A Bayesian search for gravitational waves from the Vela Pulsar in Virgo VSR2 data

Abstract

The Virgo detector undertook its second science run (VSR2) from July 2009 to January 2010, providing unprecedented sensitivity to gravitational waves at frequencies below 40 Hz. The VSR2 dataset presented an ideal opportunity [1] to search for gravitational waves from the Vela pulsar (B0833-45, J0835-4510), for which gravitational wave emission is expected at ~ 22 Hz assuming it is a non axi-symmetric rotator. We give a summary of the results obtained in [1], describing the Bayesian method more fully and presenting further details of the data used.