5n -vector ensemble method for detecting gravitational waves from known pulsars

Abstract

We present a multiple test for the targeted search of continuous gravitational waves from an ensemble of known pulsars, combining multidetector single pulsar statistics defined through the $5n$-vector method. In order to maximize the detection probability, we describe a rank truncation method to select the most promising sources within the ensemble, based on the p-values computed for single pulsar analysis. To test the efficiency of our method, we use a Monte Carlo procedure and define a p-value for the ensemble that is an overall p-value for the hypothesis of continuous wave emissions from a set of known pulsars. We also perform a pilot search on real data from the O3A dataset of the two LIGO detectors.