A wavelet method for detection of gravitational wave bursts

Abstract

In this paper, we describe a method for detection of gravitational wave bursts in data from gravitational wave interferometers. The method is based on wavelet transformations, which give a time–frequency representation of data. The bursts are identified by looking for regions in the wavelet domain with an excess of power inconsistent with stationary detector noise. The method is applied simultaneously for two or more gravitational wave detectors, resulting in the production of coincident burst triggers. To describe the statistical properties of the triggers, non-parametric statistics are used. This makes the method more robust against uncertainties in the detector noise. The excess power approach does not require an accurate knowledge of the burst waveforms allowing detection of signals from poorly modelled or unmodelled gravitational wave sources.