GW150914: First results from the search for binary black hole coalescence with Advanced LIGO

TL;DR

This paper reports the first detection of a binary black hole merger, GW150914, by LIGO, demonstrating the capability of gravitational wave observatories to observe such astrophysical events with high significance.

Contribution

First observation of a binary black hole merger using advanced LIGO detectors, confirming gravitational wave detection capabilities.

Findings

GW150914 was detected with a high signal-to-noise ratio of 24.

The false alarm rate was less than 1 per 203,000 years, indicating high significance.

The event confirms the existence of stellar-mass binary black hole systems.

Abstract

On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) simultaneously observed the binary black hole merger GW150914. We report the results of a matched-filter search using relativistic models of compact-object binaries that recovered GW150914 as the most significant event during the coincident observations between the two LIGO detectors from September 12 to October 20, 2015. GW150914 was observed with a matched filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203 000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1 {\sigma}.