Abbott et al. (2016)
Abbott, Benjamin. (2016) Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger. Physical Review lettters 116, 061102. Retrieved from https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102.
Title | Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger |
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Resource Type | journal article |
Author(s) | Benjamin Abbott |
Year | 2016 |
URL | https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102 |
Journal | Physical Review lettters |
Volume | 116 |
Pages | 061102-1-15 |
Abstract
On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0 × 10−21. It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.