Status of the joint LIGO--TAMA300 inspiral analysis

We present the status of the joint search for gravitational waves from inspiraling neutron star binaries in the LIGO Science Run 2 and TAMA300 Data Taking Run 8 data, which was taken from February 14 to April 14, 2003, by the LIGO and TAMA collaborations. In this paper we discuss what has been learned from an analysis of a subset of the data sample reserved as a ``playground''. We determine the coincidence conditions for parameters such as the coalescence time and chirp mass by injecting simulated Galactic binary neutron star signals into the data stream. We select coincidence conditions so as to maximize our efficiency of detecting simulated signals. We obtain an efficiency for our coincident search of 78 %, and show that we are missing primarily very distant signals for TAMA300. We perform a time slide analysis to estimate the background due to accidental coincidence of noise triggers. We find that the background triggers have a very different character from the triggers of simulated signals.Comment: 10 page, 8 figures, accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravity for the special issue of the GWDAW9 Proceedings ; Corrected typos, minor change

Evaluation as Pedagogy: Models of Theological and Pastoral Formation

This essay proposes that there is one process but many points of departure for religious education. Each point of departure requires its own construction to facilitate learning. The constructs presented are Bloom’s taxonomy of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain, Groome’s “shared Christian praxis,” the lectio divina, the Ignatian rules of discernment, and the method in ministry of the Whiteheads. The theory proposed found validation in the task of evaluating written assignments of the candidates to the permanent diaconate of an archdiocese

Recent results on the search for continuous sources with LIGO and GEO600

An overview of the searches for continuous gravitational wave signals in LIGO and GEO 600 performed on different recent science runs and results are presented. This includes both searching for gravitational waves from known pulsars as well as blind searches over a wide parameter space.Comment: TAUP2005 Proceedings to be published in Journal of Physics: Conference Serie

Evaluation as Pedagogy: Models of Theological and Pastoral Formation

This essay proposes that there is one process but many points of departure for religious education. Each point of departure requires its own construction to facilitate learning. The constructs presented are Bloom’s taxonomy of learning outcomes in the cognitive domain, Groome’s “shared Christian praxis,” the lectio divina, the Ignatian rules of discernment, and the method in ministry of the Whiteheads. The theory proposed found validation in the task of evaluating written assignments of the candidates to the permanent diaconate of an archdiocese

The Loudest Event Statistic: General Formulation, Properties and Applications

The use of the loudest observed event to generate statistical statements about rate and strength has become standard in searches for gravitational waves from compact binaries and pulsars. The Bayesian formulation of the method is generalized in this paper to allow for uncertainties both in the background estimate and in the properties of the population being constrained. The method is also extended to allow rate interval construction. Finally, it is shown how to combine the results from multiple experiments and a comparison is drawn between the upper limit obtained in a single search and the upper limit obtained by combining the results of two experiments each of half the original duration. To illustrate this, we look at an example case, motivated by the search for gravitational waves from binary inspiral.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

First upper limit analysis and results from LIGO science data: stochastic background

I describe analysis of correlations in the outputs of the three LIGO interferometers from LIGO's first science run, held over 17 days in August and September of 2002, and the resulting upper limit set on a stochastic background of gravitational waves. By searching for cross-correlations between the LIGO detectors in Livingston, LA and Hanford, WA, we are able to set a 90% confidence level upper limit of h_{100}^2 Omega_0 < 23 +/- 4.6.Comment: 7 pages; 1 eps figures; proceeding from 2003 Edoardo Amaldi Meeting on Gravitational Wave

Characterization of the LIGO detectors during their sixth science run

In 2009–2010, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) operated together with international partners Virgo and GEO600 as a network to search for gravitational waves (GWs) of astrophysical origin. The sensitivity of these detectors was limited by a combination of noise sources inherent to the instrumental design and its environment, often localized in time or frequency, that couple into the GW readout. Here we review the performance of the LIGO instruments during this epoch, the work done to characterize the detectors and their data, and the effect that transient and continuous noise artefacts have on the sensitivity of LIGO to a variety of astrophysical sources