4,534 research outputs found
Angular Resolution of the LISA Gravitational Wave Detector
We calculate the angular resolution of the planned LISA detector, a
space-based laser interferometer for measuring low-frequency gravitational
waves from galactic and extragalactic sources. LISA is not a pointed
instrument; it is an all-sky monitor with a quadrupolar beam pattern. LISA will
measure simultaneously both polarization components of incoming gravitational
waves, so the data will consist of two time series. All physical properties of
the source, including its position, must be extracted from these time series.
LISA's angular resolution is therefore not a fixed quantity, but rather depends
on the type of signal and on how much other information must be extracted.
Information about the source position will be encoded in the measured signal in
three ways: 1) through the relative amplitudes and phases of the two
polarization components, 2) through the periodic Doppler shift imposed on the
signal by the detector's motion around the Sun, and 3) through the further
modulation of the signal caused by the detector's time-varying orientation. We
derive the basic formulae required to calculate the LISA's angular resolution
for a given source. We then evaluate for
two sources of particular interest: monchromatic sources and mergers of
supermassive black holes. For these two types of sources, we calculate (in the
high signal-to-noise approximation) the full variance-covariance matrix, which
gives the accuracy to which all source parameters can be measured. Since our
results on LISA's angular resolution depend mainly on gross features of the
detector geometry, orbit, and noise curve, we expect these results to be fairly
insensitive to modest changes in detector design that may occur between now and
launch. We also expect that our calculations could be easily modified to apply
to a modified design.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, RevTex 3.0 fil
Gravitational Wave Chirp Search: Economization of PN Matched Filter Bank via Cardinal Interpolation
The final inspiral phase in the evolution of a compact binary consisting of
black holes and/or neutron stars is among the most probable events that a
network of ground-based interferometric gravitational wave detectors is likely
to observe. Gravitational radiation emitted during this phase will have to be
dug out of noise by matched-filtering (correlating) the detector output with a
bank of several templates, making the computational resources required
quite demanding, though not formidable. We propose an interpolation method for
evaluating the correlation between template waveforms and the detector output
and show that the method is effective in substantially reducing the number of
templates required. Indeed, the number of templates needed could be a factor
smaller than required by the usual approach, when the minimal overlap
between the template bank and an arbitrary signal (the so-called {\it minimal
match}) is 0.97. The method is amenable to easy implementation, and the various
detector projects might benefit by adopting it to reduce the computational
costs of inspiraling neutron star and black hole binary search.Comment: scheduled for publicatin on Phys. Rev. D 6
The cost-effectiveness of Cochlear implants in Swedish adults.
BackgroundResearch has shown unilateral cochlear implants (CIs) significantly improve clinical outcomes and quality of life in adults. However, only 13% of eligible Swedish adults currently use a unilateral CI. The objective was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of unilateral CIs compared to a hearing aid for Swedish adults with severe to profound hearing loss.MethodsA Markov model with a lifetime horizon and six-month cycle length was developed to estimate the benefits and costs of unilateral CIs from the Swedish health system perspective. A treatment pathway was developed through consultation with clinical experts to estimate resource use and costs. Unit costs were derived from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions. Health outcomes were reported in terms of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs).ResultsUnilateral CIs for Swedish adults with severe to profound hearing loss are likely to be deemed cost-effective when compared to a hearing aid (SEK 140,474 per QALY gained). The results were most sensitive to the age when patients are implanted with a CI and the proportion of patients eligible for CIs after triage.ConclusionsAn increase in the prevalence of Swedish adults with severe to profound hearing loss is expected as the population ages. Earlier implantation of unilateral CIs improves the cost-effectiveness among people eligible for CIs. Unilateral CIs are an efficacious and cost-effective option to improve hearing and quality of life in Swedish adults with severe to profound hearing loss
Estimating the detectable rate of capture of stellar mass black holes by massive central black holes in normal galaxies
The capture and subsequent inspiral of stellar mass black holes on eccentric
orbits by central massive black holes, is one of the more interesting likely
sources of gravitational radiation detectable by LISA. We estimate the rate of
observable events and the associated uncertainties. A moderately favourable
mass function could provide many detectable bursts each year, and a detection
of at least one burst per year is very likely given our current understanding
of the populations in cores of normal spiral galaxies.Comment: 3 pages 2-column revtex Latex macro. No figures. Classical and
Quantum Gravity, accepte
Physical instrumental vetoes for gravitational-wave burst triggers
We present a robust strategy to \emph{veto} certain classes of instrumental
glitches that appear at the output of interferometric gravitational-wave (GW)
detectors.This veto method is `physical' in the sense that, in order to veto a
burst trigger, we make use of our knowledge of the coupling of different
detector subsystems to the main detector output. The main idea behind this
method is that the noise in an instrumental channel X can be \emph{transferred}
to the detector output (channel H) using the \emph{transfer function} from X to
H, provided the noise coupling is \emph{linear} and the transfer function is
\emph{unique}. If a non-stationarity in channel H is causally related to one in
channel X, the two have to be consistent with the transfer function. We
formulate two methods for testing the consistency between the burst triggers in
channel X and channel H. One method makes use of the \emph{null-stream}
constructed from channel H and the \emph{transferred} channel X, and the second
involves cross-correlating the two. We demonstrate the efficiency of the veto
by `injecting' instrumental glitches in the hardware of the GEO 600 detector.
