First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

Fusion Energy Output Greater than the Kinetic Energy of an Imploding Shell at the National Ignition Facility

A series of cryogenic, layered deuterium-tritium (DT) implosions have produced, for the first time, fusion energy output twice the peak kinetic energy of the imploding shell. These experiments at the National Ignition Facility utilized high density carbon ablators with a three-shock laser pulse (1.5 MJ in 7.5 ns) to irradiate low gas-filled (0.3  mg/cc of helium) bare depleted uranium hohlraums, resulting in a peak hohlraum radiative temperature ∼290  eV. The imploding shell, composed of the nonablated high density carbon and the DT cryogenic layer, is, thus, driven to velocity on the order of 380  km/s resulting in a peak kinetic energy of ∼21  kJ, which once stagnated produced a total DT neutron yield of 1.9×10¹⁶ (shot N170827) corresponding to an output fusion energy of 54 kJ. Time dependent low mode asymmetries that limited further progress of implosions have now been controlled, leading to an increased compression of the hot spot. It resulted in hot spot areal density (ρr∼0.3  g/cm²) and stagnation pressure (∼360  Gbar) never before achieved in a laboratory experiment

First High-Convergence Cryogenic Implosion in a Near-Vacuum Hohlraum

Recent experiments on the National Ignition Facility [M. J. Edwards et al., Phys. Plasmas 20, 070501 (2013)] demonstrate that utilizing a near-vacuum hohlraum (low pressure gas-filled) is a viable option for high convergence cryogenic deuterium-tritium (DT) layered capsule implosions. This is made possible by using a dense ablator (high-density carbon), which shortens the drive duration needed to achieve high convergence: a measured 40% higher hohlraum efficiency than typical gas-filled hohlraums, which requires less laser energy going into the hohlraum, and an observed better symmetry control than anticipated by standard hydrodynamics simulations. The first series of near-vacuum hohlraum experiments culminated in a 6.8 ns, 1.2 MJ laser pulse driving a 2-shock, high adiabat (α ~ 3.5) cryogenic DT layered high density carbon capsule. This resulted in one of the best performances so far on the NIF relative to laser energy, with a measured primary neutron yield of 1.8×10[superscript 15] neutrons, with 20% calculated alpha heating at convergence ~27×

Improved Performance of High Areal Density Indirect Drive Implosions at the National Ignition Facility using a Four-Shock Adiabat Shaped Drive

Hydrodynamic instabilities can cause capsule defects and other perturbations to grow and degrade implosion performance in ignition experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Here, we show the first experimental demonstration that a strong unsupported first shock in indirect drive implosions at the NIF reduces ablation front instability growth leading to a 3 to 10 times higher yield with fuel ρR > 1  g/cm[superscript 2]. This work shows the importance of ablation front instability growth during the National Ignition Campaign and may provide a path to improved performance at the high compression necessary for ignition

Highly-resolved 2D HYDRA simulations of Double-Shell Ignition Designs

Double-shell (DS) targets (Amendt, P. A. et al., 2002) offer a complementary approach to the cryogenic baseline design (Lindl, J. et al., 2004) for achieving ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF). Among the expected benefits are the ease of room temperature preparation and fielding, the potential for lower laser backscatter and the reduced need for careful shock timing. These benefits are offset, however, by demanding fabrication tolerances, e.g., shell concentricity and shell surface smoothness. In particular, the latter is of paramount importance since DS targets are susceptible to the growth of interface perturbations from impulsive and time-dependent accelerations. Previous work (Milovich, J. L. et al., 2004) has indicated that the growth of perturbations on the outer surface of the inner shell is potentially disruptive. To control this instability new designs have been proposed requiring bimetallic inner shells and material-matching mid-Z nanoporous foam. The challenges in manufacturing such exotic foams have led to a further evaluation of the densities and pore sizes needed to reduce the seeding of perturbations on the outer surface of the inner shell, thereby guiding the ongoing material science research efforts. Highly-resolved 2D simulations of porous foams have been performed to establish an upper limit on the allowable pore sizes for instability growth. Simulations indicate that foams with higher densities than previously thought are now possible. Moreover, while at the present time we are only able to simulate foams with average pore sizes larger than 1 micron (due to computational limitations), we can conclude that these pore sizes are potentially problematic. Furthermore, the effect of low-order hohlraum radiation asymmetries on the growth of intrinsic surface perturbations is also addressed. Highly-resolved 2D simulations indicate that the transverse flows that are set up by these low-order mode features (which can excite Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities) are not large enough to offset the overall robustness of our current design

