General-relativistic precession in a black-hole binary

Mark Hannam (), Charlie Hoy, Jonathan E. Thompson, Stephen Fairhurst, Vivien Raymond, Marta Colleoni, Derek Davis, Héctor Estellés, Carl-Johan Haster, Adrian Helmling-Cornell, Sascha Husa, David Keitel, T. J. Massinger, Alexis Menéndez-Vázquez, Kentaro Mogushi, Serguei Ossokine, Ethan Payne, Geraint Pratten, Isobel Romero-Shaw, Jam Sadiq, Patricia Schmidt, Rodrigo Tenorio, Richard Udall, John Veitch, Daniel Williams, Anjali Balasaheb Yelikar and Aaron Zimmerman
Additional contact information
Mark Hannam: Cardiff University
Charlie Hoy: Cardiff University
Jonathan E. Thompson: Cardiff University
Stephen Fairhurst: Cardiff University
Vivien Raymond: Cardiff University
Marta Colleoni: Universitat de les Illes Balears
Derek Davis: LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Héctor Estellés: Universitat de les Illes Balears
Carl-Johan Haster: LIGO Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Adrian Helmling-Cornell: University of Oregon
Sascha Husa: Universitat de les Illes Balears
David Keitel: Universitat de les Illes Balears
T. J. Massinger: LIGO Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Alexis Menéndez-Vázquez: Institut de Fìsica d’Altes Energies (IFAE), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Kentaro Mogushi: Missouri University of Science and Technology
Serguei Ossokine: Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics
Ethan Payne: LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Geraint Pratten: University of Birmingham
Isobel Romero-Shaw: Monash University
Jam Sadiq: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Patricia Schmidt: University of Birmingham
Rodrigo Tenorio: Universitat de les Illes Balears
Richard Udall: LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
John Veitch: University of Glasgow
Daniel Williams: University of Glasgow
Anjali Balasaheb Yelikar: Rochester Institute of Technology
Aaron Zimmerman: University of Texas at Austin

Nature, 2022, vol. 610, issue 7933, 652-655

Abstract: Abstract The general-relativistic phenomenon of spin-induced orbital precession has not yet been observed in strong-field gravity. Gravitational-wave observations of binary black holes (BBHs) are prime candidates, as we expect the astrophysical binary population to contain precessing binaries1,2. Imprints of precession have been investigated in several signals3–5, but no definitive identification of orbital precession has been reported in any of the 84 BBH observations so far5–7 by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors8,9. Here we report the measurement of strong-field precession in the LIGO–Virgo–Kagra gravitational-wave signal GW200129. The binary’s orbit precesses at a rate ten orders of magnitude faster than previous weak-field measurements from binary pulsars10–13. We also find that the primary black hole is probably highly spinning. According to current binary population estimates, a GW200129-like signal is extremely unlikely, and therefore presents a direct challenge to many current binary-formation models.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05212-z

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