On correlated noise in the LIGO-Virgo network: a test of the stochastic gravitational-wave background hypothesis

Abstract

We revisit the inter-detector cross-correlation criterion used in gravitational-wave validation by extending the analysis of Creswell et al.~\cite{Creswell2017} to nine LIGO--Virgo candidate events from the O2 and O3 observing runs. For each event, we analyze all three detector pairs (H1$\times$L1, H1$\times$V1, L1$\times$V1) and compare the normalized cross-correlation function $C(τ)$ in the event window with an empirical ensemble of $N=200$ surrounding off-source windows, using a band-pass-only pipeline. In 26 of 27 pair-measurements, the event peak is statistically indistinguishable from the corresponding noise ensemble, including all pairs involving the independent Virgo detector. The only exception is GW190412 in the H1$\times$L1 pair. We conclude that the cross-correlation statistic does not provide a robust standalone separation between event and noise. We interpret the persistence of comparable correlation structure in the LIGO--Virgo pairs as evidence that the strain data may contain a continuous correlated physical component, for which a stochastic gravitational-wave background is a plausible candidate.