Wolfango Plastino

Isolated neutron stars that are asymmetric with respect to their spin axis are possible sources of detectable continuous gravitational waves. This paper presents a fully coherent search for such signals from eighteen pulsars in data from LIGO and Virgo’s third observing run (O3). For known pulsars, efficient and sensitive matched-filter searches can be carried out if one assumes the gravitational radiation is phase-locked to the electromagnetic emission. In the search presented here, we relax this assumption and allow both the frequency and the time derivative of the frequency of the gravitational waves to vary in a small range around those inferred from electromagnetic observations. We find no evidence for continuous gravitational waves, and set upper limits on the strain amplitude for each target. These limits are more constraining for seven of the targets than the spin-down limit defined by ascribing all rotational energy loss to gravitational radiation. In an additional search, ...

Data associated with candidates in GWTC-2.1. These are gravitational-wave candidates from the first half of the third observing run (O3a) of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors that pass a false alarm rate threshold of 2/day. We upload a tar file (search_data_GWTC2p1.tar.gz) containing all the data and a python notebook (search_data.ipynb) which provides description on how to use the files contained in the dataset.

Second Observing Run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo” (2021, ApJ, 909, 218) B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, S. Abraham, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, R. X. Adhikari, V. B. Adya, C. Affeldt, M. Agathos, K. Agatsuma, N. Aggarwal, O. D. Aguiar, L. Aiello, A. Ain, P. Ajith, G. Allen, A. Allocca, M. A. Aloy, P. A. Altin, A. Amato, S. Anand, A. Ananyeva, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, S. V. Angelova, S. Antier, S. Appert, K. Arai, M. C. Araya, J. S. Areeda, M. Arène, N. Arnaud, S. M. Aronson, K. G. Arun, S. Ascenzi, G. Ashton, S. M. Aston, P. Astone, F. Aubin, P. Aufmuth, K. AultONeal, C. Austin, V. Avendano, A. Avila-Alvarez, S. Babak, P. Bacon, F. Badaracco, M. K. M. Bader, S. Bae, J. Baird, P. T. Baker, F. Baldaccini, G. Ballardin, S. W. Ballmer, A. Bals, S. Banagiri, J. C. Barayoga, C. Barbieri, S. E. Barclay, B. C. Barish, D. Barker, K. Barkett, S. Barnum, F. Barone, B. Barr, L. Barsotti, M. Barsuglia, D. Barta, J. Bartlett, I. Bartos, R. Bassiri, A. Basti, M. Bawaj, J. C. Bayley, M. Bazzan, B. Bécsy, M. Bejger, I. Belahcene, A. S. Bell, D. Beniwal, M. G. Benjamin, B. K. Berger, G. Bergmann, S. Bernuzzi, C. P. L. Berry, D. Bersanetti, A. Bertolini, J. Betzwieser, R. Bhandare, J. Bidler, E. Biggs, I. A. Bilenko, S. A. Bilgili, G. Billingsley, R. Birney, O. Birnholtz, S. Biscans, M. Bischi, S. Biscoveanu, A. Bisht, M. Bitossi, M. A. Bizouard, J. K. Blackburn, J. Blackman, C. D. Blair, D. G. Blair, R. M. Blair, S. Bloemen, F. Bobba, N. Bode, M. Boer, Y. Boetzel, G. Bogaert, F. Bondu, R. Bonnand, P. Booker, B. A. Boom, R. Bork, V. Boschi, S. Bose, V. Bossilkov, J. Bosveld, Y. Bouffanais, A. Bozzi, C. Bradaschia, P. R. Brady, A. Bramley, M. Branchesi, J. E. Brau, M. Breschi, T. Briant, J. H. Briggs, F. Brighenti, A. Brillet, M. Brinkmann, P. Brockill, A. F. Brooks, J. Brooks, D. D. Brown, S. Brunett, A. Buikema, T. Bulik, H. J. Bulten, A. Buonanno, D. Buskulic, C. Buy, R. L. Byer, M. Cabero, L. Cadonati, G. Cagnoli, C. Cahillane, J. Calderón