General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary

Mark Hannam; Charlie Hoy; Jonathan E. Thompson; Stephen Fairhurst; Vivien Raymond; Marta Colleoni; Derek Davis; Héctor Estellés; Carl Johan Haster; Adrian Helmling-Cornell; Sascha Husa; David Keitel; T. J. Massinger; Alexis Menéndez-Vázquez; Kentaro Mogushi; Serguei Ossokine; Ethan Payne; Geraint Pratten; Isobel Romero-Shaw; Jam Sadiq; Patricia Schmidt; Rodrigo Tenorio; Richard Udall; John Veitch; Daniel Williams; Anjali Balasaheb Yelikar; Aaron Zimmerman

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z

General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary

Mark Hannam^*, Charlie Hoy, Jonathan E. Thompson, Stephen Fairhurst, Vivien Raymond, Marta Colleoni, Derek Davis, Héctor Estellés, Carl Johan Haster, Adrian Helmling-Cornell, Sascha Husa, David Keitel, T. J. Massinger, Alexis Menéndez-Vázquez, Kentaro Mogushi, Serguei Ossokine, Ethan Payne, Geraint Pratten, Isobel Romero-Shaw, Jam SadiqPatricia Schmidt, Rodrigo Tenorio, Richard Udall, John Veitch, Daniel Williams, Anjali Balasaheb Yelikar, Aaron Zimmerman

^*Corresponding author for this work

Physics and Astronomy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The general-relativistic phenomenon of spin-induced orbital precession has not yet been observed in strong-field gravity. Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes (BBHs) are prime candidates, as we expect the astrophysical binary population to contain precessing binaries^1,2. Imprints of precession have been investigated in several signals^3–5, but no definitive identification of orbital precession has been reported in any of the 84 BBH observations so far^5–7 by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors^8,9. Here we report the measurement of strong-field precession in the LIGO–Virgo–Kagra gravitational-wave signal GW200129. The binary’s orbit precesses at a rate ten orders of magnitude faster than previous weak-field measurements from binary pulsars^10–13. We also find that the primary black hole is probably highly spinning. According to current binary population estimates, a GW200129-like signal is extremely unlikely, and therefore presents a direct challenge to many current binary-formation models.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	652-655
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature
Volume	610
Issue number	7933
Early online date	12 Oct 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z
Publication status	Published - 27 Oct 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We thank T. Dent, S. Ghosh, E. Hamilton, P. Kolitsidou, L. London and F. Ohme for discussions; and K. Riles for guidance during the internal LIGO review process. The authors were supported in part by Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) grant ST/V00154X/1 and European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant 647839. Calculations were performed using the supercomputing facilities at Cardiff University operated by Advanced Research Computing at Cardiff (ARCCA) on behalf of the Cardiff Supercomputing Facility and the HPC Wales and Supercomputing Wales (SCW) projects. We acknowledge the support of the latter, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the Welsh Government. In part, the computational resources at Cardiff University were also supported by STFC grant ST/I006285/1. We are also grateful for computational resources provided by LIGO Laboratory and supported by National Science Foundation Grants PHY-0757058 and PHY-0823459. This material is based on work supported by NSF’s LIGO Laboratory, which is a major facility fully funded by the National Science Foundation. This research has made use of data, software and/or web tools obtained from the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center (https://www.gw-openscience.org), a service of LIGO Laboratory, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration. LIGO is funded by the US National Science Foundation. Virgo is funded by the French Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Italian Istituto Nazionale della Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and the Dutch Nikhef, with contributions by Polish and Hungarian institutes. Plots were prepared with Matplotlib59, GWpy60and PESummary61. Parameter estimation was performed with the LALInference37and LALSimulation libraries within LALSuite62, as well as the BILBY63 ,64and PBILBY41libraries and the DYNESTY nested sampling package42. NumPy65, Scipy66and Positive67 ,68were used during the analysis.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

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10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z

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Hannam, M., Hoy, C., Thompson, J. E., Fairhurst, S., Raymond, V., Colleoni, M., Davis, D., Estellés, H., Haster, C. J., Helmling-Cornell, A., Husa, S., Keitel, D., Massinger, T. J., Menéndez-Vázquez, A., Mogushi, K., Ossokine, S., Payne, E., Pratten, G., Romero-Shaw, I., ... Zimmerman, A. (2022). General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary. Nature, 610(7933), 652-655. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z

