4 research outputs found
Your: Your Unified Reader
The advancement in signal processing and GPU based systems has enabled new
transient detectors at various telescopes to perform much more sensitive
searches than their predecessors. Typically the data output from the telescopes
is in one of the two commonly used formats: psrfits and Sigproc filterbank.
Software developed for transient searches often only works with one of these
two formats, limiting their general applicability. Therefore, researchers have
to write custom scripts to read/write the data in their format of choice before
they can begin any data analysis relevant for their research. \textsc{Your}
(Your Unified Reader) is a python-based library that unifies the data
processing across multiple commonly used formats. \textsc{Your} implements a
user-friendly interface to read and write in the data format of choice. It also
generates unified metadata corresponding to the input data file for a quick
understanding of observation parameters and provides utilities to perform
common data analysis operations. \textsc{Your} also provides several
state-of-the-art radio frequency interference mitigation (RFI) algorithms,
which can now be used during any stage of data processing (reading, writing,
etc.) to filter out artificial signals.Comment: 3 pages, Published in JOSS, Github:
https://github.com/thepetabyteproject/you
The NANOGrav 15-year Data Set: Bayesian Limits on Gravitational Waves from Individual Supermassive Black Hole Binaries
Evidence for a low-frequency stochastic gravitational wave background has
recently been reported based on analyses of pulsar timing array data. The most
likely source of such a background is a population of supermassive black hole
binaries, the loudest of which may be individually detected in these datasets.
Here we present the search for individual supermassive black hole binaries in
the NANOGrav 15-year dataset. We introduce several new techniques, which
enhance the efficiency and modeling accuracy of the analysis. The search
uncovered weak evidence for two candidate signals, one with a
gravitational-wave frequency of 4 nHz, and another at 170 nHz. The
significance of the low-frequency candidate was greatly diminished when
Hellings-Downs correlations were included in the background model. The
high-frequency candidate was discounted due to the lack of a plausible host
galaxy, the unlikely astrophysical prior odds of finding such a source, and
since most of its support comes from a single pulsar with a commensurate binary
period. Finding no compelling evidence for signals from individual binary
systems, we place upper limits on the strain amplitude of gravitational waves
emitted by such systems.Comment: 23 pages, 13 figures, 2 tables. Accepted for publication in
Astrophysical Journal Letters as part of Focus on NANOGrav's 15-year Data Set
and the Gravitational Wave Background. For questions or comments, please
email [email protected]