Search for the isotropic stochastic background using data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run

(LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaboration)

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267 Scopus citations

Abstract

The stochastic gravitational-wave background is a superposition of sources that are either too weak or too numerous to detect individually. In this study, we present the results from a cross-correlation analysis on data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run (O2), which we combine with the results of the first observing run (O1). We do not find evidence for a stochastic background, so we place upper limits on the normalized energy density in gravitational waves at the 95% credible level of ωGW<6.0×10-8 for a frequency-independent (flat) background and ωGW<4.8×10-8 at 25 Hz for a background of compact binary coalescences. The upper limit improves over the O1 result by a factor of 2.8. Additionally, we place upper limits on the energy density in an isotropic background of scalar- and vector-polarized gravitational waves, and we discuss the implication of these results for models of compact binaries and cosmic string backgrounds. Finally, we present a conservative estimate of the correlated broadband noise due to the magnetic Schumann resonances in O2, based on magnetometer measurements at both the LIGO Hanford and LIGO Livingston observatories. We find that correlated noise is well below the O2 sensitivity.

Original languageEnglish
Article number061101
JournalPhysical Review D
Volume100
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 4 2019
Externally publishedYes

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the United States National Science Foundation (NSF) for the construction and operation of the LIGO Laboratory and Advanced LIGO as well as the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) of the United Kingdom, the Max-Planck-Society (MPS), and the State of Niedersachsen/Germany for support of the construction of Advanced LIGO and construction and operation of the GEO600 detector. Additional support for Advanced LIGO was provided by the Australian Research Council. The authors gratefully acknowledge the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research for the construction and operation of the Virgo detector and the creation and support of the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) consortium. The authors also gratefully acknowledge research support from these agencies as well as by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India, the Department of Science and Technology, India; the Science & Engineering Research Board, India; the Ministry of Human Resource Development, India; the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación; the Vicepresidència i Conselleria d’Innovació; Recerca i Turisme and the Conselleria d’Educació i Universitat del Govern de les Illes Balears; the Conselleria d’Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport de la Generalitat Valenciana; the National Science Centre of Poland; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Russian Foundation for Basic Research; the Russian Science Foundation; the European Commission; the European Regional Development Funds; the Royal Society; the Scottish Funding Council; the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance; the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund; the Lyon Institute of Origins; the Paris Île-de-France Region; the National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary; the National Research Foundation of Korea; Industry Canada and the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation; the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council Canada; the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research; the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations, and Communications; the International Center for Theoretical Physics South American Institute for Fundamental Research; the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong; the National Natural Science Foundation of China; the Leverhulme Trust, the Research Corporation; the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan; and the Kavli Foundation. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the NSF, STFC, MPS, INFN, CNRS, and the State of Niedersachsen/Germany for provision of computational resources. This article has been assigned the document number LIGO-P1800258.

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