@article{bac3fd6f268a4ce5ad8598b79b9d1bc6,

title = "General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary",

abstract = "The general-relativistic phenomenon of spin-induced orbital precession has not yet been observed in strong-field gravity. Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes (BBHs) are prime candidates, as we expect the astrophysical binary population to contain precessing binaries1,2. Imprints of precession have been investigated in several signals3–5, but no definitive identification of orbital precession has been reported in any of the 84 BBH observations so far5–7 by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors8,9. Here we report the measurement of strong-field precession in the LIGO–Virgo–Kagra gravitational-wave signal GW200129. The binary{\textquoteright}s orbit precesses at a rate ten orders of magnitude faster than previous weak-field measurements from binary pulsars10–13. We also find that the primary black hole is probably highly spinning. According to current binary population estimates, a GW200129-like signal is extremely unlikely, and therefore presents a direct challenge to many current binary-formation models.",

author = "Mark Hannam and Charlie Hoy and Thompson, {Jonathan E.} and Stephen Fairhurst and Vivien Raymond and Marta Colleoni and Derek Davis and H{\'e}ctor Estell{\'e}s and Haster, {Carl Johan} and Adrian Helmling-Cornell and Sascha Husa and David Keitel and Massinger, {T. J.} and Alexis Men{\'e}ndez-V{\'a}zquez and Kentaro Mogushi and Serguei Ossokine and Ethan Payne and Geraint Pratten and Isobel Romero-Shaw and Jam Sadiq and Patricia Schmidt and Rodrigo Tenorio and Richard Udall and John Veitch and Daniel Williams and Yelikar, {Anjali Balasaheb} and Aaron Zimmerman",

note = "Funding Information: We thank T. Dent, S. Ghosh, E. Hamilton, P. Kolitsidou, L. London and F. Ohme for discussions; and K. Riles for guidance during the internal LIGO review process. The authors were supported in part by Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) grant ST/V00154X/1 and European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant 647839. Calculations were performed using the supercomputing facilities at Cardiff University operated by Advanced Research Computing at Cardiff (ARCCA) on behalf of the Cardiff Supercomputing Facility and the HPC Wales and Supercomputing Wales (SCW) projects. We acknowledge the support of the latter, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the Welsh Government. In part, the computational resources at Cardiff University were also supported by STFC grant ST/I006285/1. We are also grateful for computational resources provided by LIGO Laboratory and supported by National Science Foundation Grants PHY-0757058 and PHY-0823459. This material is based on work supported by NSF{\textquoteright}s LIGO Laboratory, which is a major facility fully funded by the National Science Foundation. This research has made use of data, software and/or web tools obtained from the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center (https://www.gw-openscience.org), a service of LIGO Laboratory, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration. LIGO is funded by the US National Science Foundation. Virgo is funded by the French Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Italian Istituto Nazionale della Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and the Dutch Nikhef, with contributions by Polish and Hungarian institutes. Plots were prepared with Matplotlib59, GWpy60and PESummary61. Parameter estimation was performed with the LALInference37and LALSimulation libraries within LALSuite62, as well as the BILBY63 ,64and PBILBY41libraries and the DYNESTY nested sampling package42. NumPy65, Scipy66and Positive67 ,68were used during the analysis. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2022",

month = oct,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z",

language = "English",

volume = "610",

pages = "652--655",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "7933",

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Hannam, M, Hoy, C, Thompson, JE, Fairhurst, S, Raymond, V, Colleoni, M, Davis, D, Estellés, H, Haster, CJ, Helmling-Cornell, A, Husa, S, Keitel, D, Massinger, TJ, Menéndez-Vázquez, A, Mogushi, K, Ossokine, S, Payne, E, Pratten, G, Romero-Shaw, I, Sadiq, J, Schmidt, P, Tenorio, R, Udall, R, Veitch, J, Williams, D, Yelikar, AB & Zimmerman, A 2022, 'General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary', Nature, vol. 610, no. 7933, pp. 652-655. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z

TY - JOUR

T1 - General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary

AU - Hannam, Mark

AU - Hoy, Charlie

AU - Thompson, Jonathan E.

