274 research outputs found
Testing Theories of Gravity with a Spherical Gravitational Wave Detector
We consider the possibility of discriminating different theories of gravity
using a recently proposed gravitational wave detector of spherical shape. We
argue that the spin content of different theories can be extracted relating the
measurements of the excited spheroidal vibrational eigenmodes to the
Newman-Penrose parameters. The sphere toroidal modes cannot be excited by any
metric GW and can be thus used as a veto.Comment: latex file, 16 pages, 1 figur
Hierarchical Hough all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S5 data
We describe a new pipeline used to analyze the data from the fifth science
run (S5) of the LIGO detectors to search for continuous gravitational waves
from isolated spinning neutron stars. The method employed is based on the Hough
transform, which is a semi-coherent, computationally efficient, and robust
pattern recognition technique. The Hough transform is used to find signals in
the time-frequency plane of the data whose frequency evolution fits the pattern
produced by the Doppler shift imposed on the signal by the Earth's motion and
the pulsar's spin-down during the observation period. The main differences with
respect to previous Hough all-sky searches are described. These differences
include the use of a two-step hierarchical Hough search, analysis of
coincidences among the candidates produced in the first and second year of S5,
and veto strategies based on a test.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, Amaldi08 proceedings, submitted to JPC
Status of the GEO600 gravitational wave detector
The GEO600 laser interferometric gravitational wave detector is approaching the end of its commissioning phase which started in 1995.During a test run in January 2002 the detector was operated for 15 days in a power-recycled michelson configuration. The detector and environmental data which were acquired during this test run were used to test the data analysis code. This paper describes the subsystems of GEO600, the status of the detector by August 2002 and the plans towards the first science run
Sensitivity Studies for Third-Generation Gravitational Wave Observatories
Advanced gravitational wave detectors, currently under construction, are
expected to directly observe gravitational wave signals of astrophysical
origin. The Einstein Telescope, a third-generation gravitational wave detector,
has been proposed in order to fully open up the emerging field of gravitational
wave astronomy. In this article we describe sensitivity models for the Einstein
Telescope and investigate potential limits imposed by fundamental noise
sources. A special focus is set on evaluating the frequency band below 10Hz
where a complex mixture of seismic, gravity gradient, suspension thermal and
radiation pressure noise dominates. We develop the most accurate sensitivity
model, referred to as ET-D, for a third-generation detector so far, including
the most relevant fundamental noise contributions.Comment: 13 pages, 7 picture
First LIGO search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic (super)strings
We report on a matched-filter search for gravitational wave bursts from
cosmic string cusps using LIGO data from the fourth science run (S4) which took
place in February and March 2005. No gravitational waves were detected in 14.9
days of data from times when all three LIGO detectors were operating. We
interpret the result in terms of a frequentist upper limit on the rate of
gravitational wave bursts and use the limits on the rate to constrain the
parameter space (string tension, reconnection probability, and loop sizes) of
cosmic string models.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures. Replaced with version submitted to PR
Scientific Potential of Einstein Telescope
Einstein gravitational-wave Telescope (ET) is a design study funded by the
European Commission to explore the technological challenges of and scientific
benefits from building a third generation gravitational wave detector. The
three-year study, which concluded earlier this year, has formulated the
conceptual design of an observatory that can support the implementation of new
technology for the next two to three decades. The goal of this talk is to
introduce the audience to the overall aims and objectives of the project and to
enumerate ET's potential to influence our understanding of fundamental physics,
astrophysics and cosmology.Comment: Conforms to conference proceedings, several author names correcte
Setting upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves from PSR J1939+2134 using the first science data from the GEO 600 and LIGO detectors
Data collected by the GEO 600 and LIGO interferometric gravitational wave detectors during their first observational science run were searched for continuous gravitational waves from the pulsar J1939+2134 at twice its rotation frequency. Two independent analysis methods were used and are demonstrated in this paper: a frequency domain method and a time domain method. Both achieve consistent null results, placing new upper limits on the strength of the pulsar's gravitational wave emission. A model emission mechanism is used to interpret the limits as a constraint on the pulsar's equatorial ellipticity
Scientific Objectives of Einstein Telescope
The advanced interferometer network will herald a new era in observational
astronomy. There is a very strong science case to go beyond the advanced
detector network and build detectors that operate in a frequency range from 1
Hz-10 kHz, with sensitivity a factor ten better in amplitude. Such detectors
will be able to probe a range of topics in nuclear physics, astronomy,
cosmology and fundamental physics, providing insights into many unsolved
problems in these areas.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, Plenary talk given at Amaldi Meeting, July 201
First upper limits from LIGO on gravitational wave bursts
We report on a search for gravitational wave bursts using data from the first
science run of the LIGO detectors. Our search focuses on bursts with durations
ranging from 4 ms to 100 ms, and with significant power in the LIGO sensitivity
band of 150 to 3000 Hz. We bound the rate for such detected bursts at less than
1.6 events per day at 90% confidence level. This result is interpreted in terms
of the detection efficiency for ad hoc waveforms (Gaussians and sine-Gaussians)
as a function of their root-sum-square strain h_{rss}; typical sensitivities
lie in the range h_{rss} ~ 10^{-19} - 10^{-17} strain/rtHz, depending on
waveform. We discuss improvements in the search method that will be applied to
future science data from LIGO and other gravitational wave detectors.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, accepted by Phys Rev D. Fixed a few small typos
and updated a few reference
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
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