Summary of Tests of General Relativity with the Binary Black Hole Signals from the LIGO-Virgo Catalog GWTC-1

Abstract

We summarize the four tests of general relativity carried out using the ten binary black hole signals detected by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo and included in their first catalog, GWTC-1. These events provide unprecedented opportunities for testing the predictions of general relativity for the gravitational waveforms from these highly dynamical, strong-field events. The first two tests check the consistency of the residuals with noise and the consistency of the low- and high-frequency parts of the signal. The other two tests check that parameterized deviations in the waveform model---including in the post-Newtonian coefficients---are consistent with zero, and that the propagation of the waves is nondispersive. These tests reveal no evidence for deviations from general relativity, and the combined constraints improve previous results by factors of up to 2.5. We also check that the binary black hole signals observed by all three detectors do not give stronger constraints on alternative polarizations than those obtained from GW170817.