Bustillo, T. A. Callister, E. Calloni, J. B. Camp, W. A. Campbell, M. Canepa, K. C. Cannon, H. Cao, J. Cao, G. Carapella, F. Carbognani, S. Caride, M. F. Carney, G. Carullo, J. Casanueva Diaz, C. Casentini, S. Caudill, M. Cavaglià, F. Cavalier, R. Cavalieri, G. Cella, P. Cerdá-Durán, E. Cesarini, O. Chaibi, K. Chakravarti, S. J. Chamberlin, M. Chan, S. Chao, P. Charlton, E. A. Chase, E. Chassande-Mottin, D. Chatterjee, M. Chaturvedi, B. D. Cheeseboro, H. Y. Chen, X. Chen, Y. Chen, H.-P. Cheng, C. K. Cheong, H. Y. Chia, F. Chiadini, A. Chincarini, A. Chiummo, G. Cho, H. S. Cho, M. Cho, N. Christensen, Q. Chu, S. Chua, K. W. Chung, S. Chung, G. Ciani, M. Cieślar, A. A. Ciobanu, R. Ciolfi, F. Cipriano, A. Cirone, F. Clara, J. A. Clark, P. Clearwater, F. Cleva, E. Coccia, P.-F. Cohadon, D. Cohen, M. Colleoni, C. G. Collette, C. Collins, M. Colpi, L. R. Cominsky, M. Constancio, Jr., L. Conti, S. J. Cooper, P. Corban, T. R. Corbitt, I. Cordero-Carrión, S. Corezzi, K. R. Corley, N. Cornish, D. Corre, A. Corsi, S. Cortese, C. A. Costa, R. Cotesta, M. W. Coughlin, S. B. Coughlin, J.-P. Coulon, S. T. Countryman, P. Couvares, P. B. Covas, E. E. Cowan, D. M. Coward, M. J. Cowart, D. C. Coyne, R. Coyne, J. D. E. Creighton, T. D. Creighton, J. Cripe, M. Croquette, S. G. Crowder, T. J. Cullen, A. Cumming, L. Cunningham, E. Cuoco, T. Dal Canton, G. Dálya, B. D’Angelo, S. L. Danilishin, S. D’Antonio, K. Danzmann, A. Dasgupta, C. F. Da Silva Costa, L. E. H. Datrier, V. Dattilo, I. Dave, M. Davier, D. Davis, E. J. Daw, D. DeBra, M. Deenadayalan, J. Degallaix, M. De Laurentis, S. Deléglise, W. Del Pozzo, L. M. DeMarchi, N. Demos, T. Dent, R. De Pietri, R. De Rosa, C. De Rossi, R. DeSalvo, O. de Varona, S. Dhurandhar, M. C. Díaz, T. Dietrich, L. Di Fiore, C. DiFronzo, C. Di Giorgio, F. Di Giovanni, M. Di Giovanni, T. Di Girolamo, A. Di Lieto, B. Ding, S. Di Pace, I. Di Palma, F. Di Renzo, A. K. Divakarla, A. Dmitriev, Z. Doctor, F. Donovan, K. L. Dooley, S. Doravari, I. Dorrington, T. P. Downes, M. Drago, J. C. Driggers, Z. Du, J.-G. Ducoin, P. Dupej, O. Durante, S. E. Dwyer, P. J. Easter, G. Eddolls, T. B. Edo, A. Effler, P. Ehrens, J. Eichholz, S. S. Eikenberry, M. Eisenmann, R. A. Eisenstein, L. Errico, R. C. Essick, H. Estelles, D. Estevez, Z. B. Etienne, T. Etzel, M. Evans, T. M. Evans, V. Fafone, S. Fairhurst, X. Fan, S. Farinon, B. Farr, W. M. Farr, E. J. Fauchon-Jones, M. Favata, M. Fays, M. Fazio, C. Fee, J. Feicht, M. M. Fejer, F. Feng, A. Fernandez-Galiana, I. Ferrante, E. C. Ferreira, T. A. Ferreira, F. Fidecaro, I. Fiori, D. Fiorucci, M. Fishbach, R. P. Fisher, J. M. Fishner, R. Fittipaldi, M. Fitz-Axen, V. Fiumara, R. Flaminio, M. Fletcher, E. Floden, E. Flynn, H. Fong, J. A. Font, P. W. F. Forsyth, J.-D. Fournier, Francisco Hernandez Vivanco, S. Frasca, F. Frasconi, Z. Frei, A. Freise, R. Frey, V. Frey, P. Fritschel, V. V. Frolov, G. Fronzè, P. Fulda, M. Fyffe, H. A. Gabbard, B. U. Gadre, S. M. Gaebel, J. R. Gair, L. Gammaitoni, S. G. Gaonkar, C. García-Quirós, F. Garufi,…

