Testing gravitational-wave searches with numerical relativity waveforms: Results from the first Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project

The Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project is a collaborative effort between members of the numerical relativity and gravitational-wave data analysis communities. The purpose of NINJA is to study the sensitivity of existing gravitational-wave search algorithms using numerically generated waveforms and to foster closer collaboration between the numerical relativity and data analysis communities. We describe the results of the first NINJA analysis which focused on gravitational waveforms from binary black hole coalescence. Ten numerical relativity groups contributed numerical data which were used to generate a set of gravitational-wave signals. These signals were injected into a simulated data set, designed to mimic the response of the initial LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. Nine groups analysed this data using search and parameter-estimation pipelines. Matched filter algorithms, un-modelled-burst searches and Bayesian parameter estimation and model-selection algorithms were applied to the data. We report the efficiency of these search methods in detecting the numerical waveforms and measuring their parameters. We describe preliminary comparisons between the different search methods and suggest improvements for future NINJA analyses. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd

Status of NINJA: The Numerical INJection Analysis project

The 2008 NRDA conference introduced the Numerical INJection Analysis project (NINJA), a new collaborative effort between the numerical relativity community and the data analysis community. NINJA focuses on modeling and searching for gravitational wave signatures from the coalescence of binary system of compact objects. We review the scope of this collaboration and the components of the first NINJA project, where numerical relativity groups, shared waveforms and data analysis teams applied various techniques to detect them when embedded in colored Gaussian noise. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd

Testing gravitational-wave searches with numerical relativity waveforms: Results from the first Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project

The Numerical INJection Analysis (NINJA) project is a collaborative effort between members of the numerical relativity and gravitational-wave data analysis communities. The purpose of NINJA is to study the sensitivity of existing gravitational-wave search algorithms using numerically generated waveforms and to foster closer collaboration between the numerical relativity and data analysis communities. We describe the results of the first NINJA analysis which focused on gravitational waveforms from binary black hole coalescence. Ten numerical relativity groups contributed numerical data which were used to generate a set of gravitational-wave signals. These signals were injected into a simulated data set, designed to mimic the response of the Initial LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. Nine groups analysed this data using search and parameter-estimation pipelines. Matched filter algorithms, un-modelled-burst searches and Bayesian parameter-estimation and model-selection algorithms were applied to the data. We report the efficiency of these search methods in detecting the numerical waveforms and measuring their parameters. We describe preliminary comparisons between the different search methods and suggest improvements for future NINJA analyses.Comment: 56 pages, 25 figures; various clarifications; accepted to CQ

DANCING IN THE DARK: NEW BROWN DWARF BINARIES FROM KERNEL PHASE INTERFEROMETRY

This paper revisits a sample of ultracool dwarfs in the Solar neighborhood previously observed with the Hubble Space Telescope's NICMOS NIC1 instrument. We have applied a novel high angular resolution data analysis technique based on the extraction and fitting of kernel phases to archival data. This was found to deliver a dramatic improvement over earlier analysis methods, permitting a search for companions down to projected separations of $\sim$1 AU on NIC1 snapshot images. We reveal five new close binary candidates and present revised astrometry on previously-known binaries, all of which were recovered with the technique. The new candidate binaries have sufficiently close separation to determine dynamical masses in a short-term observing campaign. We also present four marginal detections of objects which may be very close binaries or high contrast companions. Including only confident detections within 19 parsecs, we report a binary fraction of at least $\epsilon_b = 17.2^{+5.7}_{-3.7}$. The results reported here provide new insights into the population of nearby ultracool binaries, while also offering an incisive case study of the benefits conferred by the kernel phase approach in the recovery of companions within a few resolution elements of the PSF core

Status of NINJA: the Numerical INJection Analysis project

The 2008 NRDA conference introduced the Numerical INJection Analysis project (NINJA), a new collaborative effort between the numerical relativity community and the data analysis community. NINJA focuses on modeling and searching for gravitational wave signatures from the coalescence of binary system of compact objects. We review the scope of this collaboration and the components of the first NINJA project, where numerical relativity groups, shared waveforms and data analysis teams applied various techniques to detect them when embedded in colored Gaussian noise

Status of NINJA: The Numerical INJection Analysis project”, Class

Abstract The 2008 NRDA conference introduced the Numerical INJection Analysis project (NINJA), a new collaborative effort between the numerical relativity community and the data analysis community. NINJA focuses on modeling and searching for gravitational wave signatures from the coalescence of binary system of compact objects. We review the scope of this collaboration and the components of the first NINJA project, where numerical relativity groups, shared waveforms and data analysis teams applied various techniques to detect them when embedded in colored Gaussian noise

Status of NINJA: the Numerical INJection Analysis project

The 2008 NRDA conference introduced the Numerical INJection Analysis project (NINJA), a new collaborative effort between the numerical relativity community and the data analysis community. NINJA focuses on modeling and searching for gravitational wave signatures from the coalescence of binary system of compact objects. We review the scope of this collaboration and the components of the first NINJA project, where numerical relativity groups, shared waveforms and data analysis teams applied various techniques to detect them when embedded in colored Gaussian noise