29 research outputs found
Plant lectins: the ties that bind in root symbiosis and plant defense
Lectins are a diverse group of carbohydrate-binding proteins that are found within and associated with organisms from all kingdoms of life. Several different classes of plant lectins serve a diverse array of functions. The most prominent of these include participation in plant defense against predators and pathogens and involvement in symbiotic interactions between host plants and symbiotic microbes, including mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. Extensive biological, biochemical, and molecular studies have shed light on the functions of plant lectins, and a plethora of uncharacterized lectin genes are being revealed at the genomic scale, suggesting unexplored and novel diversity in plant lectin structure and function. Integration of the results from these different types of research is beginning to yield a more detailed understanding of the function of lectins in symbiosis, defense, and plant biology in general
All-sky search for gravitational-wave bursts in the second joint LIGO-Virgo run
We present results from a search for gravitational-wave bursts in the data
collected by the LIGO and Virgo detectors between July 7, 2009 and October 20,
2010: data are analyzed when at least two of the three LIGO-Virgo detectors are
in coincident operation, with a total observation time of 207 days. The
analysis searches for transients of duration < 1 s over the frequency band
64-5000 Hz, without other assumptions on the signal waveform, polarization,
direction or occurrence time. All identified events are consistent with the
expected accidental background. We set frequentist upper limits on the rate of
gravitational-wave bursts by combining this search with the previous LIGO-Virgo
search on the data collected between November 2005 and October 2007. The upper
limit on the rate of strong gravitational-wave bursts at the Earth is 1.3
events per year at 90% confidence. We also present upper limits on source rate
density per year and Mpc^3 for sample populations of standard-candle sources.
As in the previous joint run, typical sensitivities of the search in terms of
the root-sum-squared strain amplitude for these waveforms lie in the range 5
10^-22 Hz^-1/2 to 1 10^-20 Hz^-1/2. The combination of the two joint runs
entails the most sensitive all-sky search for generic gravitational-wave bursts
and synthesizes the results achieved by the initial generation of
interferometric detectors.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures: data for plots and archived public version at
https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=70814&version=19, see
also the public announcement at
http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S6BurstAllSky
Search for Gravitational Waves from Intermediate Mass Binary Black Holes
We present the results of a weakly modeled burst search for gravitational
waves from mergers of non-spinning intermediate mass black holes (IMBH) in the
total mass range 100--450 solar masses and with the component mass ratios
between 1:1 and 4:1. The search was conducted on data collected by the LIGO and
Virgo detectors between November of 2005 and October of 2007. No plausible
signals were observed by the search which constrains the astrophysical rates of
the IMBH mergers as a function of the component masses. In the most efficiently
detected bin centered on 88+88 solar masses, for non-spinning sources, the rate
density upper limit is 0.13 per Mpc^3 per Myr at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures: data for plots and archived public version at
https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=62326, see also the
public announcement at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5IMBH
Improved upper limits on the stochastic gravitational-wave background from 2009-2010 LIGO and Virgo data
Paper producido por "The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration". (En el registro se mencionan solo algunos autores de las decenas de personas que participan).Gravitational waves from a variety of sources are predicted to superpose to create a stochastic
background. This background is expected to contain unique information from throughout the history of
the Universe that is unavailable through standard electromagnetic observations, making its study of
fundamental importance to understanding the evolution of the Universe. We carry out a search for the
stochastic background with the latest data from the LIGO and Virgo detectors. Consistent with predictions from most stochastic gravitational-wave background models, the data display no evidence of a stochastic gravitational-wave signal. Assuming a gravitational-wave spectrum of ΩGWðfÞ ¼ Ωαðf=frefÞα, we place 95% confidence level upper limits on the energy density of the background in each of four frequency bands spanning 41.5–1726 Hz. In the frequency band of 41.5–169.25 Hz for a spectral index of α¼ 0, we constrain the energy density of the stochastic background to be ΩGWðfÞ <5.6 × 10−6. For the 600–1000 Hz band, ΩGWðfÞ <0.14ðf=900 HzÞ3, a factor of 2.5 lower than the best previously reported upper limits. We find ΩGWðfÞ <1.8 × 10−4 using a spectral index of zero for 170–600 Hz and ΩGWðfÞ < 1.0ðf=1300 HzÞ3 for 1000–1726 Hz, bands in which no previous direct limits have been placed. The limits in these four bands are the lowest direct measurements to date on the stochastic background. We discuss the implications of these results in light of the recent claim by the BICEP2 experiment of the possible evidence for inflationary gravitational waves.http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.231101publishedVersionFil: Aasi, J. LIGO. California Institute of Technology; Estados Unidos de América.Fil: Maglione, C. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Maglione, C. Argentinian Gravitational Wave Group; Argentina.Fil: Quiroga, G. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Quiroga, G. Argentinian Gravitational Wave Group; Argentina.Física de Partículas y Campo
First all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from unknown sources in binary systems
We present the first results of an all-sky search for continuous
gravitational waves from unknown spinning neutron stars in binary systems using
LIGO and Virgo data. Using a specially developed analysis program, the TwoSpect
algorithm, the search was carried out on data from the sixth LIGO Science Run
and the second and third Virgo Science Runs. The search covers a range of
frequencies from 20 Hz to 520 Hz, a range of orbital periods from 2 to ~2,254 h
and a frequency- and period-dependent range of frequency modulation depths from
0.277 to 100 mHz. This corresponds to a range of projected semi-major axes of
the orbit from ~0.6e-3 ls to ~6,500 ls assuming the orbit of the binary is