We present a search for quasi-monochromatic gravitational-wave signals from the young, energetic X-ray pulsar PSR J0537−6910 using data from the second and third observing runs of LIGO and Virgo. The search is enabled by a contemporaneous timing ephemeris obtained using Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) data. The NICER ephemeris has also been extended through 2020 October and includes three new glitches. PSR J0537−6910 has the largest spin-down luminosity of any pulsar and exhibits fRequent and strong glitches. Analyses of its long-term and interglitch braking indices provide intriguing evidence that its spin-down energy budget may include gravitational-wave emission from a time-varying mass quadrupole moment. Its 62 Hz rotation frequency also puts its possible gravitational-wave emission in the most sensitive band of the LIGO/Virgo detectors. Motivated by these considerations, we search for gravitational-wave emission at both once and twice the rotation frequency f...

We present the results of targeted searches for gravitational-wave transients associated with gamma-ray bursts during the second observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, which took place from 2016 November to 2017 August. We have analyzed 98 gamma-ray bursts using an unmodeled search method that searches for generic transient gravitational waves and 42 with a modeled search method that targets compact-binary mergers as progenitors of short gamma-ray bursts. Both methods clearly detect the previously reported binary merger signal GW170817, with p-values of <9.38 × 10−6 (modeled) and 3.1 × 10−4 (unmodeled). We do not find any significant evidence for gravitational-wave signals associated with the other gamma-ray bursts analyzed, and therefore we report lower bounds on the distance to each of these, assuming various source types and signal morphologies. Using our final modeled search results, short gamma-ray burst observations, and assuming binary neutron star progenitors,...

n 1990, some instrumentation was set up in the Amare cave (southern slope of the Gran Sasso chain, L'Aquila) in order to pick up electric signals ranging from 0.3 to 300 kHz, magnetic signals from 0.3 to 30 kHz and seismoacoustic signals by means of three geophones with natural frequencies of 0.3 kHz, 25 kHz and 150 kHz. Data are recorded every ten minutes on a solid state memory. The analysis of the data allows us to establish the existence of electromagnetic fields of distant origin connected with broadcastings and with tropical lightning activity and the discontinuous presence of local electric and magnetic signals, coupled with seismoacoustic ones, connected with weather events. A qualitative explanation of these near fields is given.

The ever-increasing number of detections of gravitational waves (GWs) from compact binaries by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors allows us to perform ever-more sensitive tests of general relativity (GR) in the dynamical and strong-field regime of gravity. We perform a suite of tests of GR using the compact binary signals observed during the second half of the third observing run of those detectors. We restrict our analysis to the 15 confident signals that have false alarm rates $\leq 10^{-3}\, {\rm yr}^{-1}$. In addition to signals consistent with binary black hole (BH) mergers, the new events include GW200115_042309, a signal consistent with a neutron star--BH merger. We find the residual power, after subtracting the best fit waveform from the data for each event, to be consistent with the detector noise. Additionally, we find all the post-Newtonian deformation coefficients to be consistent with the predictions from GR, with an improvement by a factor of ~2 in the -1PN...

We present a targeted search for continuous gravitational waves (GWs) from 236 pulsars using data from the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo (O3) combined with data from the second observing run (O2). Searches were for emission from the l = m = 2 mass quadrupole mode with a frequency at only twice the pulsar rotation frequency (single harmonic) and the l = 2,m = 1, 2 modes with a frequency of both once and twice the rotation frequency (dual harmonic). No evidence of GWs was found so we present 95% credible upper limits on the strain amplitudes h0 for the single harmonic search along with limits on the pulsars’ mass quadrupole moments Q22 and ellipticities ε. Of the pulsars studied, 23 have strain amplitudes that are lower than the limits calculated from their electromagnetically measured spin-down rates. These pulsars include the millisecond pulsars J0437−4715 and J0711−6830 which have spin-down ratios of 0.87 and 0.57 respectively. For nine pulsars, their spin-down limits have ...

