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Astrophysics, High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, astro-ph.HE,Astrophysics, Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics, astro-ph.CO,General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology, gr-qc
Abstract:
We present an up-to-date, comprehensive summary of the rates for all types of
compact binary coalescence sources detectable by the Initial and Advanced
versions of the ground-based gravitational-wave detectors LIGO and Virgo.
Astrophysical estimates for compact-binary coalescence rates depend on a number
of assumptions and unknown model parameters, and are still uncertain. The most
confident among these estimates are the rate predictions for coalescing binary
neutron stars which are based on extrapolations from observed binary pulsars in
our Galaxy. These yield a likely coalescence rate of 100 per Myr per Milky Way
Equivalent Galaxy (MWEG), although the rate could plausibly range from 1 per
Myr per MWEG to 1000 per Myr per MWEG. We convert coalescence rates into
detection rates based on data from the LIGO S5 and Virgo VSR2 science runs and
projected sensitivities for our Advanced detectors. Using the detector
sensitivities derived from these data, we find a likely detection rate of 0.02
per year for Initial LIGO-Virgo interferometers, with a plausible range between
0.0002 and 0.2 per year. The likely binary neutron-star detection rate for the
Advanced LIGO-Virgo network increases to 40 events per year, with a range
between 0.4 and 400 per year.