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arXiv · 2006.14961

A statistical standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant from the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave compact object merger GW190814 and Dark Energy Survey galaxies

A. Palmese·J. deVicente·M. E. S. Pereira·J. Annis·W. Hartley·K. Herner·M. Soares-Santos·M. Crocce·D. Huterer·I. Magana Hernandez·T. M. Davis·A. Garcia·J. Garcia-Bellido·J. Gschwend·D. E. Holz·R. Kessler·O. Lahav·R. Morgan·C. Nicolaou·C. Conselice·R. J. Foley·M. S. S. Gill·T. M. C. Abbott·M. Aguena·S. Allam·S. Avila·K. Bechtol·E. Bertin·S. Bhargava·D. Brooks·E. Buckley-Geer·D. L. Burke·M. Carrasco Kind·J. Carretero·F. J. Castander·C. Chang·M. Costanzi·L. N. da Costa·S. Desai·H. T. Diehl·P. Doel·J. Estrada·S. Everett·A. E. Evrard·E. Fernandez·D. A. Finley·B. Flaugher·P. Fosalba·J. Frieman·E. Gaztanaga·D. W. Gerdes·D. Gruen·R. A. Gruendl·G. Gutierrez·S. R. Hinton·D. L. Hollowood·K. Honscheid·D. J. James·S. Kent·E. Krause·K. Kuehn·H. Lin·M. A. G. Maia·M. March·J. L. Marshall·P. Melchior·F. Menanteau·R. Miquel·R. L. C. Ogando·F. Paz-Chinchon·A. A. Plazas·A. Roodman·M. Sako·E. Sanchez·V. Scarpine·M. Schubnell·S. Serrano·I. Sevilla-Noarbe·J. Allyn Smith·M. Smith·E. Suchyta·G. Tarle·M. A. Troxel·D. L. Tucker·A. R. Walker·W. Wester·R. D. Wilkinson·J. Zuntz
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Abstract

We present a measurement of the Hubble constant $H_0$ using the gravitational wave (GW) event GW190814, which resulted from the coalescence of a 23 $M_\odot$ black hole with a 2.6 $M_\odot$ compact object, as a standard siren. No compelling electromagnetic counterpart has been identified for this event, thus our analysis accounts for thousands of potential host galaxies within a statistical framework. The redshift information is obtained from the photometric redshift (photo-$z$) catalog from the Dark Energy Survey. The luminosity distance is provided by the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave sky map. Since this GW event has the second-smallest localization volume after GW170817, GW190814 is likely to provide the best constraint on cosmology from a single standard siren without identifying an electromagnetic counterpart. Our analysis uses photo-$z$ probability distribution functions and corrects for photo-$z$ biases. We also reanalyze the binary-black hole GW170814 within this updated framework. We explore how our findings impact the $H_0$ constraints from GW170817, the only GW merger associated with a unique host galaxy. From a combination of GW190814, GW170814 and GW170817, our analysis yields $H_0 = 72.0^{+ 12}_{- 8.2 }~{\rm km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}$ (68\% Highest Density Interval, HDI) for a prior in $H_0$ uniform between $[20,140]~{\rm km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}$. The addition of GW190814 and GW170814 to GW170817 improves the 68\% HDI from GW170817 alone by $\sim 18\%$, showing how well-localized mergers without counterparts can provide a significant contribution to standard siren measurements, provided that a complete galaxy catalog is available at the location of the event.

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A. Palmese, J. deVicente, M. E. S. Pereira, J. Annis, W. Hartley, K. Herner, M. Soares-Santos, M. Crocce, D. Huterer, I. Magana Hernandez, T. M. Davis, A. Garcia, J. Garcia-Bellido, J. Gschwend, D. E. Holz, R. Kessler, O. Lahav, R. Morgan, C. Nicolaou, C. Conselice, R. J. Foley, M. S. S. Gill, T. M. C. Abbott, M. Aguena, S. Allam, S. Avila, K. Bechtol, E. Bertin, S. Bhargava, D. Brooks, E. Buckley-Geer, D. L. Burke, M. Carrasco Kind, J. Carretero, F. J. Castander, C. Chang, M. Costanzi, L. N. da Costa, S. Desai, H. T. Diehl, P. Doel, J. Estrada, S. Everett, A. E. Evrard, E. Fernandez, D. A. Finley, B. Flaugher, P. Fosalba, J. Frieman, E. Gaztanaga, D. W. Gerdes, D. Gruen, R. A. Gruendl, G. Gutierrez, S. R. Hinton, D. L. Hollowood, K. Honscheid, D. J. James, S. Kent, E. Krause, K. Kuehn, H. Lin, M. A. G. Maia, M. March, J. L. Marshall, P. Melchior, F. Menanteau, R. Miquel, R. L. C. Ogando, F. Paz-Chinchon, A. A. Plazas, A. Roodman, M. Sako, E. Sanchez, V. Scarpine, M. Schubnell, S. Serrano, I. Sevilla-Noarbe, J. Allyn Smith, M. Smith, E. Suchyta, G. Tarle, M. A. Troxel, D. L. Tucker, A. R. Walker, W. Wester, R. D. Wilkinson, J. Zuntz. 2020-12-28. A statistical standard siren measurement of the Hubble constant from the LIGO/Virgo gravitational wave compact object merger GW190814 and Dark Energy Survey galaxies. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213%2Fabaeff

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