Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Analysis Of The Gravitational Waves Null Memory, Maria Babiuc-Hamilton

Physics Faculty Research

Gravitational wave astronomy sees (hears) gravitational waves by observing the phenomena of gravitational and electromagnetic memory, and the formation of trapped surfaces and horizons.

Implementation Of An F-Statistic All-Sky Search For Continuous Gravitational Waves In Virgo Vsr1 Data, J. Aasi, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. Abbott, M. R. Abernathy, T. Accadia, F. Acernese, Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh, Rodica Martin

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present an implementation of the F-statistic to carry out the first search in data from the Virgo laser interferometric gravitational wave detector for periodic gravitational waves from a priori unknown, isolated rotating neutron stars. We searched a frequency f0 range from 100 Hz to 1 kHz and the frequency dependent spindown f1 range from -1.6(f0/100 Hz) ×10-9 Hz s?1 to zero. A large part of this frequencyspindown space was unexplored by any of the all-sky searches published so far. Our method consisted of a coherent search over two-day periods using the F-statistic, followed by a search for coincidences among …

Laser Frequency Stabilization For Lisa, Andrew B. Parker, Andrew J. Sutton, Glenn De Vine

STAR Program Research Presentations

This research focuses on laser ranging developments for LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), a planned NASA-ESA gravitational wave detector in space. LISA will utilize precision laser interferometry to track the changes in separation between three satellites orbiting 5 million kilometers apart. Specifically, our goal is to investigate options for laser frequency stabilization. Previous research has shown that an optical cavity system can meet LISA's stability requirements, but these units are large and heavy, adding cost to the implementation. A heterodyne Mach-Zehnder interferometer could be integrated onto LISA’s existing optical bench, greatly reducing the weight, provided the interferometer meets the stability …

Physics Of Gamma-Ray Bursts And Multi-Messenger Signals From Double Neutron Star Mergers, He Gao

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My dissertation includes two parts:

Physics of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs): Gamma-ray bursts are multi-wavelength transients, with both prompt gamma-ray emission and late time afterglow emission observed by telescopes in different wavelengths. I have carried out three investigations to understand GRB prompt emission and afterglow. Chapter 2 develops a new method, namely, "Stepwise Filter Correlation" method, to decompose the variability components in a light curve. After proving its reliability through simulations, we apply this method to 266 bright GRBs and find that the majority of the bursts have clear evidence of superposition of fast and slow variability components. Chapter 3 gives …

Application Of A Hough Search For Continuous Gravitational Waves On Data From The Fifth Ligo Science Run, J. Aasi, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. Abbott, M. R. Abernathy, T. Accadia, Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh, Rodica Martin

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We report on an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range 50-1000 Hz with the first derivative of frequency in the range -8.9 × 10-10 Hz s-1 to zero in two years of data collected during LIGO's fifth science run. Our results employ a Hough transform technique, introducing a χ2 test and analysis of coincidences between the signal levels in years 1 and 2 of observations that offers a significant improvement in the product of strain sensitivity with compute cycles per data sample compared to previously published searches. Since our search yields no surviving candidates, we present …

Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars: Results From The Initial Detector Era, J. Aasi, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. Abbott, M. R. Abernathy, T. Accadia, Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh, Rodica Martin

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present the results of searches for gravitational waves from a large selection of pulsars using data from the most recent science runs (S6, VSR2 and VSR4) of the initial generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors LIGO (Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory) and Virgo. We do not see evidence for gravitational wave emission from any of the targeted sources but produce upper limits on the emission amplitude. We highlight the results from seven young pulsars with large spin-down luminosities. We reach within a factor of five of the canonical spin-down limit for all seven of these, whilst for the Crab and …

Gravitational Waves From Known Pulsars: Results From The Initial Detector Era, J. Aasi, Marco Cavaglia, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We present the results of searches for gravitational waves from a large selection of pulsars using data from the most recent science runs (S6, VSR2 and VSR4) of the initial generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors LIGO (Laser Interferometric Gravitational-wave Observatory) and Virgo. We do not see evidence for gravitational wave emission from any of the targeted sources but produce upper limits on the emission amplitude. We highlight the results from seven young pulsars with large spin-down luminosities. We reach within a factor of five of the canonical spin-down limit for all seven of these, whilst for the Crab and …

First Searches For Optical Counterparts To Gravitational-Wave Candidate Events, M. Constancio, J. Aasi, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. Abbott, M. R. Abernathy, Marc Favata, Shaon Ghosh, Rodica Martin

Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

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 …

First Searches For Optical Counterparts To Gravitational-Wave Candidate Events, M. Constancio Jr., Marco Cavaglia, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

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 …