Gravitational Wave Sensitivity Research Articles

Kilonova-Targeting Lightcurve Classification for Wide Field Survey Telescope

With the enhancement of the sensitivity of gravitational wave (GW) detectors and capabilities of large survey facilities, such as the Vera Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) and the 2.5 m Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST), we now have the potential to detect an increasing number of distant kilonova (KN). However, distinguishing KN from the plethora of detected transients in ongoing and future follow-up surveys presents a significant challenge. In this study, our objective is to establish an efficient classification mechanism tailored for the follow-up survey conducted by WFST, with a specific focus on identifying KN associated with GW. We employ a novel temporal convolutional neural network architecture, trained using simulated multi-band photometry lasting for 3 days by WFST, accompanied by contextual information, i.e., luminosity distance information by GW. By comparison of the choices of contextual information, we can reach 95% precision and 94% recall for our best model. It also performs good validation of photometry data on AT2017gfo and AT2019npv. Furthermore, we investigate the ability of the model to distinguish KN in a GW follow-up survey. We conclude that there is over 80% probability that we can capture true KN in 20 selected candidates among ∼250 detected astrophysical transients that have passed the real–bogus filter and cross-matching.

LISAmax: improving the low-frequency gravitational-wave sensitivity by two orders of magnitude

Within its Voyage 2050 planning cycle, the European Space Agency is considering long-term large class science mission themes. Gravitational-wave astronomy is among the topics under study. Building on previous work by other authors (Folkner 2011 (NNH11ZDA019L); Ni 2010 Mod. Phys. Lett. A 25 922–35; Sesana et al 2021 Exp. Astron. 51 1333–83), this paper studies a gravitational-wave interferometer concept, dubbed ‘LISAmax’, consisting of three spacecraft, each located close to one of the Sun–Earth libration points L3, L4 and L5, forming a triangular constellation with an arm length of 259 million kilometers (to be compared to LISA’s 2.5 million kilometer arms). We argue that this is the largest triangular formation that can be reached from Earth without a major leap in mission complexity and cost (hence the name). The sensitivity curve of such a detector is at least two orders of magnitude lower in amplitude than that of LISA, at frequencies below 1 mHz. This makes the observatory sensitive to gravitational waves in the µHz range and opens a new window for gravitational-wave astronomy, not covered by any other planned detector concept. We analyze in detail the constellation stability for a 10 year mission in the full numerical model including insertion dispersion, and self-gravity-induced accelerations. We compute the orbit transfers using a European launcher and chemical propulsion. Different orbit options, such as precessing, inclined orbits, the use of flybys for the transfer, and the launch strategy, are discussed. The payload design parameters are assessed, and the expected sensitivity curve is compared with a number of potential gravitational-wave sources. No show stoppers are identified at this point of the analysis.

A MIMO approach for longitudinal sensing and control noise projections of Advanced Virgo gravitational wave detector

So far, the sensitivity of gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, in the low-frequency and mid-frequency regions of its bandwidth, has been limited by technical noises. The re-injection of sensing and control noises can be one of the main limitations. After the end of the third observing run O3, in preparation for the fourth observing run O4, an upgrade phase started among all the km-scale GW detectors, namely LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA, with the aim of improving their sensitivity. In particular, for the case of Advanced Virgo, one of the most significant upgrades is the installation of a signal recycling (SR) mirror, introducing the SR cavity. The main target of this SR mirror is to shape the sensitivity curve of the detector. The installation of a SR mirror adds an extra optical cavity and, thus, extra DoFs (longitudinal and angular), that should be controlled to keep its working point, ultimately increasing the complexity of the whole control strategy. In order to have an accurate description of the interferometer, we have implemented a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) model in the frequency domain. The target of this paper, after showing the Advanced Virgo configuration for the next observing run, is to describe the control scheme used for the main longitudinal degrees of freedom using a MIMO approach. In particular, we detail a useful matrix representation for the modeled system. Finally, we use the implemented model to project the sensing and control noises on the sensitivity curve. Following the obtained results, we propose noise subtraction filters to achieve the low control noise target in the low-frequency region of the sensitivity curve. Additionally, using this model, we have implemented the core of a noise budget tool, which will allow to estimate the contribution of all the known sources of noise on the measured sensitivity.

