Search for Subsolar-mass Ultracompact Binaries in Advanced LIGO's First Observing Rrun

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-15-2018

Keywords

Binary stars, Detection, Ultracompact, Gravitational waves, Black hole formation

Abstract

We present the first Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo search for ultracompact binary systems with component masses between 0.2 M⊙ - 1.0 M⊙ using data taken between September 12, 2015 and January 19, 2016. We find no viable gravitational wave candidates. Our null result constrains the coalescence rate of monochromatic (delta function) distributions of non-spinning (0.2 M⊙, 0.2 M⊙) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.0×106Gpc−3yr−1 and the coalescence rate of a similar distribution of (1.0 M⊙, 1.0 M⊙) ultracompact binaries to be less than 1.9×104Gpc−3yr−1 (at 90 percent confidence). Neither black holes nor neutron stars are expected to form below ~ 1 solar mass through conventional stellar evolution, though it has been proposed that similarly low mass black holes could be formed primordially through density fluctuations in the early universe. Under a particular primordial black hole binary formation scenario, we constrain monochromatic primordial black hole populations of 0.2 M⊙ to be less than 33% of the total dark matter density and monochromatic populations of 1.0 M⊙ to be less than 5% of the dark matter density. The latter strengthens the presently placed bounds from micro-lensing surveys of MAssive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs) provided by the MACHO and EROS collaborations.

Journal Title

Physical Review Letters

Volume

121

Issue

23

First Page

231103

Last Page

231103

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.231103

First Department

Physics

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