The third Gravitational-wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-3) describes signals detected with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo up to the end of their third observing run. Updating the previous GWTC-2.1, we present candidate gravitational waves from compact binary coalescences during the second half of the third observing run (O3b) between 1 November 2019, 15:00 UTC and 27 March 2020, 17:00 UTC. There are 35 compact binary coalescence candidates identified by at least one of our search algorithms with a probability of astrophysical origin $p_\mathrm{astro}>0.5$. Of these, 18 were previously reported as low-latency public alerts, and 17 are reported here for the first time. Based upon estimates for the component masses, our O3b candidates with $p_\mathrm{astro}>0.5$ are consistent with gravitational-wave signals from binary black holes or neutron star-black hole binaries, and we identify none from binary neutron stars. However, from the gravitational-wave data alone, we are not able t...

We present results of an all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves which can be produced by spinning neutron stars with an asymmetry around their rotation axis, using data from the third observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. Four different analysis methods are used to search in a gravitational-wave frequency band from 10 to 2048 Hz and a first frequency derivative from −10−8 to 10−9 Hz/s. No statistically-significant periodic gravitational-wave signal is observed by any of the four searches. As a result, upper limits on the gravitational-wave strain amplitude h0 are calculated. The best upper limits are obtained in the frequency range of 100 to 200 Hz and they are ∼1.1× 10−25 at 95% confidence-level. The minimum upper limit of 1.10× 10−25 is achieved at a frequency 111.5 Hz. We also place constraints on the rates and abundances of nearby planetaryand asteroid-mass primordial black holes that could give rise to continuous gravitationalwave signals.

We present directed searches for continuous gravitational waves from the neutron stars in the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) and Vela Jr. supernova remnants. We carry out the searches in the LIGO data from the first six months of the third Advanced LIGO and Virgo observing run using the Weave semi-coherent method, which sums matched-filter detection-statistic values over many time segments spanning the observation period. No gravitational wave signal is detected in the search band of 20–976 Hz for assumed source ages greater than 300 years for Cas A and greater than 700 years for Vela Jr. Estimates from simulated continuous wave signals indicate we achieve the most sensitive results to date across the explored parameter space volume, probing to strain magnitudes as low as ∼6.3× 10−26 for Cas A and ∼5.6× 10−26 for Vela Jr. at frequencies near 166 Hz at 95% efficiency.

We report results of a search for an isotropic gravitational-wave background (GWB) using data from Advanced LIGO's and Advanced Virgo's third observing run (O3) combined with upper limits from the earlier O1 and O2 runs. Unlike in previous observing runs in the advanced detector era, we include Virgo in the search for the GWB. The results are consistent with uncorrelated noise, and therefore we place upper limits on the strength of the GWB. We find that the dimensionless energy density Ω_ GW≤ 5.8× 10^-9 at the 95 credible level for a flat (frequency-independent) GWB, using a prior which is uniform in the log of the strength of the GWB, with 99 coming from the band 20-76.6 Hz; ≤ 3.4 × 10^-9 at 25 Hz for a power-law GWB with a spectral index of 2/3 (consistent with expectations for compact binary coalescences), in the band 20-90.6 Hz; and ≤ 3.9 × 10^-10 at 25 Hz for a spectral index of 3, in the band 20-291.6 Hz. These upper limits improve over our previous results by a factor...

This paper presents the gravitational-wave measurement of the Hubble constant H_0 using the detections from the first and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detector network. The presence of the transient electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star GW170817 led to the first standard-siren measurement of H_0. Here we additionally use binary black hole detections in conjunction with galaxy catalogs and report a joint measurement. Our updated measurement is H_0= 68^+14_-7 ^-1 ^-1 (68.3% highest density posterior interval with a flat-in-log prior) which is a 7% improvement over the GW170817-only value of 68^+18_-8 ^-1 ^-1. A significant additional contribution currently comes from GW170814, a loud and well-localized detection from a part of the sky thoroughly covered by the Dark Energy Survey. Inclusion of contributions from all binary black hole detections entails a thorough marginalization over unknown population parameters. With numerous detections antici...