Comparing Instrument Spectral Sensitivity of Dissimilar Electromagnetic Haloscopes to Axion Dark Matter and High Frequency Gravitational Waves

It is known that haloscopes that search for dark matter axions via the axion-photon anomaly are also sensitive to gravitational radiation through the inverse Gertsenshtein effect. Recently this way of searching for high frequency gravitational waves has gained momentum as it has been shown that the strain sensitivity of such detectors, are of the same order of sensitivity to the axion-photon theta angle. Thus, after calculating the sensitivity of a haloscope to an axion signal, we also have calculated the order of magnitude sensitivity to a gravitational wave signal of the same spectral and temporal form. However, it is unlikely that a gravitational wave and an axion signal will be of the same form, since physically the way the signals are generated are completely different. For gravitational wave detection, the spectral strain sensitivity is in units strain per square root Hz, is the natural way to compare the sensitivity of gravitational wave detectors due to its independence on the gravitational wave signal. In this work, we introduce a systematic way to calculate the spectral sensitivity of an axion haloscope, so instrument comparison may be achieved independent of signal assumptions and only depends on the axion to signal transduction sensitivity and noise in the instrument. Thus, the calculation of the spectral sensitivity not only allows the comparison of dissimilar axion detectors independent of signal, but also allows us to compare the order of magnitude gravitational wave sensitivity in terms of spectral strain sensitivity, allowing comparisons to standard gravitational wave detectors based on optical interferometers and resonant-mass technology.

Assessing the model waveform accuracy of gravitational waves

With the improvement in sensitivity of gravitational wave (GW) detectors and the increasing diversity of GW sources, there is a strong need for accurate GW waveform models for data analysis. While the current model accuracy assessments require waveforms generated by numerical relativity (NR) simulations as the ``true waveforms,'' in this paper we propose an assessment approach that does not require NR simulations, which enables us to assess model accuracy everywhere in the parameter space. By measuring the difference between two waveform models, we derive a necessary condition for a pair of waveform models to both be accurate, for a particular set of parameters. We then apply this method to the parameter estimation samples of the Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalogs GWTC-3 and GWTC-2.1, and find that the waveform accuracy for high signal-to-noise ratio events in some cases fails our assessment criterion. Based on analysis of real events' posterior samples, we discuss the correlation between our quantified accuracy assessments and systematic errors in parameter estimation. We find that waveform models that perform worse in our assessment are more likely to give inconsistent estimations. We also investigate waveform accuracy in different parameter regions, and find that the accuracy degrades as the spin effects go up, the mass ratio deviates from one, or the orbital plane is nearly aligned with the line of sight. Furthermore, we make predictions of waveform accuracy requirements for future detectors and find that the accuracy of current waveform models should be improved by at least 3 orders of magnitude, which is consistent with previous works.

Nonlinear Noise Cleaning in Gravitational-Wave Detectors With Convolutional Neural Networks.

Currently, the sub-60 Hz sensitivity of gravitational-wave (GW) detectors like Advanced LIGO (aLIGO) is limited by the control noises from auxiliary degrees of freedom which nonlinearly couple to the main GW readout. One promising way to tackle this challenge is to perform nonlinear noise mitigation using convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which we examine in detail in this study. In many cases, the noise coupling is bilinear and can be viewed as a few fast channels' outputs modulated by some slow channels. We show that we can utilize this knowledge of the physical system and adopt an explicit “slow×fast” structure in the design of the CNN to enhance its performance of noise subtraction. We then examine the requirements in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in both the target channel (i.e., the main GW readout) and in the auxiliary sensors in order to reduce the noise by at least a factor of a few. In the case of limited SNR in the target channel, we further demonstrate that the CNN can still reach a good performance if we use curriculum learning techniques, which in reality can be achieved by combining data from quiet times and those from periods with active noise injections.

