TY - JOUR
T1 - GW170817: observation of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral
AU - LIGO Scientific Collaboration
AU - Virgo Collaboration
AU - Abbott, B. P.
AU - Abbott, R.
AU - Abbott, T. D.
AU - Acernese, F.
AU - Ackley, K.
AU - Adams, C.
AU - Adams, T.
AU - Addesso, P.
AU - Adhikari, R. X.
AU - Adya, V. B.
AU - Affeldt, C.
AU - Afrough, M.
AU - Agarwal, B.
AU - Agathos, M.
AU - Agatsuma, K.
AU - Aggarwal, N.
AU - Aguiar, O. D.
AU - Aiello, L.
AU - Ain, A.
AU - Ajith, P.
AU - Allen, B.
AU - Allen, G.
AU - Allocca, A.
AU - Altin, P. A.
AU - Amato, A.
AU - Ananyeva, A.
AU - Anderson, S. B.
AU - Anderson, W. G.
AU - Angelova, S. V.
AU - Antier, S.
AU - Appert, S.
AU - Arai, K.
AU - Araya, M. C.
AU - Areeda, J. S.
AU - Arnaud, N.
AU - Arun, K. G.
AU - Ascenzi, S.
AU - Ashton, G.
AU - Ast, M.
AU - Aston, S. M.
AU - Astone, P.
AU - Atallah, D. V.
AU - Aufmuth, P.
AU - Aulbert, C.
AU - Aultoneal, K.
AU - Austin, C.
AU - Avila-alvarez, A.
AU - Babak, S.
AU - Bacon, P.
AU - Lundgren, A. P.
PY - 2017/10/16
Y1 - 2017/10/16
N2 - On August 17, 2017 at 12∶41:04 UTC the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors made their first observation of a binary neutron star inspiral. The signal, GW170817, was detected with a combined signal-to-noise ratio of 32.4 and a false-alarm-rate estimate of less than one per 8.0 ×10 4 years. We infer the component masses of the binary to be between 0.86 and 2.26 M⊙, in agreement with masses of known neutron stars. Restricting the component spins to the range inferred in binary neutron stars, we find the component masses to be in the range 1.17–1.60 M⊙, with the total mass of the system 2.74+0.04−0.01M⊙. The source was localized within a sky region of 28 deg 2(90% probability) and had a luminosity distance of 4 0+8−14 Mpc, the closest and most precisely localized gravitational-wave signal yet. The association with the γ-ray burst GRB 170817A, detected by Fermi-GBM 1.7 s after the coalescence, corroborates the hypothesis of a neutron star merger and provides the first direct evidence of a link between these mergers and short γ-ray bursts. Subsequent identification of transient counterparts across the electromagnetic spectrum in the same location further supports the interpretation of this event as a neutron star merger. This unprecedented joint gravitational and electromagnetic observation provides insight into astrophysics, dense matter, gravitation, and cosmology.
AB - On August 17, 2017 at 12∶41:04 UTC the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave detectors made their first observation of a binary neutron star inspiral. The signal, GW170817, was detected with a combined signal-to-noise ratio of 32.4 and a false-alarm-rate estimate of less than one per 8.0 ×10 4 years. We infer the component masses of the binary to be between 0.86 and 2.26 M⊙, in agreement with masses of known neutron stars. Restricting the component spins to the range inferred in binary neutron stars, we find the component masses to be in the range 1.17–1.60 M⊙, with the total mass of the system 2.74+0.04−0.01M⊙. The source was localized within a sky region of 28 deg 2(90% probability) and had a luminosity distance of 4 0+8−14 Mpc, the closest and most precisely localized gravitational-wave signal yet. The association with the γ-ray burst GRB 170817A, detected by Fermi-GBM 1.7 s after the coalescence, corroborates the hypothesis of a neutron star merger and provides the first direct evidence of a link between these mergers and short γ-ray bursts. Subsequent identification of transient counterparts across the electromagnetic spectrum in the same location further supports the interpretation of this event as a neutron star merger. This unprecedented joint gravitational and electromagnetic observation provides insight into astrophysics, dense matter, gravitation, and cosmology.
KW - RCUK
KW - STFC
U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.161101
DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.161101
M3 - Article
SN - 0031-9007
VL - 119
JO - Physical Review Letters
JF - Physical Review Letters
IS - 16
M1 - 161101
ER -