A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration; 1M2H Collaboration; Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration; DES Collaboration; DLT40 Collaboration; Las Cumbres Observatory Collaboration; The VINROUGE Collaboration; MASTER Collaboration; Matt Nicholl

doi:10.1038/nature24471

A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Virgo Collaboration, 1M2H Collaboration, Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration, DES Collaboration, DLT40 Collaboration, Las Cumbres Observatory Collaboration, The VINROUGE Collaboration, MASTER Collaboration, Matt Nicholl

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

381 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO ¹ and Virgo ² detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system ³ . Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source ^4-6 . This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities ⁷ , resulting in the identification ^8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren' ^14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder' ¹⁹ : the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements ^20,21 , while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	85-88
Journal	Nature
Volume	551
Issue number	7678
Early online date	16 Oct 2017
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24471
Publication status	Published - 2 Nov 2017

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The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Virgo Collaboration, 1M2H Collaboration, Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration, DES Collaboration, DLT40 Collaboration, Las Cumbres Observatory Collaboration, The VINROUGE Collaboration, MASTER Collaboration, & Nicholl, M. (2017). A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant. Nature, 551(7678), 85-88. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24471

@article{67e4180913654d559c964cde1f4f62eb,

title = "A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant",

abstract = " On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO 1 and Virgo 2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system 3 . Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source 4-6 . This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities 7 , resulting in the identification 8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren' 14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder' 19 : the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements 20,21 , while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision. ",

author = "Abbott, {B. P.} and R. Abbott and Abbott, {T. D.} 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. Afrough and B. Agarwal 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 G. Allen and A. Allocca and Altin, {P. A.} and A. Amato and A. Ananyeva and Anderson, {S. B.} and Anderson, {W. G.} and Angelova, {S. V.} and S. Antier and S. Appert and K. Arai and Berry, {C. P.L.} and Cooper, {S. J.} and {Del Pozzo}, W. and {Dovale {\'A}lvarez}, M. and B. Farr and Farr, {W. M.} and A. Freise and Gaebel, {S. M.} and Haster, {C. J.} and H. Miao and H. Middleton and Mow-Lowry, {C. M.} and Stops, {D. J.} and D. T{\"o}yr{\"a} and A. Vecchio and S. Vinciguerra and H. Wang and I. Mandel and {The LIGO Scientific Collaboration} and {Virgo Collaboration} and {1M2H Collaboration} and {Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration} and {DES Collaboration} and {DLT40 Collaboration} and {Las Cumbres Observatory Collaboration} and {The VINROUGE Collaboration} and {MASTER Collaboration} and Matt Nicholl",

year = "2017",

month = nov,

day = "2",

doi = "10.1038/nature24471",

language = "English",

volume = "551",

pages = "85--88",

journal = "Nature",

issn = "0028-0836",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

number = "7678",

}

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, Virgo Collaboration, 1M2H Collaboration, Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration, DES Collaboration, DLT40 Collaboration, Las Cumbres Observatory Collaboration, The VINROUGE Collaboration, MASTER Collaboration & Nicholl, M 2017, 'A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant', Nature, vol. 551, no. 7678, pp. 85-88. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24471

TY - JOUR

T1 - A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant

AU - Abbott, B. P.

AU - Abbott, R.

AU - Abbott, T. D.

AU - Acernese, F.

AU - Ackley, K.

AU - Adams, C.

AU - Adams, T.

AU - Addesso, P.

AU - Adhikari, R. X.

AU - Adya, V. B.

AU - Affeldt, C.

AU - Afrough, M.

AU - Agarwal, B.

AU - Agathos, M.

AU - Agatsuma, K.

AU - Aggarwal, N.

AU - Aguiar, O. D.

AU - Aiello, L.

AU - Ain, A.

AU - Ajith, P.

AU - Allen, B.

AU - Allen, G.

AU - Allocca, A.

AU - Altin, P. A.

AU - Amato, A.

AU - Ananyeva, A.

AU - Anderson, S. B.

AU - Anderson, W. G.

AU - Angelova, S. V.

AU - Antier, S.

AU - Appert, S.

AU - Arai, K.

AU - Berry, C. P.L.

AU - Cooper, S. J.

AU - Del Pozzo, W.

AU - Dovale Álvarez, M.

AU - Farr, B.

AU - Farr, W. M.

AU - Freise, A.

AU - Gaebel, S. M.

AU - Haster, C. J.

AU - Miao, H.

AU - Middleton, H.

AU - Mow-Lowry, C. M.

AU - Stops, D. J.

AU - Töyrä, D.

AU - Vecchio, A.

AU - Vinciguerra, S.

AU - Wang, H.

AU - Mandel, I.

AU - The LIGO Scientific Collaboration

AU - Virgo Collaboration

AU - 1M2H Collaboration

AU - Dark Energy Camera GW-EM Collaboration

AU - DES Collaboration

AU - DLT40 Collaboration

AU - Las Cumbres Observatory Collaboration

AU - The VINROUGE Collaboration

AU - MASTER Collaboration

AU - Nicholl, Matt

PY - 2017/11/2

Y1 - 2017/11/2

N2 - On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO 1 and Virgo 2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system 3 . Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source 4-6 . This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities 7 , resulting in the identification 8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren' 14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder' 19 : the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements 20,21 , while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.

AB - On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO 1 and Virgo 2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system 3 . Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source 4-6 . This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities 7 , resulting in the identification 8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren' 14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder' 19 : the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements 20,21 , while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85033578549&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/nature24471

DO - 10.1038/nature24471

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85033578549

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 551

SP - 85

EP - 88

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7678

ER -

A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant

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