Model-independent time-delay interferometry based on principal component analysis

With a laser interferometric gravitational-wave detector in separate free flying spacecraft, the only way to achieve detection is to mitigate the dominant noise arising from the frequency fluctuations of the lasers via postprocessing. The noise can be effectively filtered out on the ground through a specific technique called time-delay interferometry (TDI), which relies on the measurements of time delays between spacecraft and careful modeling of how laser noise enters the interferometric data. Recently, this technique has been recast into a matrix-based formalism by several authors, offering a different perspective on TDI, particularly by relating it to principal component analysis (PCA). In this work, we demonstrate that we can cancel laser frequency noise by directly applying PCA to a set of shifted data samples, without any prior knowledge of the relationship between single-link measurements and noise, nor time delays. We show that this fully data-driven algorithm achieves a gravitational-wave sensitivity similar to classic TDI.

Constraint on nuclear symmetry energy imposed by f-mode oscillation of neutron stars

Due to improvements in the sensitivity of gravitational wave (GW) detectors, the detection of GWs originating from the fundamental quasi-normal mode (f-mode) of neutron stars has become possible. The future detection of GWs originating from the f-mode of neutron stars will provide a potential way to improve our understanding of the nature of nuclear matter inside neutron stars. In this work, we investigate the constraint imposed by the f-mode oscillation of neutron stars on the symmetry energy of nuclear matter using Bayesian analysis and parametric EOS. It is shown that if the frequency of the f-mode of a neutron star of known mass is observed precisely, the symmetry energy at twice the saturation density (E sym(2ρ 0)) of nuclear matter can be constrained within a relatively narrow range. For example, when all the following parameters are within the given intervals: 220 ≤ K 0 ≤ 260 MeV, 28 ≤ E sym(ρ 0) ≤ 36 MeV, 30 ≤ L ≤ 90 MeV, −800 ≤ J 0 ≤ 400 MeV, − 400 ≤ K sym ≤ 100 MeV, −200 ≤ J sym ≤ 800 MeV, E sym(2ρ 0) will be constrained to within MeV if the f-mode frequency of a canonical neutron star (1.4 M⊙) is observed to be 1.720 kHz with a 1% relative error. Furthermore, if only f-mode frequency detection is available, i.e. there is no stellar mass measurement, a precisely detected f-mode frequency can also impose an accurate constraint on the symmetry energy. For example, given the same parameter space and the same assumed observed f-mode frequency mentioned above, and assuming that the stellar mass is in the range of 1.2–2.0 M⊙, E sym(2ρ 0) will be constrained to within . In addition, it is shown that a higher slope of 69 ≤ L ≤ 143 MeV will give a higher posterior distribution of E sym(2ρ 0), .

Sensitivity limits of space-based interferometric gravitational wave observatories from the solar wind

Space-based interferometric gravitational wave instruments such as the ESA/NASA Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) observe gravitational waves by measuring changes in the light travel time between widely-separated spacecraft. One potential noise source for these instruments is interaction with the solar wind, in particular the free electrons in the interplanetary plasma. Variations in the integrated column density of free electrons along the laser links will lead to time-of-flight delays which directly compete with signals produced by gravitational waves. In this paper we present a simplified model of the solar plasma relevant for this problem, anchor key parameters of our model using data from the NASA \emph{Wind}/SWE instrument, and derive estimates for the effect in the LISA measurement. We find that under normal solar conditions, the gravitational-wave sensitivity limit from the free-electron effect is smaller than other noise sources that are expected to limit LISA's sensitivity.

Black hole–neutron star binary mergers: the imprint of tidal deformations and debris

The increase in the sensitivity of gravitational wave (GW) interferometers will bring additional detections of binary black hole (BBH) and double neutron star (NS) mergers. It will also very likely add many merger events of BH–NS binaries. Distinguishing mixed binaries from BBHs mergers for high mass ratios could be challenging because in this situation the NS coalesces with the BH without experiencing significant disruption. To investigate the transition of mixed binary mergers into those behaving more like BBH coalescences, we present results from merger simulations for different mass ratios. We show how the degree of deformation and disruption of the NS impacts the inspiral and merger dynamics, the properties of the final BH, the accretion disk formed from the circularization of the tidal debris, the GWs, and the strain spectrum and mismatches. The results also show the effectiveness of the initial data method that generalizes the Bowen–York initial data for BH punctures to the case of binaries with NS companions.

