Inferring parameters of the loudest intermediate mass black hole trigger in LIGO’s O1/O2 data. (arXiv:1912.10533v1 [gr-qc])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Udall_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Richard Udall</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Jani_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Karan Jani</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Lange_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">Jacob Lange</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+OShaughnessy_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Richard O'Shaughnessy</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Clark_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">James Clark</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Cadonati_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">Laura Cadonati</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Shoemaker_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Deirdre Shoemaker</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Holley_Bockelmann_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Kelly Holley-Bockelmann</a>
Gravitational wave measurements provide the most robust constraints on the
mass of astrophysical black holes. Using state-of-the-art parameter estimation
techniques and gravitational waveform models, we infer the source parameters of
the loudest marginal trigger, 170502, found in LIGO from 2015-2017. If this
trigger is assumed to be a binary black hole merger, we find it corresponds to
a total mass in the source frame of $157^{+55}_{-41}~rm{M}_odot$. This is a
factor of $sim3/2$ higher than that of the heaviest confirmed detection,
GW170729. The primary and secondary black hole masses are constrained to
$94^{+44}_{-28}~rm{M}_{odot}$ and $62^{+30}_{-25}~rm{M}_{odot}$
respectively with 90% confidence. We find $chi_mathrm{eff}=
0.49^{+0.31}_{-0.63}$, the effective spin aligned with the total angular
momentum vector, which has most of its support at larger values than the other
O1/O2 events. Further, we find the inclusion of higher order harmonics narrows
the confidence region for the total binary mass by 10%. Our study illustrates
the necessary techniques for inferring the physical parameters of intermediate
mass black hole binary candidates $(gtrsim 100~mathrm{M}_odot)$ in the
current gravitational wave network.
Gravitational wave measurements provide the most robust constraints on the
mass of astrophysical black holes. Using state-of-the-art parameter estimation
techniques and gravitational waveform models, we infer the source parameters of
the loudest marginal trigger, 170502, found in LIGO from 2015-2017. If this
trigger is assumed to be a binary black hole merger, we find it corresponds to
a total mass in the source frame of $157^{+55}_{-41}~rm{M}_odot$. This is a
factor of $sim3/2$ higher than that of the heaviest confirmed detection,
GW170729. The primary and secondary black hole masses are constrained to
$94^{+44}_{-28}~rm{M}_{odot}$ and $62^{+30}_{-25}~rm{M}_{odot}$
respectively with 90% confidence. We find $chi_mathrm{eff}=
0.49^{+0.31}_{-0.63}$, the effective spin aligned with the total angular
momentum vector, which has most of its support at larger values than the other
O1/O2 events. Further, we find the inclusion of higher order harmonics narrows
the confidence region for the total binary mass by 10%. Our study illustrates
the necessary techniques for inferring the physical parameters of intermediate
mass black hole binary candidates $(gtrsim 100~mathrm{M}_odot)$ in the
current gravitational wave network.
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