All-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO S4 data

B. Abbott et al. (LIGO Scientific Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. D 77, 022001 – Published 10 January 2008; Errata Phys. Rev. D 77, 069902 (2008); Phys. Rev. D 80, 129904 (2009)
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range 50–1000 Hz and with the frequency’s time derivative in the range 1×108Hzs1 to zero. Data from the fourth LIGO science run (S4) have been used in this search. Three different semicoherent methods of transforming and summing strain power from short Fourier transforms (SFTs) of the calibrated data have been used. The first, known as StackSlide, averages normalized power from each SFT. A “weighted Hough” scheme is also developed and used, which also allows for a multi-interferometer search. The third method, known as PowerFlux, is a variant of the StackSlide method in which the power is weighted before summing. In both the weighted Hough and PowerFlux methods, the weights are chosen according to the noise and detector antenna-pattern to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. The respective advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed. Observing no evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report upper limits; we interpret these as limits on this radiation from isolated rotating neutron stars. The best population-based upper limit with 95% confidence on the gravitational-wave strain amplitude, found for simulated sources distributed isotropically across the sky and with isotropically distributed spin axes, is 4.28×1024 (near 140 Hz). Strict upper limits are also obtained for small patches on the sky for best-case and worst-case inclinations of the spin axes.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
34 More
  • Received 11 September 2007
  • Publisher error corrected 29 February 2008

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.77.022001

©2008 American Physical Society

Corrections

29 February 2008

Errata

Authors & Affiliations

Click to Expand

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 77, Iss. 2 — 15 January 2008

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review D

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×