4 research outputs found
Effect of calibration errors on Bayesian parameter estimation for gravitational wave signals from inspiral binary systems in the advanced detectors era
By 2015 the advanced versions of the gravitational-wave detectors Virgo and
LIGO will be online. They will collect data in coincidence with enough
sensitivity to potentially deliver multiple detections of gravitation waves
from inspirals of compact-object binaries. This work is focused on
understanding the effects introduced by uncertainties in the calibration of the
interferometers. We consider plausible calibration errors based on estimates
obtained during LIGO's fifth and Virgo's third science runs, which include
frequency-dependent amplitude errors of and frequency-dependent
phase errors of degrees in each instrument. We quantify the
consequences of such errors estimating the parameters of inspiraling binaries.
We find that the systematics introduced by calibration errors on the inferred
values of the chirp mass and mass ratio are smaller than 20% of the statistical
measurement uncertainties in parameter estimation for 90% of signals in our
mock catalog. Meanwhile, the calibration-induced systematics in the inferred
sky location of the signal are smaller than of the statistical
uncertainty. We thus conclude that calibration-induced errors at this level are
not a significant detriment to accurate parameter estimation.Comment: 21 figures, 5 table