We report the observation of a compact binary coalescence involving a 22.2–24.3 M ⊙ black hole and a compact object with a mass of 2.50–2.67 M ⊙ (all measurements quoted at the 90% credible level). The gravitational-wave signal, GW190814, was observed during LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run on 2019 August 14 at 21:10:39 UTC and has a signal-to-noise ratio of 25 in the three-detector network. The source was localized to 18.5 deg2 at a distance of Mpc; no electromagnetic counterpart has been confirmed to date. The source has the most unequal mass ratio yet measured with gravitational waves, , and its secondary component is either the lightest black hole or the heaviest neutron star ever discovered in a double compact-object system. The dimensionless spin of the primary black hole is tightly constrained to ≤0.07. Tests of general relativity reveal no measurable deviations from the theory, and its prediction of higher-multipole emission is confirmed at high confidence. We estimate...

We report on the population of 47 compact binary mergers detected with a false-alarm rate of < in the second LIGO–Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog. We observe several characteristics of the merging binary black hole (BBH) population not discernible until now. First, the primary mass spectrum contains structure beyond a power law with a sharp high-mass cutoff; it is more consistent with a broken power law with a break at or a power law with a Gaussian feature peaking at (90% credible interval). While the primary mass distribution must extend to or beyond, only of systems have primary masses greater than . 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, %– % of BBH systems have spins tilted by more than 90°, giving rise to a negative effective inspiral spin parameter,  . Under the assumption that such systems can only be formed by dynamical interacti...

GW170817 is the very first observation of gravitational waves originating from the coalescence of two compact objects in the mass range of neutron stars, accompanied by electromagnetic counterparts, and offers an opportunity to directly probe the internal structure of neutron stars. We perform Bayesian model selection on a wide range of theoretical predictions for the neutron star equation of state. For the binary neutron star hypothesis, we find that we cannot rule out the majority of theoretical models considered. In addition, the gravitational-wave data alone does not rule out the possibility that one or both objects were low-mass black holes. We discuss the possible outcomes in the case of a binary neutron star merger, finding that all scenarios from prompt collapse to long-lived or even stable remnants are possible. For long-lived remnants, we place an upper limit of 1.9 kHz on the rotation rate. If a black hole was formed any time after merger and the coalescing stars were slo...

Aerosol samples collected at the Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona were analysed for traces of 134Cs and 137Cs emitted during the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011. Samples were collected with a high-volume airborne particulate sampling system, and with a dry and wet deposition collection system for subsequent analysis. Due to the very low activities, the filters were measured in an underground ultra-low background laboratory. This has enabled the characterization of dry velocity deposition for 134Cs and 137Cs. Results show a dry velocity deposition of 0.07 cm s−1.

Surficial and core samples collected from the eastern Thessaloniki Gulf, located in the NW Aegean Sea, were analyzed for their sedimentation rate and inventories of 137Cs and 210Pb. The study of the spatial radionuclide dispersion in the specific region is essential for the assessment of marine pollution levels. The sedimentation rates were calculated from the vertical distribution of 137Cs and excess 210Pb in the sediment cores. The spatial distribution of 137Cs was studied with respect to sediment characteristics such as the grain size of the sample and the organic carbon content. The activity concentrations were measured by means of gamma ray spectrometry using HPGe detector for 137Cs and gross alpha counting using alpha counter for 210Pb. The average sedimentation rate along the sediment cores is characterized by a consistent pattern and varies from 0.18 ± 0.02 to 0.22 ± 0.03 cm year−1. The 137Cs inventories varied from 205 ± 15 to 602 ± 39 Bq m−2, while the 210Pb inventories of the studied cores exhibited average value of 140 ± 9 Bq m−2. Elevated 137Cs activities were observed compared to certain Mediterranean marine areas; however, they were lower than the reported values in the Black Sea.