circular. While no plausible candidate gravitational wave events survive the
pipeline, upper limits are set on the analyzed data. The most sensitive 95%
confidence upper limit obtained on gravitational wave strain is 2.3e-24 at 217
Hz, assuming the source waves are circularly polarized. Although this search
has been optimized for circular binary orbits, the upper limits obtained remain
valid for orbital eccentricities as large as 0.9. In addition, upper limits are
placed on continuous gravitational wave emission from the low-mass x-ray binary
Scorpius X-1 between 20 Hz and 57.25 Hz.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
Methods and results of a search for gravitational waves associated with gamma-ray bursts using the GEO 600, LIGO, and Virgo detectors
Paper producido por "The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo Collaboration". (En el registro se mencionan solo algunos autores de las decenas de personas que participan).In this paper we report on a search for short-duration gravitational wave bursts in the frequency range 64 Hz–1792 Hz associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), using data from GEO 600 and one of the LIGO or Virgo detectors. We introduce the method of a linear search grid to analyze GRB events with large sky localization uncertainties, for example the localizations provided by the Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM). Coherent searches for gravitational waves (GWs) can be computationally intensive when the GRB sky position is not well localized, due to the corrections required for the difference in arrival time between
detectors. Using a linear search grid we are able to reduce the computational cost of the analysis by a factor of Oð10Þfor GBM events. Furthermore, we demonstrate that our analysis pipeline can improve upon the sky localization of GRBs detected by the GBM, if a high-frequency GW signal is observed in coincidence. We use the method of the linear grid in a search for GWs associated with 129 GRBs observed satellite-based gamma-ray experiments between 2006 and 2011. The GRBs in our sample had not been previously analyzed for GW counterparts. A fraction of our GRB events are analyzed using data from GEO 600 while
the detector was using squeezed-light states to improve its sensitivity; this is the first search for GWs using data from a squeezed-light interferometric observatory. We find no evidence for GW signals, either with any individual GRB in this sample or with the population as a whole. For each GRB we place lower bounds on the distance to the progenitor, under an assumption of a fixed GWemission energy of 10−2M⊙c2, with a median exclusion distance of 0.8 Mpc for emission at 500 Hz and 0.3 Mpc at 1 kHz. The reduced computational cost associated with a linear search grid will enable rapid searches for GWs associated with
Fermi GBM events once the advanced LIGO and Virgo detectors begin operation.http://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.89.122004publishedVersionFil: Aasi, J. LIGO. California Institute of Technology; Estados Unidos de América.Fil: Domínguez, E. Argentinian Gravitational Wave Group; Argentina.Fil: Maglione, C. Argentinian Gravitational Wave Group; Argentina.Fil: Reula, O. Argentinian Gravitational Wave Group; Argentina.Fil: Ortega, W. Argentinian Gravitational Wave Group; Argentina.Fil: Wolovick, N. Argentinian Gravitational Wave Group; Argentina.Fil: Schilman, M. Argentinian Gravitational Wave Group; Argentina.Física de Partículas y Campo
Multimessenger Search for Sources of Gravitational Waves and High-Energy Neutrinos: Results for Initial LIGO-Virgo and IceCube
We report the results of a multimessenger search for coincident signals from
the LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave observatories and the partially completed
IceCube high-energy neutrino detector, including periods of joint operation
between 2007-2010. These include parts of the 2005-2007 run and the 2009-2010
run for LIGO-Virgo, and IceCube's observation periods with 22, 59 and 79
strings. We find no significant coincident events, and use the search results
to derive upper limits on the rate of joint sources for a range of source
emission parameters. For the optimistic assumption of gravitational-wave
emission energy of \,Mc at \,Hz with \,ms duration, and high-energy neutrino emission of \,erg
comparable to the isotropic gamma-ray energy of gamma-ray bursts, we limit the
source rate below \,Mpcyr. We also examine
how combining information from gravitational waves and neutrinos will aid
discovery in the advanced gravitational-wave detector era
Search for gravitational radiation from intermediate mass black hole binaries in data from the second LIGO-Virgo joint science run
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First searches for optical counterparts to gravitational-wave candidate events
During the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory and Virgo joint science runs in 2009-2010, gravitational wave (GW) data from three interferometer detectors were analyzed within minutes to select GW candidate events and infer their apparent sky positions. Target coordinates were transmitted to several telescopes for follow-up observations aimed at the detection of an associated optical transient. Images were obtained for eight such GW candidates. We present the methods used to analyze the image data as well as the transient search results. No optical transient was identified with a convincing association with any of these candidates, and none of the GW triggers showed strong evidence for being astrophysical in nature. We compare the sensitivities of these observations to several model light curves from possible sources of interest, and discuss prospects for future joint GW-optical observations of this type. © 2014. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved
Central heating radius of curvature correction (CHRoCC) for use in large scale gravitational wave interferometers
An asymmetry in radii of curvature of the mirrors in the arms of an interferometric gravitational-wave detector can degrade the performance of such a detector. In addition, the non-perfect mirror surface figures can excite higher order modes if the radii of curvature are close to higher order mode degeneracy. In this paper, we present a novel technique for changing the radii of curvature of arm cavity end mirrors by Central Heating Radius of Curvature Correction. This system was installed in the Virgo experiment in Cascina and proved to be an efficient, non-invasive solution with a large dynamic range. We present how the interferometer was tuned using such a system in order to obtain the best duty-cycles and sensitivity achieved with Virgo to date. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd