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Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

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2010

Articles 1 - 19 of 19

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Double Compact Objects As Low-Frequency Gravitational Wave Sources, Krzysztof Belczynski, Matthew Benacquista, Tomasz Bulik Dec 2010

Double Compact Objects As Low-Frequency Gravitational Wave Sources, Krzysztof Belczynski, Matthew Benacquista, Tomasz Bulik

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We study the Galactic field population of double compact objects (DCOs; NS-NS, BH-NS, BH-BH binaries) to investigate the number (if any) of these systems that can potentially be detected with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) at low gravitational wave frequencies. We calculate the Galactic numbers and physical properties of these binaries and show their relative contributions from the disk, bulge, and halo. Although the Galaxy hosts ∼10 5 DCO binaries emitting low-frequency gravitational waves, only a handful of these objects in the disk will be detectable with LISA, but none from the halo or bulge. This is because the …


Ultra-Compact Dwarfs In The Core Of The Coma Cluster, Juan P. Madrid, Alister W. Graham, William E. Harris, Paul Goudfrooij, Duncan A. Forbes, David Carter, John P. Blakeslee, Lee R. Spitler, Henry C. Ferguson Oct 2010

Ultra-Compact Dwarfs In The Core Of The Coma Cluster, Juan P. Madrid, Alister W. Graham, William E. Harris, Paul Goudfrooij, Duncan A. Forbes, David Carter, John P. Blakeslee, Lee R. Spitler, Henry C. Ferguson

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have discovered both a red and a blue subpopulation of ultra-compact dwarf (UCD) galaxy candidates in the Coma galaxy cluster. We analyzed deep F475W (Sloan g) and F814W (I) Hubble Space Telescope images obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys Wide Field Channel as part of the Coma Cluster Treasury Survey and have fitted the light profiles of similar to 5000 point-like sources in the vicinity of NGC 4874, one of the two central dominant galaxies of the Coma Cluster. Although almost all of these sources are globular clusters that remain unresolved, we found that 52 objects have effective …


First Search For Gravitational Waves From The Youngest Known Neutron Star, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, M. Abernathy, C. Adams, R. Adhikari, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, E. Amador Ceron, R. S. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, M. A. Arain, M. Araya, M. Aronsson, Y. Aso, S. Aston, D. E. Atkinson, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, P. Baker, S. Ballmer, D. Barker, S. Barnum, B. Barr, P. Barriga, L. Barsotti, M. A. Barton Oct 2010

First Search For Gravitational Waves From The Youngest Known Neutron Star, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, M. Abernathy, C. Adams, R. Adhikari, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, E. Amador Ceron, R. S. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, M. A. Arain, M. Araya, M. Aronsson, Y. Aso, S. Aston, D. E. Atkinson, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, P. Baker, S. Ballmer, D. Barker, S. Barnum, B. Barr, P. Barriga, L. Barsotti, M. A. Barton

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a search for periodic gravitational waves from the neutron star in the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. The search coherently analyzes data in a 12 day interval taken from the fifth science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. It searches gravitational-wave frequencies from 100 to 300 Hz and covers a wide range of first and second frequency derivatives appropriate for the age of the remnant and for different spin-down mechanisms. No gravitational-wave signal was detected. Within the range of search frequencies, we set 95% confidence upper limits of (0.7-1.2) × 10 -24 on the intrinsic gravitational-wave strain, (0.4-4) …


Detecting Massive Gravitons Using Pulsar Timing Arrays, Kejia Lee, F. A. Jenet, Richard H. Price, Norbert Wex, Michael Kramer Oct 2010

Detecting Massive Gravitons Using Pulsar Timing Arrays, Kejia Lee, F. A. Jenet, Richard H. Price, Norbert Wex, Michael Kramer

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

At the limit of weak static fields, general relativity becomes Newtonian gravity with a potential field that falls off as inverse distance rather than a theory of Yukawa-type fields with a finite range. General relativity also predicts that the speed of disturbances of its waves is c, the vacuum light speed, and is non-dispersive. For these reasons, the graviton, the boson for general relativity, can be considered to be massless. Massive gravitons, however, are features of some alternatives to general relativity. This has motivated experiments and observations that, so far, have been consistent with the zero-mass graviton of general relativity, …


