Enhancing gravitational wave astronomy with galaxy catalogues

Joint gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) observations, as a key research direction in multi-messenger astronomy, will provide deep insight into the astrophysics of a vast range of astronomical phenomena. Uncertainties in the source sky location estimate from gravitational wave observations mean follow-up observatories must scan large portions of the sky for a potential companion signal. A general frame of joint GW-EM observations is presented by a multi-messenger observational triangle. Using a Bayesian approach to multi-messenger astronomy, we investigate the use of galaxy catalogue and host galaxy information to reduce the sky region over which follow-up observatories must scan, as well as study its use for improving the inclination angle estimates for coalescing binary compact objects. We demonstrate our method using a simulated neutron stars inspiral signal injected into simulated Advanced detectors noise and estimate the injected signal sky location and inclination angle using the Gravitational Wave Galaxy Catalogue. In this case study, the top three candidates in rank have $72\%$, $15\%$ and $8\%$ posterior probability of being the host galaxy, receptively. The standard deviation of cosine inclination angle (0.001) of the neutron stars binary using gravitational wave-galaxy information is much smaller than that (0.02) using only gravitational wave posterior samples.Comment: Proceedings of the Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics. 2014 Session on 'Gravitational Wave Astrophysics

Comparison of advanced gravitational-wave detectors

We compare two advanced designs for gravitational-wave antennas in terms of their ability to detect two possible gravitational wave sources. Spherical, resonant mass antennas and interferometers incorporating resonant sideband extraction (RSE) were modeled using experimentally measurable parameters. The signal-to-noise ratio of each detector for a binary neutron star system and a rapidly rotating stellar core were calculated. For a range of plausible parameters we found that the advanced LIGO interferometer incorporating RSE gave higher signal-to-noise ratios than a spherical detector resonant at the same frequency for both sources. Spheres were found to be sensitive to these sources at distances beyond our galaxy. Interferometers were sensitive to these sources at far enough distances that several events per year would be expected

Gravitational Waves from a Pulsar Kick Caused by Neutrino Conversions

It has been suggested that the observed pulsar velocities are caused by an asymmetric neutrino emission from a hot neutron star during the first seconds after the supernova collapse. We calculate the magnitude of gravitational waves produced by the asymmetries in the emission of neutrinos. The resulting periodic gravitational waves may be detectable by LIGO and LISA in the event of a nearby supernova explosion.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure

Relating Intrinsic Low-Frequency BOLD Cortical Oscillations to Cognition in Schizophrenia

The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) in the blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal during resting-state fMRI reflects the magnitude of local low-frequency BOLD oscillations, rather than interregional connectivity. ALFF is of interest to studies of cognition because fluctuations in spontaneous intrinsic brain activity relate to, and possibly even constrain, task-evoked brain responses in healthy people. Lower ALFF has been reported in schizophrenia, but the cognitive correlates of these reductions remain unknown. Here, we assess relationships between ALFF and attention and working memory in order to establish the functional relevance of intrinsic BOLD oscillatory power alterations with respect to specific cognitive impairments in schizophrenia. As part of the multisite FBIRN study, resting-state fMRI data were collected from schizophrenia subjects (SZ; n=168) and healthy controls (HC; n=166). Voxelwise fractional ALFF (fALFF), a normalized ALFF measure, was regressed on neuropsychological measures of sustained attention and working memory in SZ and HC to identify regions showing either common slopes across groups or slope differences between groups (all findings p<0.01 height, p<0.05 family-wise error cluster corrected). Poorer sustained attention was associated with smaller fALFF in the left superior frontal cortex and bilateral temporoparietal junction in both groups, with additional relationships in bilateral posterior parietal, posterior cingulate, dorsal anterior cingulate (ACC), and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) evident only in SZ. Poorer working memory was associated with smaller fALFF in bilateral ACC/mPFC, DLPFC, and posterior parietal cortex in both groups. Our findings indicate that smaller amplitudes of low-frequency BOLD oscillations during rest, measured by fALFF, were significantly associated with poorer cognitive performance, sometimes similarly in both groups and sometimes only in SZ, in regions known to subserve sustained attention and working memory. Taken together, these data suggest that the magnitude of resting-state BOLD oscillations shows promise as a biomarker of cognitive function in health and disease

Catching Element Formation In The Act ; The Case for a New MeV Gamma-Ray Mission: Radionuclide Astronomy in the 2020s

High Energy Astrophysic

The design of mechatronic anthropomorphic sensor platforms

Chapter on the design of mechatronic anthropomorphic sensor platforms. Details how Mair et al. at Strathclyde University developed mechatronic sensor platforms for active vision

Integrating virtual reality and telepresence to remotely monitor construction sites: a ViRTUE project

The paper presents VIRTUE, a funded research project, which aims to integrate the Virtual Reality (VR), Telepresence (TP) and mobile video telecommunications technologies. A mobile, real-time, 3D-hybrid VR/TP system is being built at Strathclyde University, Glasgow. A system prototype has been completed and is being tested. The system will permit the user to integrate telepresence images with computer generated virtual environments superimposed over the remote real worldview. This integrated system incorporates emerging mobile telecommunications technologies to give rapid and easy access to the real and virtual construction sites from arbitrary locations. This system allows remote surveillance of the construction site, and integration of real world images of the site with virtual reality representations, derived from planning models, for progress monitoring

Anthropomorphic telepresence systems - design issues

Paper on the design issues related to anthropomorphic telepresence systems