GW170817: Implications for the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from Compact Binary Coalescences

Document #:

LIGO-P1700272-v7

Document type:

P - Publications

Abstract:

The LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations have announced the first detection of gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars. The merger rate of binary neutron stars estimated from this event suggests that distant, unresolvable binary neutron stars create a significant astrophysical stochastic gravitational-wave background. The binary neutron star background will add to the background from binary black holes, increasing the amplitude of the total astrophysical background relative to previous expectations. In the Advanced LIGO-Virgo frequency band most sensitive to stochastic backgrounds (near 25 Hz), we predict a total astrophysical background with amplitude Ω_GW(f=25 Hz)=1.8+2.7
−1.3  x 10⁻⁹ with 90% confidence, compared with Ω_GW(f=25 Hz)=1.1+1.2
−0.7  x 10⁻⁹ from binary black holes alone. Assuming the most probable rate for compact binary mergers, we find that the total background may be detectable with a signal-to-noise-ratio of 3 after 40 months of total observation time, based on the expected timeline for Advanced LIGO and Virgo to reach their design sensitivity.

Files in Document:

• LIGO-P1700272.pdf (507.3 kB)

Topics:

• Stochastic

Author Groups:

• LVC

Keywords:

gw170817 gravitational-waves stochastic neutron-star black-hole

Publication Information:

Target Journal: PRL