Publications & Detection Papers

U.S. National Science Foundation Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (NSF LIGO) Laboratory staff author articles on a wide range of subjects, including: 

  • Detection-specific papers
  • Astrophysics
  • Data analysis techniques
  • The physics of the detectors and related precision measurement topics
  • Instrument science tricks and techniques
  • Engineering studies and results

Articles are often written with members of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) or in conjunction with the greater scientific community. In addition, we draft non- or less-technical Science Summaries of many of these and other papers. Many Science Summaries have also been translated into multiple languages.

Below, we list a selection of papers about the NSF LIGO detectors and specific GW detections and their interpretation. LIGO Public Access links (i.e., those not requiring an institutional affiliation) are included where available. The LVK are searching for many other types of GW signals too and look forward to reporting them when discovered. The full list of papers published by LVK can be found at LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA Publications.

 

  Table of Contents

 

Notable Events Discovered in O4  |  May 24, 2023 -
GW230529 Discovery Paper NEW! Published: April 4, 2024 Observation of Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 2.5 - 4.5 M Compact Object and a Neutron Star
arXiv: 2404.04248  |  LIGO Public Access: P2300352

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Notable Events Discovered in O3  |  Apr 1, 2019 - Mar 26, 2020
GW200105
and
GW200115
Discovery Paper Observation of gravitational waves from two neutron star-black hole coalescences
Astrophys. J. Lett. 915, L5 (2021)
arXiv: 2106.15163  |  LIGO Public Access: P2000357
GW190814 Discovery Paper GW190814: Gravitational Waves from the Coalescence of a 23 Solar Mass Black Hole with a 2.6 Solar Mass Compact Object
Astrophys. J. Lett. 896, L44 (2020)
arXiv: 2006.12611  |  LIGO Public Access: P190814
GW190521 Discovery Paper




Companion Paper
GW190521: A Binary Black Hole Merger with a Total Mass of 150 Msun
Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 101102 (2020)
arXiv: 2009.01075  |  LIGO Public Access: P2000020
Properties and astrophysical implications of the 150 Msun binary black hole merger GW190521
Astrophys. J. Lett. 900, L13 (2020)
arXiv: 2009.01190  |  LIGO Public Access: P2000021
GW190425 Discovery Paper GW190425: Observation of a compact binary coalescence with total mass ~3.4 Msun
Astrophys. J. Lett. 892, L3 (2020)
arXiv: 2001.01761  |  LIGO Public Access: P190425
GW190412 Discovery Paper GW190412: Observation of a Binary-Black-Hole Coalescence with Asymmetric Masses
Phys. Rev. D 102, 043015 (2020)
arXiv: 2004.08342  |  LIGO Public Access: P190412

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Notable Events Discovered in O2  |  Nov 30, 2016 - Aug 25, 2017
GW170817 Discovery Paper




Select Companion Papers
Observation of gravitational waves from a binary neutron star inspiral
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 161101 (2017)
arXiv: 1710.05832  |  LIGO Public Access: P170817
Multi-Messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger
Astrophys. J. Lett. 848, L12 (2017)
arXiv: 1710.05833  |  LIGO Public Access: P1700294
Gravitational Waves and Gamma-Rays from a Binary Neutron Star Merger: GW170817 and GRB 170817A
Astrophys. J. Lett. 848, L13 (2017)
arXiv: 1710.05834  |  LIGO Public Access: P1700308
Properties of the binary neutron star merger GW170817
Phys. Rev. X 9, 011001 (2019)
arXiv: 1805.11579  |  LIGO Public Access: P1800061
Tests of General Relativity with GW170817
Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 011102 (2019)
arXiv: 1811.00364  |  LIGO Public Access (pending): P1800059
A gravitational-wave standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant
Nature 551, 85 (2017)
arXiv: 1710.05835  |  LIGO Public Access: P1700296
GW170814 Discovery Paper GW170814: A Three-Detector Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Coalescence
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 141101 (2017)
arXiv: 1709.09660  |  LIGO Public Access: P170814
GW170608 Discovery Paper GW170608: Observation of a 19-solar-mass binary black hole coalescence
Astrophys. J. Lett. 851, L35 (2017)
arXiv: 1711.05578  |  LIGO Public Access: P170608
GW170104 Discovery Paper GW170104: Observation of a 50-solar-mass binary black hole coalescence at redshift 0.2
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 221101 (2017)
arXiv: 1706.01812  |  LIGO Public Access: P170104

