Updated upper limits on the isotropic gravitational-wave background from the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA fourth observing run through April 2025

We report results from a search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background using data collected by the LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA Collaboration. The analysis uses data from the first observing run through April 1, 2025, during the fourth observing run. New frequency-domain cuts are implemented to address a class of non-stationary spectral noise features that were not effectively identified and mitigated by existing data-quality checks in past analyses. Consequently, previously analyzed data from the fourth observing run are re-processed with the updated cuts. We find no evidence for a stochastic background signal and place upper limits on the gravitational-wave energy density. In particular, for a background following a power law with spectral index 2/3 as predicted by inspiralling compact binaries, we find $Ω_\mathrm{GW}(25\,\mathrm{Hz}) \leq 2.0 \times 10^{-9}$, while scale-invariant backgrounds are constrained to $Ω_\mathrm{GW}(25\,\mathrm{Hz}) \leq 2.8 \times 10^{-9}$, both at the 95\% credible level for a log-uniform prior on $Ω_\mathrm{GW}$. Relative to the constraints from previous data recomputed with the new frequency-domain cuts, these limits improve by a factor of 1.4. We also update bounds on alternative gravity scenarios predicting non-standard polarization modes, and we verify that correlated magnetic noise sources remain below the sensitivity of this search. Combining these observational constraints with population models of compact binary coalescences informed by the latest gravitational-wave transient catalog, GWTC-5.0, we predict the amplitude of the compact binary background to be $Ω_\mathrm{CBC}(25\,\mathrm{Hz}) = 6.3^{+5.0}_{-2.2} \times 10^{-10}$ at the 90\% credible level.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Published
2026-11-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/fvk7-qcjr
Citations
9
Primary Topic
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
7.49

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Updated upper limits on the isotropic gravitational-wave background from the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA fourth observing run through April 2025

S. W. Ballmer, G. Ashton, L. Aiello, A Amato et al.
9 citations
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
7.49
article

Updated upper limits on the isotropic gravitational-wave background from the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA fourth observing run through April 2025

S. W. Ballmer, G. Ashton, L. Aiello, A Amato, S. Antier, E. Appelt, J. L. Andrey, S. Anderson, A. B. Anand, S. Baimukhametova, F. Amicucci, N. Avdeev, E. Z. Appavuravther, S. Bae, M. Assiduo, G. Ballardin, Y. Aso, G. Balbi, K. Ackley, P. S. Aswathi, F. Acernese, T. Aoki, S. B. Anderson, F. Arciprete, K. A. Baker, M. Arogeti, E. A. Appelt, C. Adamcewicz, S. Afroz, S. Aggarwal, G. Ashton, F. Armato, P. Astone, I. Abouelfettouh, W. Ali, S. Bagnasco, S. Baimukhametova, M. Ballelli, N. Aritomi, J. M. Antelis, S. Appert, D. Adhikari, C. Allene, K. AultONeal, A. Agapito, S. Al-Shammari, The LIGO Scientific Collaboration, I. -L. Ahrend, E. A. Avila, S. Babak, S. Al-Kershi, T. Akutsu, M. Ando, S. M. Aronson, L. Asprea, K. Arai, N. Avdeev, M. Aoumi, M. C. Araya, A. G. Abac, L. Albers, S. Adhicary, M. Agathos, F. Amicucci, F. Attadio, A. Ain, F. Andrade-Oliveira, S. M. Aston, R. X. Adhikari, C. Anand, G. Avallone, S. Armstrong, A. Adam, A. Allocca, J. L. Andrey, O. Amarasinghe, J. Anna, T. Baker, V. K. Adkins, A. Abe, J. S. Areeda, T. Baka, L. Aiello, N. Baldicchi, O. D. Aguiar, S. Assis de Souza Melo, G. Baldi, A. B. Anand, W. G. Anderson, S. K. Apple, L. Baiotti, P. Ajith, W. Amar, A. Ananyeva, A. Araya, D. Agarwal, J. Anglin, M. Andrés-Carcasona
article en
9 citations

Abstract

We report results from a search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background using data collected by the LIGO--Virgo--KAGRA Collaboration. The analysis uses data from the first observing run through April 1, 2025, during the fourth observing run. New frequency-domain cuts are implemented to address a class of non-stationary spectral noise features that were not effectively identified and mitigated by existing data-quality checks in past analyses. Consequently, previously analyzed data from the fourth observing run are re-processed with the updated cuts. We find no evidence for a stochastic background signal and place upper limits on the gravitational-wave energy density. In particular, for a background following a power law with spectral index 2/3 as predicted by inspiralling compact binaries, we find $Ω_\mathrm{GW}(25\,\mathrm{Hz}) \leq 2.0 \times 10^{-9}$, while scale-invariant backgrounds are constrained to $Ω_\mathrm{GW}(25\,\mathrm{Hz}) \leq 2.8 \times 10^{-9}$, both at the 95\% credible level for a log-uniform prior on $Ω_\mathrm{GW}$. Relative to the constraints from previous data recomputed with the new frequency-domain cuts, these limits improve by a factor of 1.4. We also update bounds on alternative gravity scenarios predicting non-standard polarization modes, and we verify that correlated magnetic noise sources remain below the sensitivity of this search. Combining these observational constraints with population models of compact binary coalescences informed by the latest gravitational-wave transient catalog, GWTC-5.0, we predict the amplitude of the compact binary background to be $Ω_\mathrm{CBC}(25\,\mathrm{Hz}) = 6.3^{+5.0}_{-2.2} \times 10^{-10}$ at the 90\% credible level.

Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Centres de Recerca de Catalunya, Institut des Origines de Lyon, Leverhulme Trust, Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, European Commission, National Research Foundation, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Academia Sinica, Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej, Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, Generalitat de Catalunya, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Generalitat Valenciana, Hungarian Scientific Research Fund, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, National Research Foundation of Korea, Israel Science Foundation, Conseil Régional, Île-de-France, Ministry of Education, India, Russian Science Foundation, Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal, Vlaamse regering, Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea, Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej, National Science and Technology Council, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Science and Engineering Research Board, European Regional Development Fund, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo, National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Great Southern Development Commission, Government of Western Australia, Division of Human Resource Development, European Social Fund
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Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
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