@article{a352e99e802849a092f688a1c6ba8c6c,
title = "Astrophysical implications of the binary black hole merger GW150914",
abstract = "The discovery of the gravitational-wave (GW) source GW150914 with the Advanced LIGO detectors provides the first observational evidence for the existence of binary black hole (BH) systems that inspiral and merge within the age of the universe. Such BH mergers have been predicted in two main types of formation models, involving isolated binaries in galactic fields or dynamical interactions in young and old dense stellar environments. The measured masses robustly demonstrate that relatively {"}heavy{"} BHs (≳25 M⊙) can form in nature. This discovery implies relatively weak massive-star winds and thus the formation of GW150914 in an environment with a metallicity lower than about 1/2 of the solar value. The rate of binary-BH (BBH) mergers inferred from the observation of GW150914 is consistent with the higher end of rate predictions (≳1 Gpc-3yr?1) from both types of formation models. The low measured redshift (z ≃ 0.1) of GW150914 and the low inferred metallicity of the stellar progenitor imply either BBH formation in a low-mass galaxy in the local universe and a prompt merger, or formation at high redshift with a time delay between formation and merger of several Gyr. This discovery motivates further studies of binary-BH formation astrophysics. It also has implications for future detections and studies by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo, and GW detectors in space.",
keywords = "gravitational waves, stars: black holes, stars: massive",
author = "{LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaborations} and Abbott, {B. P.} and R. Abbott and Abbott, {T. D.} and Abernathy, {M. R.} and F. Acernese and K. Ackley and C. Adams and T. Adams and P. Addesso and Adhikari, {R. X.} and Adya, {V. B.} and C. Affeldt and M. Agathos and K. Agatsuma and N. Aggarwal and Aguiar, {O. D.} and L. Aiello and A. Ain and P. Ajith and B. Allen and A. Allocca and Altin, {P. A.} and Anderson, {S. B.} and Anderson, {W. G.} and K. Arai and Araya, {M. C.} and Arceneaux, {C. C.} and Areeda, {J. S.} and N. Arnaud and Arun, {K. G.} and S. Ascenzi and G. Ashton and M. Ast and Aston, {S. M.} and P. Astone and P. Aufmuth and C. Aulbert and S. Babak and P. Bacon and Bader, {M. K.M.} and Baker, {P. T.} and F. Baldaccini and G. Ballardin and Ballmer, {S. W.} and Barayoga, {J. C.} and Barclay, {S. E.} and Barish, {B. C.} and D. Barker and F. Barone and B. Barr and L. Barsotti and M. Barsuglia and D. Barta and J. Bartlett and I. Bartos and R. Bassiri and A. Basti and Batch, {J. C.} and C. Baune and V. Bavigadda and M. Bazzan and B. Behnke and M. Bejger and C. Belczynski and Bell, {A. S.} and Bell, {C. J.} and Berger, {B. K.} and J. Bergman and G. Bergmann and Berry, {C. P.L.} and D. Bersanetti and A. Bertolini and J. Betzwieser and S. Bhagwat and R. Bhandare and Bilenko, {I. A.} and G. Billingsley and J. Birch and R. Birney and S. Biscans and A. Bisht and M. Bitossi and C. Biwer and Bizouard, {M. A.} and Blackburn, {J. K.} and Blair, {C. D.} and Blair, {D. G.} and Blair, {R. M.} and S. Bloemen and O. Bock and Bodiya, {T. P.} and M. Boer and G. Bogaert and C. Bogan and A. Bohe and P. Bojtos and C. Bond and F. Bondu and R. Bonnand and Boom, {B. A.} and R. Bork and V. Boschi and S. Bose and Y. Bouffanais and A. Bozzi and C. Bradaschia and Brady, {P. R.} and Braginsky, {V. B.} and M. Branchesi and Brau, {J. E.} and T. Briant and A. Brillet and M. Brinkmann and V. Brisson and P. Brockill and Brooks, {A. F.} and Brown, {D. A.} and Brown, {D. D.} and Brown, {N. M.} and Buchanan, {C. C.} and A. Buikema and T. Bulik and Bulten, {H. J.} and A. Buonanno and D. Buskulic and C. Buy and Byer, {R. L.} and L. Cadonati and G. Cagnoli and C. Cahillane and Bustillo, {J. Calder{\'o}n} and T. Callister and E. Calloni and Camp, {J. B.} and Cannon, {K. C.} and J. Cao and Capano, {C. D.} and E. Capocasa and F. Carbognani and S. Caride and Diaz, {J. Casanueva} and C. Casentini and S. Caudill and M. Cavagli{\`a} and F. Cavalier and R. Cavalieri and G. Cella and C. Cepeda and Baiardi, {L. Cerboni} and G. Cerretani and E. Cesarini and R. Chakraborty and T. Chalermsongsak and Chamberlin, {S. J.} and M. Chan and S. Chao and P. Charlton and E. Chassande-Mottin and Chen, {H. Y.} and Y. Chen and C. Cheng and A. Chincarini and A. Chiummo and Cho, {H. S.} and M. Cho and Chow, {J. H.} and N. Christensen and Q. Chu and S. Chua and S. Chung and G. Ciani and F. Clara and Clark, {J. A.} and F. Cleva and E. Coccia and Cohadon, {P. F.} and A. Colla and Collette, {C. G.} and L. Cominsky and M. Constancio and A. Conte and L. Conti and D. Cook and Corbitt, {T. R.} and N. Cornish and A. Corsi and S. Cortese and Costa, {C. A.} and Coughlin, {M. W.} and Coughlin, {S. B.} and Coulon, {J. P.} and Countryman, {S. T.} and P. Couvares and Cowan, {E. E.} and Coward, {D. M.} and Cowart, {M. J.} and Coyne, {D. C.} and R. Coyne and K. Craig and Creighton, {J. D.E.} and J. Cripe and Crowder, {S. G.} and A. Cumming and L. Cunningham and E. Cuoco and Canton, {T. Dal} and Danilishin, {S. L.} and S. D'Antonio and K. Danzmann and Darman, {N. S.} and V. Dattilo and I. Dave and Daveloza, {H. P.} and M. Davier and Davies, {G. S.} and Daw, {E. J.} and R. Day and D. Debra and G. Debreczeni and J. Degallaix and Laurentis, {M. De} and S. Del{\'e}glise and Pozzo, {W. Del} and T. Denker and T. Dent and H. Dereli and V. Dergachev and Derosa, {R. T.} and Derosa, {R. T.} and R. Desalvo and S. Dhurandhar and D{\'i}az, {M. C.} and Fiore, {L. Di} and Giovanni, {M. Di} and Lieto, {A. Di} and Pace, {S. Di} and Palma, {I. Di} and Virgilio, {A. Di} and G. Dojcinoski and V. Dolique and F. Donovan and Dooley, {K. L.} and S. Doravari and B. Gendre and Howell, {E. J.} and L. Ju and {Van Heijningen}, {J. V.} and L. Wen and C. Zhao and Zhu, {X. J.}",
year = "2016",
month = feb,
day = "20",
doi = "10.3847/2041-8205/818/2/L22",
language = "English",
volume = "818",
journal = "The Astrophysical Journal Letters",
issn = "2041-8205",
publisher = "IOP Publishing",
number = "2",
}