261,986 research outputs found
All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S4 data
We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic
gravitational waves in the frequency range 50-1000 Hz and with the frequency's
time derivative in the range -1.0E-8 Hz/s to zero. Data from the fourth LIGO
science run (S4) have been used in this search. Three different semi-coherent
methods of transforming and summing strain power from Short Fourier Transforms
(SFTs) of the calibrated data have been used. The first, known as "StackSlide",
averages normalized power from each SFT. A "weighted Hough" scheme is also
developed and used, and which also allows for a multi-interferometer search.
The third method, known as "PowerFlux", is a variant of the StackSlide method
in which the power is weighted before summing. In both the weighted Hough and
PowerFlux methods, the weights are chosen according to the noise and detector
antenna-pattern to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. The respective
advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed. Observing no
evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report upper limits; we
interpret these as limits on this radiation from isolated rotating neutron
stars. The best population-based upper limit with 95% confidence on the
gravitational-wave strain amplitude, found for simulated sources distributed
isotropically across the sky and with isotropically distributed spin-axes, is
4.28E-24 (near 140 Hz). Strict upper limits are also obtained for small patches
on the sky for best-case and worst-case inclinations of the spin axes.Comment: 39 pages, 41 figures An error was found in the computation of the C
parameter defined in equation 44 which led to its overestimate by 2^(1/4).
The correct values for the multi-interferometer, H1 and L1 analyses are 9.2,
9.7, and 9.3, respectively. Figure 32 has been updated accordingly. None of
the upper limits presented in the paper were affecte
Tomography of photon-number resolving continuous-output detectors
We report a comprehensive approach to analysing continuous-output photon
detectors. We employ principal component analysis to maximise the information
extracted, followed by a novel noise-tolerant parameterised approach to the
tomography of PNRDs. We further propose a measure for rigorously quantifying a
detector's photon-number-resolving capability. Our approach applies to all
detectors with continuous-output signals. We illustrate our methods by applying
them to experimental data obtained from a transition-edge sensor (TES)
detector.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, also includes supplementary informatio
Long distance decoy state quantum key distribution in optical fiber
The theoretical existence of photon-number-splitting attacks creates a
security loophole for most quantum key distribution (QKD) demonstrations that
use a highly attenuated laser source. Using ultra-low-noise, high-efficiency
transition-edge sensor photodetectors, we have implemented the first version of
a decoy-state protocol that incorporates finite statistics without the use of
Gaussian approximations in a one-way QKD system, enabling the creation of
secure keys immune to photon-number-splitting attacks and highly resistant to
Trojan horse attacks over 107 km of optical fiber.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Sensitive electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunoassays for detecting lipoarabinomannan (LAM) and ESAT-6 in urine and serum from tuberculosis patients.
BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) infection was responsible for an estimated 1.3 million deaths in 2017. Better diagnostic tools are urgently needed. We sought to determine whether accurate TB antigen detection in blood or urine has the potential to meet the WHO target product profiles for detection of active TB.Materials and methodsWe developed Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunoassays for Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) and ESAT-6 detection with detection limits in the pg/ml range and used them to compare the concentrations of the two antigens in the urine and serum of 81 HIV-negative and -positive individuals with presumptive TB enrolled across diverse geographic sites.ResultsLAM and ESAT-6 overall sensitivities in urine were 93% and 65% respectively. LAM and ESAT-6 overall sensitivities in serum were 55% and 46% respectively. Overall specificity was ≥97% in all assays. Sensitivities were higher in HIV-positive compared to HIV-negative patients for both antigens and both sample types, with signals roughly 10-fold higher on average in urine than in serum. The two antigens showed similar concentration ranges within the same sample type and correlated.ConclusionsLAM and ESAT-6 can be detected in the urine and serum of TB patients, regardless of the HIV status and further gains in clinical sensitivity may be achievable through assay and reagent optimization. Accuracy in urine was higher with current methods and has the potential to meet the WHO accuracy target if the findings can be transferred to a point-of-care TB test
A prototype system for detecting the radio-frequency pulse associated with cosmic ray air showers
The development of a system to detect the radio-frequency (RF) pulse
associated with extensive air showers of cosmic rays is described. This work
was performed at the CASA/MIA array in Utah, with the intention of designing
equipment that can be used in conjunction with the Auger Giant Array. A small
subset of data (less than 40 out of a total of 600 hours of running time),
taken under low-noise conditions, permitted upper limits to be placed on the
rate for pulses accompanying showers of energies around eV.Comment: 53 pages, LaTeX, 19 figures, published in Nuclear Instruments and
Methods. Revised version; some references update
Observing Gravitational Waves with a Single Detector
A major challenge of any search for gravitational waves is to distinguish
true astrophysical signals from those of terrestrial origin. Gravitational-wave
experiments therefore make use of multiple detectors, considering only those
signals which appear in coincidence in two or more instruments. It is unclear,
however, how to interpret loud gravitational-wave candidates observed when only
one detector is operational. In this paper, we demonstrate that the observed
rate of binary black hole mergers can be leveraged in order to make confident
detections of gravitational-wave signals with one detector alone. We quantify
detection confidences in terms of the probability that a signal
candidate is of astrophysical origin. We find that, at current levels of
instrumental sensitivity, loud signal candidates observed with a single
Advanced LIGO detector can be assigned . In the future,
Advanced LIGO may be able to observe single-detector events with confidences
exceeding .Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; published in CQG; minor updates to match
published versio
Degeneracy between mass and spin in black-hole-binary waveforms
We explore the degeneracy between mass and spin in gravitational waveforms
emitted by black-hole binary coalescences. We focus on spin-aligned waveforms
and obtain our results using phenomenological models that were tuned to
numerical-relativity simulations. A degeneracy is known for low-mass binaries
(particularly neutron-star binaries), where gravitational-wave detectors are
sensitive to only the inspiral phase, and the waveform can be modelled by
post-Newtonian theory. Here, we consider black-hole binaries, where detectors
will also be sensitive to the merger and ringdown, and demonstrate that the
degeneracy persists across a broad mass range. At low masses, the degeneracy is
between mass ratio and total spin, with chirp mass accurately determined. At
higher masses, the degeneracy persists but is not so clearly characterised by
constant chirp mass as the merger and ringdown become more significant. We
consider the importance of this degeneracy both for performing searches
(including searches where only non-spinning templates are used) and in
parameter extraction from observed systems. We compare observational
capabilities between the early (~2015) and final (2018 onwards) versions of the
Advanced LIGO detector.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
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