel, N. V. Krishnendu, Gerrit Kühn, S. Leavey, J. Lehmann, J. Liu, James Lough, Moritz Mehmet, Fabian Meylahn, Nikhil Mukund, S. L. Nadji, F. Ohme, M. Schneewind, B. F. Schutz, J. Venneberg, J. von Wrangel, Michael Weinert, F. Wellmann, Peter Weßels, W. Winkler, J. Woehler
Abstract

Intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) span the approximate mass range 100-10(5)x2006;M-circle dot, between black holes (BHs) that formed by stellar collapse and the supermassive BHs at the centers of galaxies. Mergers of IMBH binaries are the most energetic gravitational-wave sources accessible by the terrestrial detector network. Searches of the first two observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo did not yield any significant IMBH binary signals. In the third observing run (O3), the increased network sensitivity enabled the detection of GW190521, a signal consistent with a binary merger of mass similar to 150 x2006;M-circle dot providing direct evidence of IMBH formation. Here, we report on a dedicated search of O3 data for further IMBH binary mergers, combining both modeled (matched filter) and model-independent search methods. We find some marginal candidates, but none are sufficiently significant to indicate detection of further IMBH mergers. We quantify the sensitivity of the individual search methods and of the combined search using a suite of IMBH binary signals obtained via numerical relativity, including the effects of spins misaligned with the binary orbital axis, and present the resulting upper limits on astrophysical merger rates. Our most stringent limit is for equal mass and aligned spin BH binary of total mass 200 x2006;M-circle dot and effective aligned spin 0.8 at 0.056 Gpc(-3) yr(-1) (90, a factor of 3.5 more constraining than previous LIGO-Virgo limits. We also update the estimated rate of mergers similar to GW190521 to 0.08 Gpc(-3) yr(-1).

Organisationseinheit(en)
Institut für Gravitationsphysik
Externe Organisation(en)
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
Louisiana State University
Universita di Salerno
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Monash University
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Australian National University
Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut)
University of Cambridge
Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
University of Birmingham
Northwestern University
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
Sezione di Pisa
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ)
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN)
Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1
University of Tokyo (UTokyo)
Universitat de Barcelona
Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
Gran Sasso Science Institute
University of Udine
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Université de Paris
Nationaal instituut voor subatomaire fysica (Nikhef)
Maastricht University
Universität Hamburg
Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics India
Cardiff University
Typ
Artikel
Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Band
659
ISSN
0004-6361
Publikationsdatum
16.03.2022
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Astronomie und Astrophysik, Astronomie und Planetologie
Elektronische Version(en)
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202141452 (Zugang: Geschlossen)
 

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