60 research outputs found

    The status of GEO 600

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    The GEO 600 laser interferometer with 600m armlength is part of a worldwide network of gravitational wave detectors. GEO 600 is unique in having advanced multiple pendulum suspensions with a monolithic last stage and in employing a signal recycled optical design. This paper describes the recent commissioning of the interferometer and its operation in signal recycled mode

    Open data from the third observing run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO

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    The global network of gravitational-wave observatories now includes five detectors, namely LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO 600. These detectors collected data during their third observing run, O3, composed of three phases: O3a starting in 2019 April and lasting six months, O3b starting in 2019 November and lasting five months, and O3GK starting in 2020 April and lasting two weeks. In this paper we describe these data and various other science products that can be freely accessed through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center at https://gwosc.org. The main data set, consisting of the gravitational-wave strain time series that contains the astrophysical signals, is released together with supporting data useful for their analysis and documentation, tutorials, as well as analysis software packages

    Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

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    Despite the growing number of binary black hole coalescences confidently observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include the effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that have already been identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total source-frame mass M > 70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz emitted gravitational-wave frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place a conservative upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0 < e ≤ 0.3 at 16.9 Gpc−3 yr−1 at the 90% confidence level

    Data acquisition and detector characterization of GEO600

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    The data acquisition system of the gravitational wave detector GEO600 is recording the first data now. Data from detector subsystems and environmental channels are being acquired. The data acquisition system is described and first results from the detector characterization work are being presented. We analysed environmental influences on the detector to determine noise propagation through the detector. Long-term monitoring allowed us to see long-timescale drifts in subsystems

    The GEO600 gravitational wave detector: pulsar prospects

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    The GEO600 laser-interferometric gravitational wave detector near Hannover, Germany, is one of six such interferometers now close to operation worldwide. The UK/German GEO collaboration uses advanced technologies, including monolithic silica suspensions and signal recycling, to deliver a sensitivity comparable with much larger detectors in their initial configurations. Here we review the design and performance of GEO600 and consider the prospects for a direct detection of continuous gravitational waves from spinning neutron stars

    The GEO600 gravitational wave detector: pulsar prospects

    No full text
    The GEO600 laser-interferometric gravitational wave detector near Hannover, Germany, is one of six such interferometers now close to operation worldwide. The UK/German GEO collaboration uses advanced technologies, including monolithic silica suspensions and signal recycling, to deliver a sensitivity comparable with much larger detectors in their initial configurations. Here we review the design and performance of GEO600 and consider the prospects for a direct detection of continuous gravitational waves from spinning neutron stars

    The GEO 600 gravitational wave detector

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    The GEO 600 laser interferometer with 600 m armlength is part of a worldwide network of gravitational wave detectors. Due to the use of advanced technologies like multiple pendulum suspensions with a monolithic last stage and signal recycling, the anticipated sensitivity of GEO 600 is close to the initial sensitivity of detectors with several kilometres armlength. This paper describes the subsystems of GEO 600, the status of the detector by September 2001 and the plans towards the first science run
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