A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant

B.P. Abbott; R. Abbott; T. D. Abbott; F. Acemese; K. Ackley; C. Adams; T Adams; P. Addesso; S Adhikary; V.B. Adya; C. Affeldt; M. Afrough; Bina Agarwal; M. Agathos; K. Agatsuma; Neha Aggarwal; Carlos Aguiar; Leslie Aiello; A. Ain; Jorge Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz; Jens Hjorth; Darach Jafar Watson; Bo Milvang-Jensen; J.B. Camp

doi:10.1038/nature24471

A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant

B.P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acemese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T Adams, P. Addesso, S Adhikary, V.B. Adya, C. Affeldt, M. Afrough, Bina Agarwal, M. Agathos, K. Agatsuma, Neha Aggarwal, Carlos Aguiar, Leslie Aiello, A. Ain, Jorge Enrico Ramirez-RuizJens Hjorth, Darach Jafar Watson, Bo Milvang-Jensen, J.B. Camp

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375 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO¹ and Virgo² detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system³. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source^4-6. This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities⁷, resulting in the identification^8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren'^14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder'¹⁹: the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements^20,21, while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature
Volume	551
Issue number	7678
Pages (from-to)	85-88
ISSN	0028-0836
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24471
Publication status	Published - 2 Nov 2017

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Abbott, B. P., Abbott, R., Abbott, T. D., Acemese, F., Ackley, K., Adams, C., Adams, T., Addesso, P., Adhikary, S., Adya, V. B., Affeldt, C., Afrough, M., Agarwal, B., Agathos, M., Agatsuma, K., Aggarwal, N., Aguiar, C., Aiello, L., Ain, A., ... Camp, J. B. (2017). A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant. Nature, 551(7678), 85-88. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24471

Abbott, BP, Abbott, R, Abbott, TD, Acemese, F, Ackley, K, Adams, C, Adams, T, Addesso, P, Adhikary, S, Adya, VB, Affeldt, C, Afrough, M, Agarwal, B, Agathos, M, Agatsuma, K, Aggarwal, N, Aguiar, C, Aiello, L, Ain, A, Ramirez-Ruiz, JE, Hjorth, J , Watson, DJ, Milvang-Jensen, B & Camp, JB 2017, 'A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant', Nature, vol. 551, no. 7678, pp. 85-88. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature24471

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title = "A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant",

abstract = "On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO1 and Virgo2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system3. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source4-6. This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities7, resulting in the identification8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren'14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder'19: the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements20,21, while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.",

author = "B.P. Abbott and R. Abbott and Abbott, {T. D.} and F. Acemese and K. Ackley and C. Adams and T Adams and P. Addesso and S Adhikary and V.B. Adya and C. Affeldt and M. Afrough and Bina Agarwal and M. Agathos and K. Agatsuma and Neha Aggarwal and Carlos Aguiar and Leslie Aiello and A. Ain and Ramirez-Ruiz, {Jorge Enrico} and Jens Hjorth and Watson, {Darach Jafar} and Bo Milvang-Jensen and J.B. Camp",

year = "2017",

month = nov,

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doi = "10.1038/nature24471",

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AU - Abbott, B.P.

AU - Abbott, R.

AU - Abbott, T. D.

AU - Acemese, F.

AU - Ackley, K.

AU - Adams, C.

AU - Adams, T

AU - Addesso, P.

AU - Adhikary, S

AU - Adya, V.B.

AU - Affeldt, C.

AU - Afrough, M.

AU - Agarwal, Bina

AU - Agathos, M.

AU - Agatsuma, K.

AU - Aggarwal, Neha

AU - Aguiar, Carlos

AU - Aiello, Leslie

AU - Ain, A.

AU - Ramirez-Ruiz, Jorge Enrico

AU - Hjorth, Jens

AU - Watson, Darach Jafar

AU - Milvang-Jensen, Bo

AU - Camp, J.B.

PY - 2017/11/2

Y1 - 2017/11/2

N2 - On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO1 and Virgo2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system3. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source4-6. This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities7, resulting in the identification8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren'14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder'19: the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements20,21, while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.

AB - On 17 August 2017, the Advanced LIGO1 and Virgo2 detectors observed the gravitational-wave event GW170817-a strong signal from the merger of a binary neutron-star system3. Less than two seconds after the merger, a γ-ray burst (GRB 170817A) was detected within a region of the sky consistent with the LIGO-Virgo-derived location of the gravitational-wave source4-6. This sky region was subsequently observed by optical astronomy facilities7, resulting in the identification8-13 of an optical transient signal within about ten arcseconds of the galaxy NGC 4993. This detection of GW170817 in both gravitational waves and electromagnetic waves represents the first 'multi-messenger' astronomical observation. Such observations enable GW170817 to be used as a 'standard siren'14-18 (meaning that the absolute distance to the source can be determined directly from the gravitational-wave measurements) to measure the Hubble constant. This quantity represents the local expansion rate of the Universe, sets the overall scale of the Universe and is of fundamental importance to cosmology. Here we report a measurement of the Hubble constant that combines the distance to the source inferred purely from the gravitational-wave signal with the recession velocity inferred from measurements of the redshift using the electromagnetic data. In contrast to previous measurements, ours does not require the use of a cosmic 'distance ladder'19: the gravitational-wave analysis can be used to estimate the luminosity distance out to cosmological scales directly, without the use of intermediate astronomical distance measurements. We determine the Hubble constant to be about 70 kilometres per second per megaparsec. This value is consistent with existing measurements20,21, while being completely independent of them. Additional standard siren measurements from future gravitationalwave sources will enable the Hubble constant to be constrained to high precision.

U2 - 10.1038/nature24471

DO - 10.1038/nature24471

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29094696

SN - 0028-0836

VL - 551

SP - 85

EP - 88

JO - Nature

JF - Nature

IS - 7678

ER -

A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant

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