723 research outputs found
Antenna pattern of DUAL detectors of gravitational waves and its exploitation in a network of advanced interferometers
We investigate the directional sensitivity to plane gravitational waves (GWs) of DUAL detectors of cylindrical shape. Calculations make use of the finite element method to simulate the responses to the GW Riemann tensor of a single-mass DUAL (SMD) and of a tapered cylinder (TC) in their wide sensitivity bandwidth. We show that one SMD or a pair of TCs is able to cover both GW polarization amplitudes from almost all incoming directions. We discuss the achievable enhancement in tackling the inverse problem for high frequency [~(2–5) kHz] GWs by adding a TC detector to the future advanced LIGO–VIRGO network
An improved algorithm for narrow-band searches of continuous gravitational waves
Continuous gravitational waves signals, emitted by asymmetric spinning
neutron stars, are among the main targets of current detectors like Advanced
LIGO and Virgo. In the case of sources, like pulsars, which rotational
parameters are measured through electromagnetic observations, typical searches
assume that the gravitational wave frequency is at a given known fixed ratio
with respect to the star rotational frequency. For instance, for a neutron star
rotating around one of its principal axis of inertia the gravitational signal
frequency would be exactly two times the rotational frequency of the star. It
is possible, however, that this assumption is wrong. This is why search
algorithms able to take into account a possible small mismatch between the
gravitational waves frequency and the frequency inferred from electromagnetic
observations have been developed. In this paper we present an improved pipeline
to perform such narrow-band searches for continuous gravitational waves from
neutron stars, about three orders of magnitude faster than previous
implementations. The algorithm that we have developed is based on the {\it
5-vectors} framework and is able to perform a fully coherent search over a
frequency band of width (Hertz) and for hundreds of spin-down
values running a few hours on a standard workstation. This new algorithm opens
the possibility of long coherence time searches for objects which rotational
parameters are highly uncertain.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, submitted to CQ
A new data analysis framework for the search of continuous gravitational wave signals
Continuous gravitational wave signals, like those expected by asymmetric
spinning neutron stars, are among the most promising targets for LIGO and Virgo
detectors. The development of fast and robust data analysis methods is crucial
to increase the chances of a detection. We have developed a new and flexible
general data analysis framework for the search of this kind of signals, which
allows to reduce the computational cost of the analysis by about two orders of
magnitude with respect to current procedures. This can correspond, at fixed
computing cost, to a sensitivity gain of up to 10%-20%, depending on the search
parameter space. Some possible applications are discussed, with a particular
focus on a directed search for sources in the Galactic center. Validation
through the injection of artificial signals in the data of Advanced LIGO first
observational science run is also shown.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure
Searching for continuous gravitational wave signals using LIGO and Virgo detectors
Direct and unequivocal detection of gravitational waves represents a great
challenge of contemporary physics and astrophysics. A worldwide effort is
currently operating towards this direction, building ever sensitive detectors,
improving the modelling of gravitational wave sources and employing ever more
sophisticated and powerful data analysis techniques. In this paper we review
the current status of LIGO and Virgo ground based interferometric detectors and
some data analysis tools used in the continuous wave searches to extract the
faint gravitational signals from the interferometric noise data. Moreover we
discuss also relevant results from recent continuous wave searches.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, http://www.fisica.unisalento.it/iwra/index2.ph
A semi-coherent analysis method to search for continuous gravitational waves emitted by ultra-light boson clouds around spinning black holes
As a consequence of superradiant instability induced in Kerr black holes,
ultra-light boson clouds can be a source of persistent gravitational waves,
potentially detectable by current and future gravitational-wave detectors.
These signals have been predicted to be nearly monochromatic, with a small
steady frequency increase (spin-up), but given the several assumptions and
simplifications done at theoretical level, it is wise to consider, from the
data analysis point of view, a broader class of gravitational signals in which
the phase (or the frequency) slightly wander in time. Also other types of
sources, e.g. neutron stars in which a torque balance equilibrium exists
between matter accretion and emission of persistent gravitational waves, would
fit in this category. In this paper we present a robust and computationally
cheap analysis pipeline devoted to the search of such kind of signals. We
provide a full characterization of the method, through both a theoretical
sensitivity estimation and through the analysis of syntethic data in which
simulated signals have been injected. The search setup for both all-sky
searches and higher sensitivity directed searches is discussed.Comment: 13 pages, 13 figure
A semi-coherent generalization of the 5-vector method to search for continuous gravitational waves
The emission of continuous gravitational waves (CWs), with duration much
longer than the typical data taking runs, is expected from several sources,
notably spinning neutron stars, asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis
and more exotic sources, like ultra-light scalar boson clouds formed around
Kerr black holes and sub-solar mass primordial binary black holes. Unless the
signal time evolution is well predicted and its relevant parameters accurately
known, the search for CWs is typically based on semi-coherent methods, where
the full data set is divided in shorter chunks of given duration, which are
properly processed, and then incoherently combined. In this paper we present a
semi-coherent method, in which the so-called \textit{5-vector} statistics is
computed for the various data segments and then summed after the removal of the
Earth Doppler modulation and signal intrinsic spin-down. The method can work
with segment duration of several days, thanks to a double stage procedure in
which an initial rough correction of the Doppler and spin-down is followed by a
refined step in which the residual variations are removed. This method can be
efficiently applied for directed searches, where the source position is known
to a good level of accuracy, and in the candidate follow-up stage of