The \emph{veto safety} is demonstrated by performing GW-like hardware
injections. We also show an example application of this method using 5 days of
data from the fifth science run of GEO 600. The method is found to have very
high veto efficiency with a very low accidental veto rate.Comment: Minor changes, To appear in Phys. Rev.
Improved filters for gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries
The order of the post-Newtonian expansion needed, to extract in a reliable
and accurate manner the fully general relativistic gravitational wave signal
from inspiralling compact binaries, is explored. A class of approximate wave
forms, called P-approximants, is constructed based on the following two inputs:
(a) The introduction of two new energy-type and flux-type functions e(v) and
f(v), respectively, (b) the systematic use of Pade approximation for
constructing successive approximants of e(v) and f(v). The new P-approximants
are not only more effectual (larger overlaps) and more faithful (smaller
biases) than the standard Taylor approximants, but also converge faster and
monotonically. The presently available O(v/c)^5-accurate post-Newtonian results
can be used to construct P-approximate wave forms that provide overlaps with
the exact wave form larger than 96.5% implying that more than 90% of potential
events can be detected with the aid of P-approximants as opposed to a mere
10-15 % that would be detectable using standard post-Newtonian approximants.Comment: Latex ([prd,aps,eqsecnum,epsf]{revtex}), 40 pages including 12
encapsulated figures. (The paper, together with all the figures and tables is
available from ftp://carina.astro.cf.ac.uk/pub/incoming/sathya/dis97.uu
Gravitational Waves from Mergin Compact Binaries: How Accurately Can One Extract the Binary's Parameters from the Inspiral Waveform?
The most promising source of gravitational waves for the planned detectors
LIGO and VIRGO are merging compact binaries, i.e., neutron star/neutron star
(NS/NS), neutron star/black hole (NS/BH), and black hole/black-hole (BH/BH)
binaries. We investigate how accurately the distance to the source and the
masses and spins of the two bodies will be measured from the gravitational wave
signals by the three detector LIGO/VIRGO network using ``advanced detectors''
(those present a few years after initial operation). The combination of the masses of the two bodies is
measurable with an accuracy . The reduced mass is measurable
to for NS/NS and NS/BH binaries, and for BH/BH
binaries (assuming BH's). Measurements of the masses and spins are
strongly correlated; there is a combination of and the spin angular
momenta that is measured to within . We also estimate that distance
measurement accuracies will be for of the detected
signals, and for of the signals, for the LIGO/VIRGO
3-detector network.Comment: 103 pages, 20 figures, submitted to Phys Rev D, uses revtex macros,
Caltech preprint GRP-36
Collisions of boosted black holes: perturbation theory prediction of gravitational radiation
We consider general relativistic Cauchy data representing two nonspinning,
equal-mass black holes boosted toward each other. When the black holes are
close enough to each other and their momentum is sufficiently high, an
encompassing apparent horizon is present so the system can be viewed as a
single, perturbed black hole. We employ gauge-invariant perturbation theory,
and integrate the Zerilli equation to analyze these time-asymmetric data sets
and compute gravitational wave forms and emitted energies. When coupled with a
simple Newtonian analysis of the infall trajectory, we find striking agreement
between the perturbation calculation of emitted energies and the results of
fully general relativistic numerical simulations of time-symmetric initial
data.Comment: 5 pages (RevTex 3.0 with 3 uuencoded figures), CRSR-107
The high-energy pulsed X-ray spectrum of HER X-1 as observed with OSO-8
Her X-1 was observed from 1977 August 30 to September 10 using the High-Energy X-Ray Scintillation Spectrometer on board the OSO-8 satellite. The observation, during which the source was monitored continually for nearly an entire ON-state, covered the energy range from 16 to 280 keV. Pulsed flux measurements as a function of binary orbit and binary phase are presented for energies between 16 and 98 keV. The pulsed flux between 16 and 33 keV exhibited a sharp decrease following the fourth binary orbit and was consistent with zero pulsed flux thereafter. The pulsed spectrum was fitted with a power law, a thermal spectrum without features, and a thermal spectrum with a superposed gaussian centered at 55 keV. The latter fit has the smallest value of chi - squared per degree of freedom, and the resulting integrated line intensity is 1.5 superscript + 4.1 subscript - 1.4 x .001 photons s superscript-1 cm superscript-2 for a width of 3.1 superscript + 9.1 subscript -2.6 keV. This result, while of low statistical significance, agrees with the value observed by Trumper (1978) during the same On-state
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