Gravitational waves from dark sectors, oscillating inflatons, and mass boosted dark matter

Gravitational wave signatures from dynamical scalar field configurations provide a compelling observational window on the early universe. Here we identify intriguing connections between dark matter and scalars fields that emit gravitational waves, either through a first order phase transition or oscillating after inflation. To study gravitational waves from first order phase transitions, we investigate a simplified model consisting of a heavy scalar coupled to a vector and fermion field. We then compute gravitational wave spectra sourced by inflaton field configurations oscillating after E-Model and T-Model inflation. Some of these gravitational wave signatures can be uncovered by the future Big Bang Observatory, although in general we find that MHz-GHz frequency gravitational wave sensitivity will be critical for discovering the heaviest dark sectors. Intriguingly, we find that scalars undergoing phase transitions, along with E-Model and T-Model potentials, can impel a late-time dark matter mass boost and generate up to Planck mass dark matter. For phase transitions and oscillating inflatons, the largest dark matter mass boosts correspond to higher amplitude stochastic gravitational wave backgrounds.

Calibrating the binary black hole population in nuclear star clusters through tidal disruption events

ABSTRACT As the sensitivity of gravitational wave (GW) instruments improves and new networks start operating, hundreds of merging stellar-mass black holes (SBHs) and intermediate-mass black holes (IMBHs) are expected to be observed in the next few years. The origin and distribution of SBH and IMBH binaries in various dynamical environments is a fundamental scientific question in GW astronomy. In this paper, we discuss ways tidal disruption events (TDEs) may provide a unique electromagnetic window into the assembly and merger of binary SBHs and IMBHs in nuclear star clusters (NSCs). We discuss how the host NSC mass and density and the slope of the BH mass function set the orbital properties and the masses of the binaries that undergo a TDE. For typical NSC properties, we predict a TDE rate of ∼10−6–10−7 yr−1 per galaxy. The light curve of TDEs in NSCs could be interrupted and modulated by the companion BH on the orbital period of the binary. These should be readily detectable by optical transient surveys such as the Zwicky Transient Facility and LSST.

Gravitational wave sensitivity curve of pulsar timing arrays affected by correlated noises

The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) by pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) is not only a very important supplementation of the verification of general relativity but also a new window to study the evolution of supermassive binary black holes and the early universe. However, so far the detection sensitivity of PTAs is not good enough to catch signals of GWs due to the disturbance of various noises. In this paper we explore the influences of the correlated noises caused by the reference clock errors and solar system ephemeris errors in pulsar timing on the detection of stochastic gravitational waves background (GWB). We demonstrate the power-law integrated sensitivity curves of GWB detection under the impacts from these correlated noises. From the simulated data, we find that the influence of different reference time-scale is non-negligible, and the influence is even quite huge if one uses a very old version of solar system ephemeris. However, the impact from these correlated noises on the sensitivity curve is very limited for the real observational data released by international pulsar timing arrays (IPTA). We also calculate the signal-to-noise ratios based on the theoretical GW amplitude permitted by observations. Moreover, we study how the detection sensitivity increases with more pulsar number and longer observation.

Modeling the Uncertainties of Solar System Ephemerides for Robust Gravitational-wave Searches with Pulsar-timing Arrays

Abstract The regularity of pulsar emissions becomes apparent once we reference the pulses’ times of arrivals to the inertial rest frame of the solar system. It follows that errors in the determination of Earth's position with respect to the solar system barycenter can appear as a time-correlated bias in pulsar-timing residual time series, affecting the searches for low-frequency gravitational waves performed with pulsar-timing arrays. Indeed, recent array data sets yield different gravitational-wave background upper limits and detection statistics when analyzed with different solar system ephemerides. Crucially, the ephemerides do not generally provide usable error representations. In this article, we describe the motivation, construction, and application of a physical model of solar system ephemeris uncertainties, which focuses on the degrees of freedom (Jupiter's orbital elements) most relevant to gravitational-wave searches with pulsar-timing arrays. This model, BayesEphem, was used to derive ephemeris-robust results in NANOGrav's 11 yr stochastic-background search, and it provides a foundation for future searches by NANOGrav and other consortia. The analysis and simulations reported here suggest that ephemeris modeling reduces the gravitational-wave sensitivity of the 11 yr data set and that this degeneracy will vanish with improved ephemerides and with pulsar-timing data sets that extend well beyond a single Jovian orbital period.