wide-parameter space searches.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure
Implications For The Origin Of GRB 051103 From LIGO Observations
We present the results of a LIGO search for gravitational waves (GWs)
associated with GRB 051103, a short-duration hard-spectrum gamma-ray burst
(GRB) whose electromagnetically determined sky position is coincident with the
spiral galaxy M81, which is 3.6 Mpc from Earth. Possible progenitors for
short-hard GRBs include compact object mergers and soft gamma repeater (SGR)
giant flares. A merger progenitor would produce a characteristic GW signal that
should be detectable at the distance of M81, while GW emission from an SGR is
not expected to be detectable at that distance. We found no evidence of a GW
signal associated with GRB 051103. Assuming weakly beamed gamma-ray emission
with a jet semi-angle of 30 deg we exclude a binary neutron star merger in M81
as the progenitor with a confidence of 98%. Neutron star-black hole mergers are
excluded with > 99% confidence. If the event occurred in M81 our findings
support the the hypothesis that GRB 051103 was due to an SGR giant flare,
making it the most distant extragalactic magnetar observed to date.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. For a repository of data used in the publication,
go to: https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=15166 . Also see
the announcement for this paper on ligo.org at:
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-GRB051103/index.ph
Sensitivity to Gravitational Waves from Compact Binary Coalescences Achieved during LIGO's Fifth and Virgo's First Science Run
We summarize the sensitivity achieved by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational
wave detectors for compact binary coalescence (CBC) searches during LIGO's
fifth science run and Virgo's first science run. We present noise spectral
density curves for each of the four detectors that operated during these
science runs which are representative of the typical performance achieved by
the detectors for CBC searches. These spectra are intended for release to the
public as a summary of detector performance for CBC searches during these
science runs.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Swift follow-up observations of candidate gravitational-wave transient events
We present the first multi-wavelength follow-up observations of two candidate
gravitational-wave (GW) transient events recorded by LIGO and Virgo in their
2009-2010 science run. The events were selected with low latency by the network
of GW detectors and their candidate sky locations were observed by the Swift
observatory. Image transient detection was used to analyze the collected
electromagnetic data, which were found to be consistent with background.
Off-line analysis of the GW data alone has also established that the selected
GW events show no evidence of an astrophysical origin; one of them is
consistent with background and the other one was a test, part of a "blind
injection challenge". With this work we demonstrate the feasibility of rapid
follow-ups of GW transients and establish the sensitivity improvement joint
electromagnetic and GW observations could bring. This is a first step toward an
electromagnetic follow-up program in the regime of routine detections with the
advanced GW instruments expected within this decade. In that regime
multi-wavelength observations will play a significant role in completing the
astrophysical identification of GW sources. We present the methods and results
from this first combined analysis and discuss its implications in terms of
sensitivity for the present and future instruments.Comment: Submitted for publication 2012 May 25, accepted 2012 October 25,
published 2012 November 21, in ApJS, 203, 28 (
http://stacks.iop.org/0067-0049/203/28 ); 14 pages, 3 figures, 6 tables;
LIGO-P1100038; Science summary at
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S6LVSwift/index.php ; Public access
area to figures, tables at
https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p110003
Search for Gravitational Wave Bursts from Six Magnetars
Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are thought to be magnetars: neutron stars powered by extreme magnetic fields. These rare objects are characterized by repeated and sometimes spectacular gamma-ray bursts. The burst mechanism might involve crustal fractures and excitation of non-radial modes which would emit gravitational waves (GWs). We present the results of a search for GW bursts from six galactic magnetars that is sensitive to neutron star f-modes, thought to be the most efficient GW emitting oscillatory modes in compact stars. One of them, SGR 0501+4516, is likely similar to 1 kpc from Earth, an order of magnitude closer than magnetars targeted in previous GW searches. A second, AXP 1E 1547.0-5408, gave a burst with an estimated isotropic energy >10(44) erg which is comparable to the giant flares. We find no evidence of GWs associated with a sample of 1279 electromagnetic triggers from six magnetars occurring between 2006 November and 2009 June, in GW data from the LIGO, Virgo, and GEO600 detectors. Our lowest model-dependent GW emission energy upper limits for band-and time-limited white noise bursts in the detector sensitive band, and for f-mode ringdowns (at 1090 Hz), are 3.0 x 10(44)d(1)(2) erg and 1.4 x 10(47)d(1)(2) erg, respectively, where d(1) = d(0501)/1 kpc and d(0501) is the distance to SGR 0501+4516. These limits on GW emission from f-modes are an order of magnitude lower than any previous, and approach the range of electromagnetic energies seen in SGR giant flares for the first time.United States National Science FoundationScience and Technology Facilities Council of the United KingdomMax-Planck-SocietyState of Niedersachsen/GermanyItalian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica NucleareFrench Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueAustralian Research CouncilCouncil of Scientific and Industrial Research of IndiaIstituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare of ItalySpanish Ministerio de Educacion y CienciaConselleria d'Economia Hisenda i Innovacio of the Govern de les Illes BalearsFoundation for Fundamental Research on Matter supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific ResearchPolish Ministry of Science and Higher EducationFoundation for Polish ScienceRoyal SocietyScottish Funding CouncilScottish Universities Physics AllianceNational Aeronautics and Space Administration NNH07ZDA001-GLASTCarnegie TrustLeverhulme TrustDavid and Lucile Packard FoundationResearch CorporationAlfred P. Sloan FoundationRussian Space AgencyRFBR 09-02-00166aIPN JPL Y503559 (Odyssey), NASA NNG06GH00G, NASA NNX07AM42G, NASA NNX08AC89G (INTEGRAL), NASA NNG06GI896, NASA NNX07AJ65G, NASA NNX08AN23G (Swift), NASA NNX07AR71G (MESSENGER), NASA NNX06AI36G, NASA NNX08AB84G, NASA NNX08AZ85G (Suzaku), NASA NNX09AU03G (Fermi)Astronom
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