Large quantities of radionuclides were released in March-April 2011 during the accident of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant to the atmosphere and the ocean. Atmospheric and marine modeling has been carried out to predict the dispersion of radionuclides worldwide, to compare the predicted and measured radionuclide concentrations, and to assess the impact of the accident on the environment. Atmospheric Lagrangian dispersion modeling was used to simulate the dispersion of (137)Cs over America and Europe. Global ocean circulation model was applied to predict the dispersion of (137)Cs in the Pacific Ocean. The measured and simulated (137)Cs concentrations in atmospheric aerosols and in seawater are compared with global fallout and the Chernobyl accident, which represent the main sources of the pre-Fukushima radionuclide background in the environment. The radionuclide concentrations in the atmosphere have been negligible when compared with the Chernobyl levels. The maximum (137)Cs concentration in surface waters of the open Pacific Ocean will be around 20 Bq/m(3). The plume will reach the US coast 4-5 y after the accident, however, the levels will be below 3 Bq/m(3). All the North Pacific Ocean will be labeled with Fukushima (137)Cs 10 y after the accident with concentration bellow 1 Bq/m(3).

We search for signatures of gravitational lensing in the gravitational-wave signals from compact binary coalescences detected by Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and Advanced Virgo during O3a, the first half of their third observing run. We study: (1) the expected rate of lensing at current detector sensitivity and the implications of a non-observation of strong lensing or a stochastic gravitational-wave background on the merger-rate density at high redshift; (2) how the interpretation of individual high-mass events would change if they were found to be lensed; (3) the possibility of multiple images due to strong lensing by galaxies or galaxy clusters; and (4) possible wave-optics effects due to point-mass microlenses. Several pairs of signals in the multiple-image analysis show similar parameters and, in this sense, are nominally consistent with the strong lensing hypothesis. However, taking into account population priors, selection effects, and t...

We present a search for dark photon dark matter that could couple to gravitational-wave interferometers using data from Advanced LIGO and Virgo’s third observing run. To perform this analysis, we use two methods, one based on cross-correlation of the strain channels in the two nearly aligned LIGO detectors, and one that looks for excess power in the strain channels of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. The excess power method optimizes the Fourier Transform coherence time as a function of frequency, to account for the expected signal width due to Doppler modulations. We do not find any evidence of dark photon dark matter with a mass between mA ∼ 10−14 − 10−11 eV/c, which corresponds to frequencies between 10-2000 Hz, and therefore provide upper limits on the square of the minimum coupling of dark photons to baryons, i.e. U(1)B dark matter. For the cross-correlation method, the best median constraint on the squared coupling is ∼ 1.31× 10−47 at mA ∼ 4.2× 10−13 eV/c ; for the other analysis...

We report on a search for compact binary coalescences where at least one binary component has a mass between 0.2 $M_\odot$ and 1.0 $M_\odot$ in Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo data collected between 1 April 2019 1500 UTC and 1 October 2019 1500 UTC. We extend previous analyses in two main ways: we include data from the Virgo detector and we allow for more unequal mass systems, with mass ratio $q \geq 0.1$. We do not report any gravitational-wave candidates. The most significant trigger has a false alarm rate of 0.14 $\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. This implies an upper limit on the merger rate of subsolar binaries in the range $[220-24200] \mathrm{Gpc}^{-3} \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$, depending on the chirp mass of the binary. We use this upper limit to derive astrophysical constraints on two phenomenological models that could produce subsolar-mass compact objects. One is an isotropic distribution of equal-mass primordial black holes. Using this model, we find that the fraction of dark matter in primor...

We search for signatures of gravitational lensing in the gravitational-wave signals from compact binary coalescences detected by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo during O3a, the first half of their third observing run. We study: 1) the expected rate of lensing at current detector sensitivity and the implications of a non-observation of strong lensing or a stochastic gravitational-wave background on the merger-rate density at high redshift; 2) how the interpretation of individual high-mass events would change if they were found to be lensed; 3) the possibility of multiple images due to strong lensing by galaxies or galaxy clusters; and 4) possible wave-optics effects due to point-mass microlenses. Several pairs of signals in the multiple-image analysis show similar parameters and, in this sense, are nominally consistent with the strong lensing hypothesis. However, taking into account population priors, selection effects, and the prior odds against lensing, these events do not provide...