The Sensitivity Of The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array To Individual Sources Of Gravitational Waves, D. R.B. Yardley, G. B. Hobbs, F. A. Jenet, J. P.W. Verbiest, Z. L. Wen, R. N. Manchester, W. A. Coles, W. Van Straten, M. Bailes, N. D.R. Bhat, S. Burke-Spolaor, D. J. Champion, A. W. Hotan, J. M. Sarkissian Sep 2010

The Sensitivity Of The Parkes Pulsar Timing Array To Individual Sources Of Gravitational Waves, D. R.B. Yardley, G. B. Hobbs, F. A. Jenet, J. P.W. Verbiest, Z. L. Wen, R. N. Manchester, W. A. Coles, W. Van Straten, M. Bailes, N. D.R. Bhat, S. Burke-Spolaor, D. J. Champion, A. W. Hotan, J. M. Sarkissian

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present the sensitivity of the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array to gravitational waves (GWs) emitted by individual supermassive black hole binary systems in the early phases of coalescing at the cores of merged galaxies. Our analysis includes a detailed study of the effects of fitting a pulsar timing model to non-white timing residuals. Pulsar timing is sensitive at nanoHertz frequencies and hence complementary to Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. We place a sky-averaged constraint on the merger rate of nearby (z < 0.6) black hole binaries in the early phases of coalescence with a chirp mass of 1010 M⊙ of less than one merger every 7 yr. The prospects for future GW astronomy of this type with the proposed Square Kilometre Array telescope are discussed. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 RAS.


Compact Binaries In Star Clusters - I. Black Hole Binaries Inside Globular Clusters, J. M.B. Downing, M. J. Benacquista, M. Giersz, R. Spurzem Sep 2010

Compact Binaries In Star Clusters - I. Black Hole Binaries Inside Globular Clusters, J. M.B. Downing, M. J. Benacquista, M. Giersz, R. Spurzem

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We study the compact binary population in star clusters, focusing on binaries containing black holes, using a self-consistent Monte Carlo treatment of dynamics and full stellar evolution. We find that the black holes experience strong mass segregation and become centrally concentrated. In the core the black holes interact strongly with each other and black hole-black hole binaries are formed very efficiently. The strong interactions, however, also destroy or eject the black hole-black hole binaries. We find no black hole-black hole mergers within our simulations but produce many hard escapers that will merge in the Galactic field within a Hubble time. …


Apo B100 Similarities To Viral Proteins Suggest Basis For Ldl-Dna Binding And Transfection Capacity, Juan Guevara, Nagindra Prashad, Boris Ermolinsky, John W. Gaubatz, Dongcheul Kang, Andrea E. Schwarzbach, David S. Loose, Natalia Valentinova Guevara Jul 2010

Apo B100 Similarities To Viral Proteins Suggest Basis For Ldl-Dna Binding And Transfection Capacity, Juan Guevara, Nagindra Prashad, Boris Ermolinsky, John W. Gaubatz, Dongcheul Kang, Andrea E. Schwarzbach, David S. Loose, Natalia Valentinova Guevara

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

LDL mediates transfection with plasmid DNA in a variety of cell types in vitro and in several tissues in vivo in the rat. The transfection capacity of LDL is based on apo B100, as arginine/lysine clusters, suggestive of nucleic acid-binding domains and nuclear localization signal sequences, are present throughout the molecule. Apo E may also contribute to this capacity because of its similarity to the Dengue virus capsid proteins and its ability to bind DNA. Synthetic peptides representing two apo B100 regions with prominent Arg/Lys clusters were shown to bind DNA. Region 1 (0014Lys-Ser 0160) shares sequence motifs present in …


On The Anomalous Balmer Line Strengths In Globular Clusters, Violet Poole, Guy Worthey, Hyun Chul Lee, Jedidiah Serven Feb 2010

On The Anomalous Balmer Line Strengths In Globular Clusters, Violet Poole, Guy Worthey, Hyun Chul Lee, Jedidiah Serven

