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We present the results from three gravitational-wave searches for coalescing compact binaries with component masses above 1$mathrm{M}_odot$ during the first and second observing runs of the Advanced gravitational-wave detector network. During the first observing run (O1), from September $12^mathrm{th}$, 2015 to January $19^mathrm{th}$, 2016, gravitational waves from three binary black hole mergers were detected. The second observing run (O2), which ran from November $30^mathrm{th}$, 2016 to August $25^mathrm{th}$, 2017, saw the first detection of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral, in addition to the observation of gravitational waves from a total of seven binary black hole mergers, four of which we report here for the first time: GW170729, GW170809, GW170818 and GW170823. For all significant gravitational-wave events, we provide estimates of the source properties. The detected binary black holes have total masses between $18.6_{-0.7}^{+3.2}mathrm{M}_odot$, and $84.4_{-11.1}^{+15.8} mathrm{M}_odot$, and range in distance between $320_{-110}^{+120}$ Mpc and $2840_{-1360}^{+1400}$ Mpc. No neutron star - black hole mergers were detected. In addition to highly significant gravitational-wave events, we also provide a list of marginal event candidates with an estimated false alarm rate less than 1 per 30 days. From these results over the first two observing runs, which include approximately one gravitational-wave detection per 15 days of data searched, we infer merger rates at the 90% confidence intervals of $110, -, 3840$ $mathrm{Gpc}^{-3},mathrm{y}^{-1}$ for binary neutron stars and $9.7, -, 101$ $mathrm{Gpc}^{-3},mathrm{y}^{-1}$ for binary black holes assuming fixed population distributions, and determine a neutron star - black hole merger rate 90% upper limit of $610$ $mathrm{Gpc}^{-3},mathrm{y}^{-1}$.
We present results from offline searches of Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) data for gamma-ray transients coincident with the compact binary coalescences observed by the gravitational-wave (GW) detectors Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo during their first and second observing runs. In particular, we perform follow-up for both confirmed events and low significance candidates reported in the LIGO/Virgo catalog GWTC-1. We search for temporal coincidences between these GW signals and GBM triggered gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). We also use the GBM Untargeted and Targeted subthreshold searches to find coincident gamma-rays below the on-board triggering threshold. This work implements a refined statistical approach by incorporating GW astrophysical source probabilities and GBM visibilities of LIGO/Virgo sky localizations to search for cumulative signatures of coincident subthreshold gamma-rays. All search methods recover the short gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A occurring ~1.7 s after the binary neutron star merger GW170817. We also present results from a new search seeking GBM counterparts to LIGO single-interferometer triggers. This search finds a candidate joint event, but given the nature of the GBM signal and localization, as well as the high joint false alarm rate of $1.1 times 10^{-6}$ Hz, we do not consider it an astrophysical association. We find no additional coincidences.
We report on gravitational wave discoveries from compact binary coalescences detected by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo in the first half of the third observing run (O3a) between 1 April 2019 15:00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15:00. By imposing a false-alarm-rate threshold of two per year in each of the four search pipelines that constitute our search, we present 39 candidate gravitational wave events. At this threshold, we expect a contamination fraction of less than 10%. Of these, 26 candidate events were reported previously in near real-time through GCN Notices and Circulars; 13 are reported here for the first time. The catalog contains events whose sources are black hole binary mergers up to a redshift of ~0.8, as well as events whose components could not be unambiguously identified as black holes or neutron stars. For the latter group, we are unable to determine the nature based on estimates of the component masses and spins from gravitational wave data alone. The range of candidate events which are unambiguously identified as binary black holes (both objects $geq 3~M_odot$) is increased compared to GWTC-1, with total masses from $sim 14~M_odot$ for GW190924_021846 to $sim 150~M_odot$ for GW190521. For the first time, this catalog includes binary systems with significantly asymmetric mass ratios, which had not been observed in data taken before April 2019. We also find that 11 of the 39 events detected since April 2019 have positive effective inspiral spins under our default prior (at 90% credibility), while none exhibit negative effective inspiral spin. Given the increased sensitivity of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, the detection of 39 candidate events in ~26 weeks of data (~1.5 per week) is consistent with GWTC-1.
