{"id":3696,"date":"2016-07-13T15:14:52","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T15:14:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.particlebites.com\/?p=3696"},"modified":"2017-02-19T01:14:03","modified_gmt":"2017-02-19T01:14:03","slug":"the-dawn-of-multi-messenger-astronomy-using-kamland-to-study-gravitational-wave-events-gw150914-and-gw151226","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.particlebites.com\/?p=3696","title":{"rendered":"The dawn of multi-messenger astronomy: using KamLAND to study gravitational wave events GW150914 and GW151226"},"content":{"rendered":"
Article:\u00a0<\/strong>Search for electron antineutrinos associated with gravitational wave events GW150914 and GW151226 using KamLAND
\nAuthors:<\/strong>\u00a0KamLAND Collaboration
\nReference:<\/strong>\u00a0arXiv:1606.07155<\/a><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

After the chirp heard \u2018round the world, the search is on for coincident astrophysical particle events to provide insight into the source and nature of the era-defining gravitational wave events detected by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration in late 2015.<\/p>\n

By combining information from gravitational wave (GW) events with the detection of astrophysical neutrinos and electromagnetic signatures such as gamma-ray bursts, physicists and astronomers are poised to draw back the curtain on the dynamics of astrophysical phenomena, and we\u2019re surely in for some surprises.<\/p>\n

The first recorded gravitational wave event<\/a>, GW150914, was likely a merger of two black holes which took place more than one billion light years from the Earth. The event’s name marks the day it\u00a0was observed\u00a0by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), September 14th<\/sup>, 2015. \u00a0LIGO detections<\/em> are named “GW” for “gravitational wave,” followed by the\u00a0observation date\u00a0in YYMMDD format. The second event, GW151226 (December 26th<\/sup>, 2015) was likely another merger of two black holes, having 8 and 14 times the mass of the sun, taking place 1.4 billion light years away from Earth. A third gravitational wave\u00a0event candidate, LVT151012, a possible black hole merger which occurred on October 12th<\/sup>, 2015, did not reach the same\u00a0detection significance a\u00a0the aforementioned events, but still has a >50% chance of astrophysical origin. LIGO\u00a0candidates<\/em> are named differently than detections. The names start with “LVT” for “LIGO-Virgo Trigger,”\u00a0but\u00a0are followed by the observation date in the same YYMMDD format. The different name indicates\u00a0that the event was not significant enough to be called a gravitational wave.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two black holes spiral in towards one another and merge to emit a burst of gravitational waves that Advanced LIGO can detect. Source: APS Physics<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following \u00a0computer simulation created by the multi-university SXS (Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes)<\/a> project depicts what the\u00a0collision of two black holes\u00a0would look like \u00a0if we could get close enough to the merger. It was created by solving equations from Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity using the LIGO data. (Source:\u00a0LIGO Lab Caltech : MIT).<\/p>\n