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Spectral feature index diagrams with integrated globular clusters and simple stellar population models often show that some clusters have weak Hβ, so weak that even the oldest models cannot match the observed feature depths. In this work, we rule out the possibility that abundance mixture effects are responsible for the weak indices unless such changes operate to cool the entire isochrone. We discuss this result in the context of other explanations, including horizontal branch morphology, blue straggler populations, and nebular or stellar emission fill-in, finding a preference for flaring in M giants as an explanation for the Hβ anomaly. © …


Search For Gravitational-Wave Inspiral Signals Associated With Short Gamma-Ray Bursts During Ligo's Fifth And Virgo's First Science Run, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. Accadia, F. Acernese, R. Adhikari, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, E. Amador Ceron, R. S. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, F. Antonucci, S. Aoudia, M. A. Arain, M. Araya, K. G. Arun, Y. Aso, S. Aston, P. Astone, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, P. Baker, G. Ballardin, S. Ballmer, D. Barker, F. Barone, B. Barr Jan 2010

Search For Gravitational-Wave Inspiral Signals Associated With Short Gamma-Ray Bursts During Ligo's Fifth And Virgo's First Science Run, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. Accadia, F. Acernese, R. Adhikari, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, E. Amador Ceron, R. S. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, F. Antonucci, S. Aoudia, M. A. Arain, M. Araya, K. G. Arun, Y. Aso, S. Aston, P. Astone, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, P. Baker, G. Ballardin, S. Ballmer, D. Barker, F. Barone, B. Barr

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Progenitor scenarios for short gamma-ray bursts (short GRBs) include coalescenses of two neutron stars or a neutron star and black hole, which would necessarily be accompanied by the emission of strong gravitational waves. We present a search for these known gravitational-wave signatures in temporal and directional coincidence with 22 GRBs that had sufficient gravitational-wave data available in multiple instruments during LIGO's fifth science run, S5, and Virgo's first science run, VSR1. We find no statistically significant gravitational-wave candidates within a [ - 5, + 1)s window around the trigger time of any GRB. Using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U-test, we find no …


Searches For Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars With Science Run 5 Ligo Data, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, F. Acernese, R. Adhikari, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, M. Alshourbagy, R. S. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, F. Antonucci, S. Aoudia, M. A. Arain, M. Araya, H. Armandula, P. Armor, K. G. Arun, Y. Aso, S. Aston, P. Astone, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, P. Baker, G. Ballardin, S. Ballmer, C. Barker, D. Barker, F. Barone Jan 2010

Searches For Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars With Science Run 5 Ligo Data, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, F. Acernese, R. Adhikari, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, M. Alshourbagy, R. S. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, F. Antonucci, S. Aoudia, M. A. Arain, M. Araya, H. Armandula, P. Armor, K. G. Arun, Y. Aso, S. Aston, P. Astone, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, P. Baker, G. Ballardin, S. Ballmer, C. Barker, D. Barker, F. Barone

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present a search for gravitational waves from 116 known millisecond and young pulsars using data from the fifth science run of the LIGO detectors. For this search, ephemerides overlapping the run period were obtained for all pulsars using radio and X-ray observations. We demonstrate an updated search method that allows for small uncertainties in the pulsar phase parameters to be included in the search. We report no signal detection from any of the targets and therefore interpret our results as upper limits on the gravitational wave signal strength. The most interesting limits are those for young pulsars. We present …


Search For Gravitational-Wave Bursts Associated With Gamma-Ray Bursts Using Data From Ligo Science Run 5 And Virgo Science Run 1, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, F. Acernese, R. Adhikari, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, M. Alshourbagy, R. S. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, F. Antonucci, S. Aoudia, M. A. Arain, M. Araya, H. Armandula, P. Armor, K. G. Arun, Y. Aso, S. Aston, P. Astone, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, P. Baker, G. Ballardin, S. Ballmer, C. Barker, D. Barker, F. Barone Jan 2010

Search For Gravitational-Wave Bursts Associated With Gamma-Ray Bursts Using Data From Ligo Science Run 5 And Virgo Science Run 1, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, F. Acernese, R. Adhikari, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, M. Alshourbagy, R. S. Amin, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, F. Antonucci, S. Aoudia, M. A. Arain, M. Araya, H. Armandula, P. Armor, K. G. Arun, Y. Aso, S. Aston, P. Astone, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, S. Babak, P. Baker, G. Ballardin, S. Ballmer, C. Barker, D. Barker, F. Barone