When formed through dynamical interactions, stellar-mass binary black holes may retain eccentric orbits ($e>0.1$ at 10 Hz) detectable by ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. Eccentricity can therefore be used to differentiate dynamically-formed binaries from isolated binary black hole mergers. Current template-based gravitational-wave searches do not use waveform models associated to eccentric orbits, rendering the search less efficient to eccentric binary systems. Here we present results of a search for binary black hole mergers that inspiral in eccentric orbits using data from the first and second observing runs (O1 and O2) of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. The search uses minimal assumptions on the morphology of the transient gravitational waveform. We show that it is sensitive to binary mergers with a detection range that is weakly dependent on eccentricity for all bound systems. Our search did not identify any new binary merger candidates. We interpret these results in light of eccentric binary formation models.
The second gravitational-wave transient catalog, GWTC-2, reported on 39 compact binary coalescences observed by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors between 1 April 2019 15:00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15:00 UTC. Here, we present GWTC-2.1, which reports on a deeper list of candidate events observed over the same period. We analyze the final version of the strain data over this period, which is now publicly released. We employ three matched-filter search pipelines for candidate identification, and estimate the probability of astrophysical origin for each candidate event. While GWTC-2 used a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per year, we include in GWTC-2.1, 1201 candidates that pass a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per day. We calculate the source properties of a subset of 44 high-significance candidates that have a probability of astrophysical origin greater than 0.5, using the default priors. Of these candidates, 36 have been reported in GWTC-2. If the 8 additional high-significance candidates presented here are astrophysical, the mass range of candidate events that are unambiguously identified as binary black holes (both objects $geq 3M_odot$) is increased compared to GWTC-2, with total masses from $sim 14M_odot$ for GW190924_021846 to $sim 184M_odot$ for GW190426_190642. The primary components of two new candidate events (GW190403_051519 and GW190426_190642) fall in the mass gap predicted by pair-instability supernova theory. We also expand the population of binaries with significantly asymmetric mass ratios reported in GWTC-2 by an additional two events ($q lt 0.61$ and $q lt 0.62$ at $90%$ credibility for GW190403_051519 and GW190917_114630 respectively), and find that 2 of the 8 new events have effective inspiral spins $chi_mathrm{eff} > 0$ (at $90%$ credibility), while no binary is consistent with $chi_mathrm{eff} lt 0$ at the same significance.
We report on the population of the 47 compact binary mergers detected with a false-alarm rate 1/yr in the second LIGO--Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2. We observe several characteristics of the merging binary black hole (BBH) population not discernible until now. First, we find that the primary mass spectrum contains structure beyond a power-law with a sharp high-mass cut-off; it is more consistent with a broken power law with a break at $39.7^{+20.3}_{-9.1},M_odot$, or a power law with a Gaussian feature peaking at $33.1^{+4.0}_{-5.6},M_odot$ (90% credible interval). While the primary mass distribution must extend to $sim65,M_odot$ or beyond, only $2.9^{+3.5}_{1.7}%$ of systems have primary masses greater than $45,M_odot$. Second, we find that a fraction of BBH systems have component spins misaligned with the orbital angular momentum, giving rise to precession of the orbital plane. Moreover, 12% to 44% of BBH systems have spins tilted by more than $90^circ$, giving rise to a negative effective inspiral spin parameter $chi_mathrm{eff}$. Under the assumption that such systems can only be formed by dynamical interactions, we infer that between 25% and 93% of BBH with non-vanishing $|chi_mathrm{eff}| > 0.01$ are dynamically assembled. Third, we estimate merger rates, finding $mathcal{R}_text{BBH} = 23.9^{+14.3}_{8.6}$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ for BBH and $mathcal{R}_text{BNS}= 320^{+490}_{-240}$ Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ for binary neutron stars. We find that the BBH rate likely increases with redshift ($85%$ credibility), but not faster than the star-formation rate ($86%$ credibility). Additionally, we examine recent exceptional events in the context of our population models, finding that the asymmetric masses of GW190412 and the high component masses of GW190521 are consistent with our models, but the low secondary mass of GW190814 makes it an outlier.