Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-20-2026

Journal / Book Title

Astrophysical Journal Letters

Abstract

GW230814, detected by the LIGO Livingston observatory with a signal-to-noise ratio of 42.4, represents the loudest gravitational-wave signal in the GWTC-4.0 catalog. Its source is consistent with a binary black hole coalescence with component masses m(1) = 33.7(-2.2)(+2.9) M-circle dot and m(2) = 28.2(-3.1)(+2.2) M-circle dot and a small effective inspiral spin chi(eff) = -0.01(-0.07)(+0.06). The high signal-to-noise ratio enabled us to detect an l = vertical bar m vertical bar = 4 mode in the inspiral-merger-ringdown signal for the first time (with Bayes factor approximate to 10), as well as enabling a range of tests of consistency between theoretical predictions and the observed waveform. While most of these tests show agreement with theoretical predictions, there are suggestions of minor deviations in the ringdown phase. Simulations that incorporate general relativity and realistic detector noise reproduce similar deviations, suggesting that they do not constitute evidence for a breakdown of general relativity. The observation of GW230814 demonstrates that the unprecedented sensitivity of the detectors enables highly significant detections with a single observatory. However, without corroborating data from a multidetector network, the ability to draw rigorous conclusions about fundamental physics remains severely limited.

Comments

Only Montclair and organizational authors are listed. Please see PDF for additional authors by name.

DOI

10.3847/2041-8213/ae2ad3

Rights

Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

Published Citation

Abac, A. G., et al. “GW230814: Investigation of a Loud Gravitational-Wave Signal Observed with a Single Detector.” The Astrophysical Journal Letters, vol. 1004, no. 2, June 2026, p. L23. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ae2ad3.

Download
Link to Publisher

Share

COinS