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present the results of a search for gravitational-wave bursts (GWBs) associated with 137 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that were detected by satellite-based gamma-ray experiments during the fifth LIGO science run and first Virgo science run. The data used in this analysis were collected from 2005 November 4 to 2007 October 1, and most of the GRB triggers were from the Swift satellite. The search uses a coherent network analysis method that takes into account the different locations and orientations of the interferometers at the three LIGO-Virgo sites. We find no evidence for GWB signals associated with this sample of GRBs. …


Apparent Faster-Than-Light Pulse Propagation In Interstellar Space: A New Probe Of The Interstellar Medium, F. A. Jenet, D. Fleckenstein, A. Ford, A. Garcia, R. Miller, J. Rivera, K. Stovall Jan 2010

Apparent Faster-Than-Light Pulse Propagation In Interstellar Space: A New Probe Of The Interstellar Medium, F. A. Jenet, D. Fleckenstein, A. Ford, A. Garcia, R. Miller, J. Rivera, K. Stovall

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Radio pulsars emit regular bursts of radio radiation that propagate through the interstellar medium (ISM), the tenuous gas and plasma between the stars. Previously known dispersive properties of the ISM cause low-frequency pulses to be delayed in time with respect to high frequency ones. This effect can be explained by the presence of free electrons in the medium. The ISM also contains neutral hydrogen that has a well-known resonance at 1420.4 MHz. Electromagnetic theory predicts that at such a resonance, the induced dispersive effects will be drastically different from those of the free electrons. Pulses traveling through a cloud of …


The Lisa Gravitational Wave Foreground: A Study Of Double White Dwarfs, Ashley J. Ruiter, Krzysztof Belczynski, Matthew Benacquista, Shane L. Larson, Gabriel Williams Jan 2010

The Lisa Gravitational Wave Foreground: A Study Of Double White Dwarfs, Ashley J. Ruiter, Krzysztof Belczynski, Matthew Benacquista, Shane L. Larson, Gabriel Williams

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Double white dwarfs (WDs) are expected to be a source of confusion-limited noise for the future gravitational wave observatory LISA. In a specific frequency range, this \"foreground noise\" is predicted to rise above the instrumental noise and hinder the detection of other types of signals, e.g., gravitational waves arising from stellar-mass objects inspiraling into massive black holes. In many previous studies, only detached populations of compact object binaries have been considered in estimating the LISA gravitational wave foreground signal. Here, we investigate the influence of compact object detached and Roche-Lobe overflow (RLOF) Galactic binaries on the shape and strength of …


Unidirectional Nonlinear Pt-Symmetric Optical Structures, Hamidreza Ramezani, Tsampikos Kottos Jan 2010

Unidirectional Nonlinear Pt-Symmetric Optical Structures, Hamidreza Ramezani, Tsampikos Kottos

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We show that nonlinear optical structures involving a balanced gain-loss profile can act as unidirectional optical valves. This is made possible by exploiting the interplay between the fundamental symmetries of parity (P) and time (T), with optical nonlinear effects. This unidirectional dynamics is specifically demonstrated for the case of an integrable PT-symmetric nonlinear system.


Search For Gravitational Waves From Compact Binary Coalescence In Ligo And Virgo Data From S5 And Vsr1, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, R. Grosso, J. Li, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Malik Rakhmanov, Joseph D. Romano, Robert Stone, B. Vaishnav Jan 2010

Search For Gravitational Waves From Compact Binary Coalescence In Ligo And Virgo Data From S5 And Vsr1, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, R. Grosso, J. Li, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Malik Rakhmanov, Joseph D. Romano, Robert Stone, B. Vaishnav

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report the results of the first search for gravitational waves from compact binary coalescence using data from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory and Virgo detectors. Five months of data were collected during the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory’s S5 and Virgo’s VSR1 science runs. The search focused on signals from binary mergers with a total mass between 2 and 35M⊙. No gravitational waves are identified. The cumulative 90%-confidence upper limits on the rate of compact binary coalescence are calculated for nonspinning binary neutron stars, black hole-neutron star systems, and binary black holes to be 8.7×10−3  yr−1 L−110, 2.2×10−3  yr−1 L−110, …


