Guest Recital: Michael McClelland, Viola Susan Tiecher, Piano

Kemp Recital Hall Monday Evening October 25, 1993 8:30p.m

Network sensitivity to geographical configuration

Gravitational wave astronomy will require the coordinated analysis of data from the global network of gravitational wave observatories. Questions of how to optimally configure the global network arise in this context. We have elsewhere proposed a formalism which is employed here to compare different configurations of the network, using both the coincident network analysis method and the coherent network analysis method. We have constructed a network model to compute a figure-of-merit based on the detection rate for a population of standard-candle binary inspirals. We find that this measure of network quality is very sensitive to the geographic location of component detectors under a coincident network analysis, but comparatively insensitive under a coherent network analysis.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for proceedings of the 4th Edoardo Amaldi conference, incorporated referees' suggestions and corrected diagra

Numerical wave optics and the lensing of gravitational waves by globular clusters

We consider the possible effects of gravitational lensing by globular clusters on gravitational waves from asymmetric neutron stars in our galaxy. In the lensing of gravitational waves, the long wavelength, compared with the usual case of optical lensing, can lead to the geometrical optics approximation being invalid, in which case a wave optical solution is necessary. In general, wave optical solutions can only be obtained numerically. We describe a computational method that is particularly well suited to numerical wave optics. This method enables us to compare the properties of several lens models for globular clusters without ever calling upon the geometrical optics approximation, though that approximation would sometimes have been valid. Finally, we estimate the probability that lensing by a globular cluster will significantly affect the detection, by ground-based laser interferometer detectors such as LIGO, of gravitational waves from an asymmetric neutron star in our galaxy, finding that the probability is insignificantly small.Comment: To appear in: Proceedings of the Eleventh Marcel Grossmann Meetin

The ACIGA Data Analysis programme

The Data Analysis programme of the Australian Consortium for Interferometric Gravitational Astronomy (ACIGA) was set up in 1998 by the first author to complement the then existing ACIGA programmes working on suspension systems, lasers and optics, and detector configurations. The ACIGA Data Analysis programme continues to contribute significantly in the field; we present an overview of our activities.Comment: 10 pages, 0 figures, accepted, Classical and Quantum Gravity, (Proceedings of the 5th Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves, Tirrenia, Pisa, Italy, 6-11 July 2003

Creating The Learning Environment for Limited English Proficient Students Online

When offering online program options for higher education students, one of the primary concerns for institutions of higher learning program administrators is achieving high quality learning experiences for students. To achieve this goal, faculty must understand how to employ new and innovative technologies in a manner that ensures all students have positive learning outcomes. Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students are not missing in this equation. Institutions offering online courses have discerned that developing these courses requires an understanding of technologies with which many faculty are unfamiliar. As a result, administrators must create pedagogical models that enable educators to capitalize on the potentials afforded by online learning technologies to best meet the needs of all students (Norton and Hathaway, 2008) by providing quality professional development which ensures an understanding of how to use technologies effectively and how to develop a sense of instructor presence. The current case study deals with the analysis of practice within a graduate online program at a small private college in the Midwestern region of the United States. Specific identification of practices is identified via pattern recognition related to mentoring and facilitation of best practice within the online program to meet the needs of the LEP student. The foundation of all good teaching at the college level is based on specific assumptions of effective teachers (Bain, 2004)

Spectral Line Removal in the LIGO Data Analysis System (LDAS)

High power in narrow frequency bands, spectral lines, are a feature of an interferometric gravitational wave detector's output. Some lines are coherent between interferometers, in particular, the 2 km and 4 km LIGO Hanford instruments. This is of concern to data analysis techniques, such as the stochastic background search, that use correlations between instruments to detect gravitational radiation. Several techniques of `line removal' have been proposed. Where a line is attributable to a measurable environmental disturbance, a simple linear model may be fitted to predict, and subsequently subtract away, that line. This technique has been implemented (as the command oelslr) in the LIGO Data Analysis System (LDAS). We demonstrate its application to LIGO S1 data.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to be published in CQG GWDAW02 proceeding

Stars Across Texas

Bi-monthly newsletter of the The Texas 1986 Sesquicentennial Commission discussing news about the people, events, and ideas important to the Commission projects

Light Technology for Promoting Learning in Schools: A Review of the Educational Research

Research addressing light technology has been conducted since the early 1900s primarily in industrial settings for determining how to make the workplace more productive. Presently, the role of how light technology impacts the workplace, home and community settings has broadened to include research on light for positively impacting education. The current review addresses lighting by learning in educational settings to date and focuses on the two latest light technologies of fluorescent and light emitting diodes (LEDs). Results of studies reveal that various light technical specifications lead to behavioral improvement, cognitive growth and achievement in oral reading fluency. Implications for educational administrators are offered to increase the efficacy of new lighting technology acquisition in schools

Report on an all-sky LIGO search for periodic gravitational waves in the S4 data

We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range 50-1000 Hz and having a negative frequency time derivative with magnitude between zero and $10^{-8}$ Hz/s. Data from the fourth LIGO science run have been used in this search. Three different semi-coherent methods of summing strain power were applied. Observing no evidence for periodic gravitational radiation, we report upper limits on strain amplitude and interpret these limits to constrain radiation from rotating neutron stars.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, presented at Amaldi7, Sydney (July 2007