First measurement of the Hubble Constant from a Dark Standard Siren using the Dark Energy Survey Galaxies and the LIGO/Virgo Binary–Black-hole Merger GW170814

International audienceWe present a multi-messenger measurement of the Hubble constant H 0 using the binary–black-hole merger GW170814 as a standard siren, combined with a photometric redshift catalog from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The luminosity distance is obtained from the gravitational wave signal detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) on 2017 August 14, and the redshift information is provided by the DES Year 3 data. Black hole mergers such as GW170814 are expected to lack bright electromagnetic emission to uniquely identify their host galaxies and build an object-by-object Hubble diagram. However, they are suitable for a statistical measurement, provided that a galaxy catalog of adequate depth and redshift completion is available. Here we present the first Hubble parameter measurement using a black hole merger. Our analysis results in , which is consistent with both SN Ia and cosmic microwave background measurements of the Hubble constant. The quoted 68% credible region comprises 60% of the uniform prior range [20, 140] km s−1 Mpc−1, and it depends on the assumed prior range. If we take a broader prior of [10, 220] km s−1 Mpc−1, we find (57% of the prior range). Although a weak constraint on the Hubble constant from a single event is expected using the dark siren method, a multifold increase in the LVC event rate is anticipated in the coming years and combinations of many sirens will lead to improved constraints on H 0

Simulations of implosions with a 3D, parallel, unstructured-grid, radiation-hydrodynamics code

An unstructured-grid, radiation-hydrodynamics code is used to simulate implosions. Although most of the problems are spherically symmetric, they are run on 3D, unstructured grids in order to test the code�s ability to maintain spherical symmetry of the converging waves. Three problems, of increasing complexity, are presented. In the first, a cold, spherical, ideal gas bubble is imploded by an enclosing high pressure source. For the second, we add non-linear heat conduction and drive the implosion with twelve laser beams centered on the vertices of an icosahedron. In the third problem, a NIF capsule is driven with a Planckian radiation source

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Assessing the Prospects for Achieving Double-Shell Ignition on the National Ignition Facility Using Vacuum Hohlraums

The goal of demonstrating ignition on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has motivated a revisit of double-shell (DS) targets as a complementary path to the cryogenic baseline approach. Expected benefits of DS ignition targets include non-cryogenic deuterium-tritium (DT) fuel preparation, minimal hohlraum-plasma mediated laser backscatter, low threshold ignition temperatures ({approx} 4 keV) for relaxed hohlraum x-ray flux asymmetry tolerances, and minimal (two-) shock timing requirements. On the other hand, DS ignition presents several formidable challenges, encompassing room-temperature containment of high-pressure DT ({approx} 790 atm) in the inner shell, strict concentricity requirements on the two shells (< 3 {micro}m), development of nano-porous (<100 nm) low-density (<100 mg/cc) metallic foams for structural support of the inner shell and hydrodynamic instability mitigation, and effective control of hydrodynamic instabilities on the high-Atwood number interface between the DT fuel and the high-Z inner shell. Recent progress in DS ignition designs and required materials-science advances at the nanoscale are described herein. Two new ignition designs that use rugby-shaped vacuum hohlraums are presented which utilize either 1 MJ or 2 MJ of laser energy at 3{omega}. The capability of the NIF to generate the requested reverse-ramp pulse shape for DS ignition is expected to be comparable to the planned high-contrast ({approx}100) pulse-shape at 1.8 MJ for the baseline cryogenic target. Nano-crystalline, high-strength, Au-Cu alloy inner shells are under development using electrochemical deposition over a glass mandrel, exhibiting tensile strengths well in excess of 790 atm. Novel, low-density (85 mg/cc) copper foams have recently been demonstrated using 10 mg/cc SiO{sub 2} nano-porous aerogels with suspended Cu particles. A prototype demonstration of an ignition DS is planned for 2008, incorporating the needed novel nano-materials science developments and the required fabrication tolerances for a realistic ignition attempt after 2010