Abstract
Broadband all-sky searches for continuous gravitational waves (CW) from isolated neutron stars typically yield a number of significant candidates that are discarded through hierarchical semi-coherent and coherent follow-up searches. However, these searches target purely isolated sources and do not take into account possible phase modulations to the signals due to companion objects in binary orbits. If the source object is in a binary orbit, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a signal will diminish due to the mismatch between the signal waveform and the template waveform used in the search. In this paper, we investigate the sensitivity of CW searches to signals from sources in binary systems over an exhaustive range of binary orbits. We use Monte-Carlo simulations to constrain the ranges of binary orbital parameters that leave a CW signal from a source in a binary orbit visible in a search for signals from an isolated source (isolated searches), and consequently tighten the parameter space explorable with dedicated searches for signals from sources in binary systems (binary searches).
Highlights
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in efforts to search for continuous gravitational waves (CW) from neutron stars
In order to perform a characterization of the response of an isolated search to binary signals, we consider the zero-eccentricity limit (e → 0); this is not a constraining assumption since binary orbits are expected to circularize over time and such systems are the primary targets of CW searches and about 75% binary pulsars in the ATNF catalogue have e < 0.01 [17]
We have successfully estimated the apparent shift in the intrinsic signal parameters of a CW source in a binary orbit with a purely isolated search and the resulting loss in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), by means of a simplified model
Summary
There has been a significant increase in efforts to search for continuous gravitational waves (CW) from neutron stars. The new data-set spanned a period of time over an year apart from the time period spanned by the original search In such a scenario, even a small mismatch between the signal and template waveform during the original search could evolve into a much larger mismatch in a search on a newer/different data-set, resulting in a significant loss of SNR and leading to false dismissal of a legitimate signal. Even a small mismatch between the signal and template waveform during the original search could evolve into a much larger mismatch in a search on a newer/different data-set, resulting in a significant loss of SNR and leading to false dismissal of a legitimate signal This could happen if the signal is emitted by a source in a binary system whereas the search targets emission from isolated objects. In these reduced ranges of the orbital and intrinsic parameters, targeted binary searches could perform more sensitive searches for sources in binary orbits [11, 14, 19]
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