Data Analysis Challenges for the Einstein Telescope

The Einstein Telescope is a proposed third generation gravitational wave detector that will operate in the region of 1 Hz to a few kHz. As well as the inspiral of compact binaries composed of neutron stars or black holes, the lower frequency cut-off of the detector will open the window to a number of new sources. These will include the end stage of inspirals, plus merger and ringdown of intermediate mass black holes, where the masses of the component bodies are on the order of a few hundred solar masses. There is also the possibility of observing intermediate mass ratio inspirals, where a stellar mass compact object inspirals into a black hole which is a few hundred to a few thousand times more massive. In this article, we investigate some of the data analysis challenges for the Einstein Telescope such as the effects of increased source number, the need for more accurate waveform models and the some of the computational issues that a data analysis strategy might face.Comment: 18 pages, Invited review for Einstein Telescope special edition of GR

THE RATE OF BINARY BLACK HOLE MERGERS INFERRED FROM ADVANCED LIGO OBSERVATIONS SURROUNDING GW150914

A transient gravitational-wave signal, GW150914, was identi fi ed in the twin Advanced LIGO detectors on 2015 September 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC. To asse ss the implications of this discovery, the detectors remained in operation with unchanged con fi gurations over a period of 39 days around the time of t he signal. At the detection statistic threshold corresponding to that observed for GW150914, our search of the 16 days of simultaneous two-detector observational data is estimated to have a false-alarm rate ( FAR ) of < ́ -- 4.9 10 yr 61 , yielding a p -value for GW150914 of < ́ - 210 7 . Parameter estimation follo w-up on this trigger identi fi es its source as a binary black hole ( BBH ) merger with component masses ( )( ) = - + - + mm M ,36,29 12 4 5 4 4 at redshift = - + z 0.09 0.04 0.03 ( median and 90% credible range ) . Here, we report on the constraints these observations place on the rate of BBH coalescences. Considering only GW150914, assuming that all BBHs in the universe have the same masses and spins as this event, imposing a search FAR threshold of 1 per 100 years, and assuming that the BBH merger rate is constant in the comoving frame, we infer a 90% credible range of merger rates between – -- 2 53 Gpc yr 31 ( comoving frame ) . Incorporating all search triggers that pass a much lower threshold while accounting for the uncerta inty in the astrophysical origin of each trigger, we estimate a higher rate, ranging from – -- 13 600 Gpc yr 31 depending on assumptions about the BBH mass distribution. All together, our various rate estimat es fall in the conservative range – -- 2 600 Gpc yr 31

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)and Genetics - A Study into the Impact and Management of Intellectual Property Rights within the Healthcare Sector.

Intellectual property rights and genetics A study into the impact and management of intellectual property rights within the healthcare sector Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are playing an increasingly important role in healthcare delivery and are particularly relevant to the development of genomic medicine. IPRs allow companies to recoup the cost of expensive research and development programmes, but for the healthcare sector they may lead to unacceptable barriers, increasing costs and restricting access to medicines and diagnosis. Recognising the importance of this issue, the Department of Health funded a two-year study on the impact and management of IPRs within the healthcare sector. The study was a joint project of Professor Bill Cornish (University of Cambridge Intellectual Property Unit), Dr Margaret Llewelyn and Dr Mike Adcock (University of Sheffield Institute of Biotechnological Law and Ethics), and was overseen by Dr Ron Zimmern of PHGU. This Report was commissioned by the Department of Health because of its serious concern about the impact of intellectual property rights (IPRs) upon research and the use of novel developments in genetics affecting health care. The subject has become increasingly controversial since the completion of the drafts of the Human Genome. The Report is a guide in outline for non-specialists in the field of IPRs. Its main aim is to state the present legal position, so far as it can be ascertained, and to suggest the issues about which it is important to define policy for the future. Expressions of opinion are those of the authors alone and not of the Department of Health. The type of IPR with widest impact in the field of genetics is the patent for invention. Other rights which are also addressed include copyright and its extension; database right; proposals for a right to remuneration for the copying and other exploitation of genetic information; and the protection of confidential information