A Bayesian coincidence test for noise rejection in a gravitational-wave burst search

In searches for gravitational-wave bursts, a standard technique used to reject noise is to discard burst event candidates that are not seen in coincidence in multiple detectors. A coincidence test in which Bayesian inference is used to measure how noise-like a tuple of events appears is presented here. This technique is shown to yield higher detection efficiencies for a given false alarm rate than do techniques based on per-parameter thresholds when applied to a toy model covering a broad class of event candidate populations. Also presented is the real-world example of a use of the technique for noise rejection in a time–frequency burst search conducted on simulated gravitational-wave detector data. Besides achieving a higher detection efficiency, the technique is significantly less challenging to implement well than is a per-parameter threshold method

A method to estimate the significance of coincident gravitational-wave observations from compact binary coalescence

Coalescing compact binary systems consisting of neutron stars and/or black holes should be detectable with upcoming advanced gravitational-wave detectors such as LIGO, Virgo, GEO and {KAGRA}. Gravitational-wave experiments to date have been riddled with non-Gaussian, non-stationary noise that makes it challenging to ascertain the significance of an event. A popular method to estimate significance is to time shift the events collected between detectors in order to establish a false coincidence rate. Here we propose a method for estimating the false alarm probability of events using variables commonly available to search candidates that does not rely on explicitly time shifting the events while still capturing the non-Gaussianity of the data. We present a method for establishing a statistical detection of events in the case where several silver-plated (3--5$\sigma$) events exist but not necessarily any gold-plated ($>5\sigma$) events. We use LIGO data and a simulated, realistic, blind signal population to test our method

Interpolating compact binary waveforms using the singular value decomposition

Compact binary systems with total masses between tens and hundreds of solar masses will produce gravitational waves during their merger phase that are detectable by second-generation ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. In order to model the gravitational waveform of the merger epoch of compact binary coalescence, the full Einstein equations must be solved numerically for the entire mass and spin parameter space. However, this is computationally expensive. Several models have been proposed to interpolate the results of numerical relativity simulations. In this paper we propose a numerical interpolation scheme that stems from the singular value decomposition. This algorithm shows promise in allowing one to construct arbitrary waveforms within a certain parameter space given a sufficient density of numerical simulations covering the same parameter space. We also investigate how similar approaches could be used to interpolate waveforms in the context of parameter estimation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, presented at the joint 9th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves and 2011 Numerical Relativity - Data Analysis (NRDA) meetin

Development and Application of a Detection System for a Novel Class of Gravitational-Wave Transients

We previously described the development of a detection system for a novel class of transient gravitational-wave sources taking the form of Cherenkov-like bursts. Here, we have applied the system to the data of the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA O3 science run, and report a null result. The ad hoc waveform model is motivated by the conjectured emission of gravitational waves from a curvature source moving at super-luminal speed, and while there is no plausible natural or artificial source of such waves, we nevertheless use the null result to infer a tongue-in-cheek upper bound on the number density of near-Earth transits of spacecraft travelling at warp speed. The upper bound is parameterized in terms of the trajectory's impact parameter, the vehicle's engine power,and speed. These quantities can be connected to statements made in science fiction allowing us to translate the upper bound into a bound on the number density of specific types of spacecraft from, for example, Star Trek or Star Wars. Although most suitable for entertainment purposes, these constraints might find use being folded into a Bayesian inference type estimate on the number of extra-terrestrial civilizations in the galaxy

Interpolation in waveform space: enhancing the accuracy of gravitational waveform families using numerical relativity

Matched-filtering for the identification of compact object mergers in gravitational-wave antenna data involves the comparison of the data stream to a bank of template gravitational waveforms. Typically the template bank is constructed from phenomenological waveform models since these can be evaluated for an arbitrary choice of physical parameters. Recently it has been proposed that singular value decomposition (SVD) can be used to reduce the number of templates required for detection. As we show here, another benefit of SVD is its removal of biases from the phenomenological templates along with a corresponding improvement in their ability to represent waveform signals obtained from numerical relativity (NR) simulations. Using these ideas, we present a method that calibrates a reduced SVD basis of phenomenological waveforms against NR waveforms in order to construct a new waveform approximant with improved accuracy and faithfulness compared to the original phenomenological model. The new waveform family is given numerically through the interpolation of the projection coefficients of NR waveforms expanded onto the reduced basis and provides a generalized scheme for enhancing phenomenological models.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Application of graphics processing units to search pipelines for gravitational waves from coalescing binaries of compact objects

We report a novel application of a graphics processing unit (GPU) for the purpose of accelerating the search pipelines for gravitational waves from coalescing binaries of compact objects. A speed-up of 16-fold in total has been achieved with an NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra GPU card compared with one core of a 2.5 GHz Intel Q9300 central processing unit (CPU). We show that substantial improvements are possible and discuss the reduction in CPU count required for the detection of inspiral sources afforded by the use of GPUs

Physically consistent gravitational waveform for capturing beyond general relativity effects in the compact object merger phase

The merger phase of compact binary coalescences is the strongest gravity regime that can be observed. To test the validity of general relativity (GR) in strong gravitational fields, we propose a gravitational waveform parameterized for deviations from GR in the dynamical and nonlinear regime of gravity. Our fundamental idea is that perturbative modifications to a GR waveform can capture possible deviations in the merger phase that are difficult to model in a specific theory of gravity. One of notable points is that our waveform is physically consistent in the sense that the additional radiative losses of energy and angular momentum associated with beyond-GR modifications are included. Our prescription to ensure physical consistency in the whole coalescence process is expected to be applicable to any deviation from the standard model of compact binary coalescence, such as the extended models of gravity or the environmental effects of compact objects, as long as perturbative modifications are considered. Based on the Fisher analysis and the compatibility with Einstein-dilaton Gauss-Bonnet waveforms, we show that our parameterization is a physically-consistent minimal one that captures the deviations in the nonlinear regime.Comment: 21 pages, 10 figure