The basic physics of the binary black hole merger GW150914

Abbott, B. P. and Jawahar, S. and Lockerbie, N.A. and Tokmakov, K.V., LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration (2017) The basic physics of the binary black hole merger GW150914. Annalen der Physik, 529 (1-2). 1600209. ISSN 1521-3889 (https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.201600209)

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Abstract

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 Mʘ, 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.

ORCID iDs

Abbott, B. P., Jawahar, S. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4945-691X, Lockerbie, N.A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1678-3260 and Tokmakov, K.V. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2808-6593;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:60956
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    31 January 2017
    Published
    22 September 2016
    Published Online
    22 September 2016
    Accepted
    Notes:Please consult manuscript for full attribution details.
    Subjects:Science > Astronomy
    Department:Faculty of Science > Physics
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:15 Jun 2017 10:35
    Last modified:18 Nov 2024 23:21
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/60956
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