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Notable Events Discovered in O1  |  Sep 18, 2015 - Jan 12, 2016
GW151226 Discovery Paper GW151226: Observation of Gravitational Waves from a 22-Solar-Mass Binary Black Hole Coalescence
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 241103 (2016)
arXiv: 1606.04855  |  LIGO Public Access: P151226
GW150914
*First
detection
Discovery Paper



Select Companion Papers
Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 061102 (2016)
arXiv: 1602.03837  |  LIGO Public Access: P150914
Properties of the binary black hole merger GW150914
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 241102 (2016)
arXiv: 1602.03840  |  LIGO Public Access: P1500218
Tests of general relativity with GW150914
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 221101 (2016)
arXiv: 1602.03841  |  LIGO Public Access: P1500213
Astrophysical Implications of the Binary Black-Hole Merger GW150914
Astrophys. J. Lett. 818, L22 (2016)
arXiv: 1602.03846  |  LIGO Public Access: P1500262
Improved analysis of GW150914 using a fully spin-precessing waveform model
Phys. Rev. X 6, 041014 (2016)
arXiv: 1606.01210  |  LIGO Public Access: P1600048
The basic physics of the binary black hole merger GW150914
Annalen der Physik 529, 1600209 (2017)
arXiv: 1608.01940  |  LIGO Public Access: P1600161

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The Advanced LIGO Detectors Advanced LIGO
Classical and Quantum Gravity 32, 074001 (2015)
arXiv: 1411.4547  |  LIGO Public Access: P1400177

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Guides to Open Data and Analysis Methods Open data from the third observing run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA and GEO
Astrophys. J. Supp. 267, 29 (2023)
arXiv: 2302.03676  |  LIGO Public Access: P2200316
A guide to LIGO-Virgo detector noise and extraction of transient gravitational-wave signals
Classical and Quantum Gravity 37, 055002 (2020)
arXiv: 1908.11170  |  LIGO Public Access: P1900004
Open data from the first and second observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo SoftwareX 13, 100658 (2021)
arXiv: 1912.11716  |  LIGO Public Access: P1900206

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Papers Describing the Gravitational Wave Transient Catalog (updated periodically) GWTC-3: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the Second Part of the Third Observing Run
Phys. Rev. X 13, 041039 (2023)
arXiv: 2111.03606  |  LIGO Public Access (pending): P2000318
GWTC-2.1: Deep Extended Catalog of Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo During the First Half of the Third Observing Run
Phys. Rev. D 109, 022001 (2024)
arXiv: 2108.01045  |  LIGO Public Access: P2100063
GWTC-2: Compact Binary Coalescences Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First Half of the Third Observing Run
Phys. Rev. X 11, 021053 (2021)
arXiv: 2010.14527  |  LIGO Public Access: P2000061
GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs
Phys. Rev. X 9, 031040 (2019)
arXiv: 1811.12907  |  LIGO Public Access: P1800307

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Papers  Characterizing the Population of GW Sources Population of merging compact binaries inferred using gravitational waves through GWTC-3
Phys. Rev. X 13, 011048 (2023)
arXiv: 2111.03634  |  LIGO Public Access (pending): P2100239
Population properties of compact objects from the second LIGO-Virgo Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog
Astrophys. J. Lett. 913, L7 (2021)
arXiv: 2010.14533  |  LIGO Public Access (pending): P2000077
Binary Black Hole Population Properties Inferred from the First and Second Observing Runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo
Astrophys. J. Lett. 882, L24 (2019)
arXiv: 1811.12940  |  LIGO Public Access: P1800324

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Tests of General Relativity Using GW Events Tests of General Relativity with GWTC-3
Phys. Rev. D in press
arXiv: 2112.06861  |  LIGO Public Access: P2100275
Tests of general relativity with binary black holes from the second LIGO-Virgo gravitational-wave transient catalog
Phys. Rev. D 103, 122002 (2021)
arXiv: 2010.14529  |  LIGO Public Access (pending): P2000091
Tests of General Relativity with GW170817
Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 011102 (2019)
arXiv: 1811.00364  |  LIGO Public Access (pending): P1800059
Tests of general relativity with the binary black hole signals from the LIGO-Virgo catalog GWTC-1
Phys. Rev. D 100, 104036 (2019)
arXiv: 1903.04467  |  LIGO Public Access: P1800316
Tests of general relativity with GW150914
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 221101 (2016)
arXiv: 1602.03841  |  LIGO Public Access: P1500213

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