All-Sky Search For Gravitational-Wave Bursts In The First Joint Ligo-Geo-Virgo Run, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, R. Grosso, Soumya Mohanty, S. Mukherjee, Malik Rakhmanov, Joseph D. Romano, Robert Stone Jan 2010

All-Sky Search For Gravitational-Wave Bursts In The First Joint Ligo-Geo-Virgo Run, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, R. Grosso, Soumya Mohanty, S. Mukherjee, Malik Rakhmanov, Joseph D. Romano, Robert Stone

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present results from an all-sky search for unmodeled gravitational-wave bursts in the data collected by the LIGO, GEO 600 and Virgo detectors between November 2006 and October 2007. The search is performed by three different analysis algorithms over the frequency band 50–6000 Hz. Data are analyzed for times with at least two of the four LIGO-Virgo detectors in coincident operation, with a total live time of 266 days. No events produced by the search algorithms survive the selection cuts. We set a frequentist upper limit on the rate of gravitational-wave bursts impinging on our network of detectors. When combined …


Particle Swarm Optimization And Gravitational Wave Data Analysis: Performance On A Binary Inspiral Testbed, Yan Wang, Soumya Mohanty Jan 2010

Particle Swarm Optimization And Gravitational Wave Data Analysis: Performance On A Binary Inspiral Testbed, Yan Wang, Soumya Mohanty

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

The detection and estimation of gravitational wave signals belonging to a parameterized family of waveforms requires, in general, the numerical maximization of a data-dependent function of the signal parameters. Because of noise in the data, the function to be maximized is often highly multimodal with numerous local maxima. Searching for the global maximum then becomes computationally expensive, which in turn can limit the scientific scope of the search. Stochastic optimization is one possible approach to reducing computational costs in such applications. We report results from a first investigation of the particle swarm optimization method in this context. The method is …


Effects Of Α-Element Enhancement And The Thermally Pulsing-Asymptotic Giant Branch On Surface Brightness Fluctuation Magnitudes And Broadband Colors, Hyun Chul Lee, Guy Worthey, John P. Blakeslee Jan 2010

Effects Of Α-Element Enhancement And The Thermally Pulsing-Asymptotic Giant Branch On Surface Brightness Fluctuation Magnitudes And Broadband Colors, Hyun Chul Lee, Guy Worthey, John P. Blakeslee

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate the effects of α-element enhancement and the thermally pulsing-asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) stars on the surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) magnitudes and broadband colors of simple stellar populations and compare to the empirical calibrations. We consider a broad range of ages and metallicities using the recently updated Teramo BaSTI isochrones. We find that the α-element-enhanced I-band SBF magnitudes are about 0.35mag brighter and their integrated V - I colors are about 0.02mag redder, mostly because of oxygen-enhancement effects on the upper red giant branch and AGB. We also demonstrate, using both the Teramo BaSTI and Padova isochrones, the acute …


Triplets Of Supermassive Black Holes: Astrophysics Gravitational Waves And Detection, Pau Amaro-Seoane, Alberto Sesana, Loren Hoffman, Matthew Benacquista, Christoph Eichhorn, Junichiro Makino, Rainer Spurzem Jan 2010

Triplets Of Supermassive Black Holes: Astrophysics Gravitational Waves And Detection, Pau Amaro-Seoane, Alberto Sesana, Loren Hoffman, Matthew Benacquista, Christoph Eichhorn, Junichiro Makino, Rainer Spurzem

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Supermassive black holes (SMBHs) found in the centres of many galaxies are understood to play a fundamental, active role in the cosmological structure formation process. In hierarchical formation scenarios, SMBHs are expected to form binaries following the merger of their host galaxies. If these binaries do not coalesce before the merger with a third galaxy, the formation of a black hole triple system is possible. Numerical simulations of the dynamics of triples within galaxy cores exhibit phases of very high eccentricity (as high as e∼ 0.99). During these phases, intense bursts of gravitational radiation can be emitted at orbital periapsis, …