We present a search for continuous gravitational-wave emission due to r-modes in the pulsar PSR J0537–6910 using data from the LIGO–Virgo Collaboration observing run O3. PSR J0537–6910 is a young energetic X-ray pulsar and is the most frequent glitcher known. The inter-glitch braking index of the pulsar suggests that gravitational-wave emission due to r-mode oscillations may play an important role in the spin evolution of this pulsar. Theoretical models confirm this possibility and predict emission at a level that can be probed by ground-based detectors. In order to explore this scenario, we search for r-mode emission in the epochs between glitches by using a contemporaneous timing ephemeris obtained from NICER data. We do not detect any signals in the theoretically expected band of 86–97 Hz, and report upper limits on the amplitude of the gravitational waves. Our results improve on previous amplitude upper limits from r-modes in J0537-6910 by a factor of up to 3 and place stringent...

We present a search for continuous gravitational-wave emission due to r-modes in the pulsar PSR J0537−6910 using data from the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration observing run O3. PSR J0537−6910 is a young energetic X-ray pulsar and is the most frequent glitcher known. The inter-glitch braking index of the pulsar suggests that gravitational-wave emission due to r-mode oscillations may play an important role in the spin evolution of this pulsar. Theoretical models confirm this possibility and predict emission at a level that can be probed by ground-based detectors. In order to explore this scenario, we search for r-mode emission in the epochs between glitches by using a contemporaneous timing ephemeris obtained from NICER data. We do not detect any signals in the theoretically expected band of 86-97 Hz, and report upper limits on the amplitude of the gravitational waves. Our results improve on previous amplitude upper limits from r-modes in J0537-6910 by a factor of up to 3 and place stringent...

This paper presents the gravitational-wave measurement of the Hubble constant (H 0) using the detections from the first and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detector network. The presence of the transient electromagnetic counterpart of the binary neutron star GW170817 led to the first standard-siren measurement of H 0. Here we additionally use binary black hole detections in conjunction with galaxy catalogs and report a joint measurement. Our updated measurement is H 0 = 69 − 8 + 16 km s−1 Mpc−1 (68.3% of the highest density posterior interval with a flat-in-log prior) which is an improvement by a factor of 1.04 (about 4%) over the GW170817-only value of 69 − 8 + 17 km s−1 Mpc−1. A significant additional contribution currently comes from GW170814, a loud and well-localized detection from a part of the sky thoroughly covered by the Dark Energy Survey. With numerous detections anticipated over the upcoming years, an exhaustive understanding of other systematic effe...

We report the observation of gravitational waves from two compact binary coalescences in LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run with properties consistent with neutron star–black hole (NSBH) binaries. The two events are named GW200105_162426 and GW200115_042309, abbreviated as GW200105 and GW200115; the first was observed by LIGO Livingston and Virgo and the second by all three LIGO–Virgo detectors. The source of GW200105 has component masses 8 . 9 − 1 . 5 + 1. 2 and 1. 9 − 0. 2 + 0. 3 M ⊙ , whereas the source of GW200115 has component masses 5. 7 − 2 . 1 + 1. 8 and 1. 5 − 0. 3 + 0. 7 M ⊙ (all measurements quoted at the 90% credible level). The probability that the secondary’s mass is below the maximal mass of a neutron star is 89%–96% and 87%–98%, respectively, for GW200105 and GW200115, with the ranges arising from different astrophysical assumptions. The source luminosity distances are 280 − 110 + 110 and 300 − 100 + 150 Mpc , respectively. The magnitude of the primary spin of GW...

On 2019 April 25, the LIGO Livingston detector observed a compact binary coalescence with signal-to-noise ratio 12.9. The Virgo detector was also taking data that did not contribute to detection due to a low signal-to-noise ratio, but were used for subsequent parameter estimation. The 90% credible intervals for the component masses range from to ( – if we restrict the dimensionless component spin magnitudes to be smaller than 0.05). These mass parameters are consistent with the individual binary components being neutron stars. However, both the source-frame chirp mass and the total mass of this system are significantly larger than those of any other known binary neutron star (BNS) system. The possibility that one or both binary components of the system are black holes cannot be ruled out from gravitational-wave data. We discuss possible origins of the system based on its inconsistency with the known Galactic BNS population. Under the assumption that the signal was produced by a BNS ...