Recent searches for gravitational-wave bursts associated with magnetar flares with LIGO, GEO, and Virgo

Abstract

Energetic electromagnetic flares from magnetars - highly magnetized neutron stars - are associated with sudden rearrangements of the mechanical and/or magnetic configurations of the star, which can give rise to mechanical oscillations, some of which may be strong radiators of gravitational waves. General arguments have indicated that gravitational-wave bursts associated temporally with (giant) flares from galactic magnetars may be observable with ground-based gravitational wave detectors. After discussing the expectations based on the astrophysical models, we present results from several campaigns to search for such bursts using the first generation of LIGO, GEO, and Virgo detectors over the period 2005-2009, emphasizing the most recent results. No detections have been made, and we present astrophysically informed limits. Finally, we discuss prospects for progress.