AU - Fairhurst, Stephen

AU - Raymond, Vivien

AU - Colleoni, Marta

AU - Davis, Derek

AU - Estellés, Héctor

AU - Haster, Carl Johan

AU - Helmling-Cornell, Adrian

AU - Husa, Sascha

AU - Keitel, David

AU - Massinger, T. J.

AU - Menéndez-Vázquez, Alexis

AU - Mogushi, Kentaro

AU - Ossokine, Serguei

AU - Payne, Ethan

AU - Pratten, Geraint

AU - Romero-Shaw, Isobel

AU - Sadiq, Jam

AU - Schmidt, Patricia

AU - Tenorio, Rodrigo

AU - Udall, Richard

AU - Veitch, John

AU - Williams, Daniel

AU - Yelikar, Anjali Balasaheb

AU - Zimmerman, Aaron

N1 - Funding Information: We thank T. Dent, S. Ghosh, E. Hamilton, P. Kolitsidou, L. London and F. Ohme for discussions; and K. Riles for guidance during the internal LIGO review process. The authors were supported in part by Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) grant ST/V00154X/1 and European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant 647839. Calculations were performed using the supercomputing facilities at Cardiff University operated by Advanced Research Computing at Cardiff (ARCCA) on behalf of the Cardiff Supercomputing Facility and the HPC Wales and Supercomputing Wales (SCW) projects. We acknowledge the support of the latter, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the Welsh Government. In part, the computational resources at Cardiff University were also supported by STFC grant ST/I006285/1. We are also grateful for computational resources provided by LIGO Laboratory and supported by National Science Foundation Grants PHY-0757058 and PHY-0823459. This material is based on work supported by NSF’s LIGO Laboratory, which is a major facility fully funded by the National Science Foundation. This research has made use of data, software and/or web tools obtained from the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center (https://www.gw-openscience.org), a service of LIGO Laboratory, the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration. LIGO is funded by the US National Science Foundation. Virgo is funded by the French Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), the Italian Istituto Nazionale della Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and the Dutch Nikhef, with contributions by Polish and Hungarian institutes. Plots were prepared with Matplotlib59, GWpy60and PESummary61. Parameter estimation was performed with the LALInference37and LALSimulation libraries within LALSuite62, as well as the BILBY63 ,64and PBILBY41libraries and the DYNESTY nested sampling package42. NumPy65, Scipy66and Positive67 ,68were used during the analysis. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

PY - 2022/10/27

Y1 - 2022/10/27

N2 - The general-relativistic phenomenon of spin-induced orbital precession has not yet been observed in strong-field gravity. Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes (BBHs) are prime candidates, as we expect the astrophysical binary population to contain precessing binaries1,2. Imprints of precession have been investigated in several signals3–5, but no definitive identification of orbital precession has been reported in any of the 84 BBH observations so far5–7 by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors8,9. Here we report the measurement of strong-field precession in the LIGO–Virgo–Kagra gravitational-wave signal GW200129. The binary’s orbit precesses at a rate ten orders of magnitude faster than previous weak-field measurements from binary pulsars10–13. We also find that the primary black hole is probably highly spinning. According to current binary population estimates, a GW200129-like signal is extremely unlikely, and therefore presents a direct challenge to many current binary-formation models.

AB - The general-relativistic phenomenon of spin-induced orbital precession has not yet been observed in strong-field gravity. Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes (BBHs) are prime candidates, as we expect the astrophysical binary population to contain precessing binaries1,2. Imprints of precession have been investigated in several signals3–5, but no definitive identification of orbital precession has been reported in any of the 84 BBH observations so far5–7 by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors8,9. Here we report the measurement of strong-field precession in the LIGO–Virgo–Kagra gravitational-wave signal GW200129. The binary’s orbit precesses at a rate ten orders of magnitude faster than previous weak-field measurements from binary pulsars10–13. We also find that the primary black hole is probably highly spinning. According to current binary population estimates, a GW200129-like signal is extremely unlikely, and therefore presents a direct challenge to many current binary-formation models.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139708934&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z

DO - 10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z

M3 - Article

C2 - 36224390

AN - SCOPUS:85139708934

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 610

SP - 652

EP - 655

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7933

ER -

General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary

Abstract

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