Astrodynamical middle-frequency interferometric gravitational wave observatory AMIGO: Mission concept and orbit design

AMIGO is a first-generation Astrodynamical Middle-frequency Interferometric Gravitational Wave (GW) Observatory. The scientific goals of AMIGO are to bridge the spectra gap between first-generation high-frequency and low-frequency GW sensitivities: to detect intermediate mass BH coalescence; to detect inspiral phase and predict time of binary black hole coalescences together with binary neutron star & black hole-neutron star coalescences for ground interferometers; to detect compact binary inspirals for studying stellar evolution and galactic population. The mission concept is to use time delay interferometry (TDI) for a nearly triangular formation of three drag-free spacecraft with nominal arm length 10,000 km, emitting laser power 2–10 W and telescope diameter 300–500 mm. The design GW sensitivity in the middle frequency band is [Formula: see text] Hz[Formula: see text]. Both geocentric and heliocentric orbit formations are considered. All options have LISA-like formations, that is, the triangular formation is [Formula: see text] inclined to the orbit plane. For all solar orbit options of AMIGO, the first-generation TDI satisfies the laser frequency-noise suppression requirement. We also investigate for each option of orbits under study, whether constant equal-arm implementation is feasible. For the solar-orbit options, the acceleration to maintain the formation can be designed to be less than 15 nm/s2with the thruster requirement in the 15 [Formula: see text]N range. AMIGO would be a good place to test the feasibility of the constant equal-arm option. Fuel requirement, thruster noise requirement and test mass acceleration actuation requirement are briefly considered. From the orbit study, the solar orbit option is the mission orbit preference. We study the deployment for this orbit option. After a last-stage launch from 300 km Low Earth Orbit (LEO), each S/C’s maneuver to an appropriate 2-degree-behind-the-Earth AMIGO formation in 95 days requires only a [Formula: see text]v of about 80 m/s.

Black holes in the quantum universe.

A succinct summary is given of the problem of reconciling observation of black hole-like objects with quantum mechanics. If quantum black holes behave like subsystems, and also decay, their information must be transferred to their environments. Interactions that accomplish this with 'minimal' departure from a standard description are parametrized. Possible sensitivity of gravitational wave or very long baseline interferometric observations to these interactions is briefly outlined. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Topological avatars of new physics'.

Gravitational wave searches with pulsar timing arrays: Cancellation of clock and ephemeris noises

We propose a data processing technique to cancel monopole and dipole noise sources (such as clock and ephemeris noises respectively) in pulsar timing array searches for gravitational radiation. These noises are the dominant sources of correlated timing fluctuations in the lower-part ($ \approx 10^{-9} - 10^{-8}$ Hz) of the gravitational wave band accessible by pulsar timing experiments. After deriving the expressions that reconstruct these noises from the timing data, we estimate the gravitational wave sensitivity of our proposed processing technique to single-source signals to be at least one order of magnitude higher than that achievable by directly processing the timing data from an equal-size array. Since arrays can generate pairs of clock and ephemeris-free timing combinations that are no longer affected by correlated noises, we implement with them the cross-correlation statistic to search for an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background. We find the resulting optimal signal-to-noise ratio to be more than one order of magnitude larger than that obtainable by correlating pairs of timing data from arrays of equal size.

Gravitational-wave sensitivity curves

There are several common conventions in use by the gravitational-wave community to describe the amplitude of sources and the sensitivity of detectors. These are frequently confused. We outline the merits of and differences between the various quantities used for parameterizing noise curves and characterizing gravitational-wave amplitudes. We conclude by producing plots that consistently compare different detectors. Similar figures can be generated on-line for general use at http://rhcole.com/apps/GWplotter.

ON DISCOVERING ELECTROMAGNETIC EMISSION FROM NEUTRON STAR MERGERS: THE EARLY YEARS OF TWO GRAVITATIONAL WAVE DETECTORS

We present the first simulation addressing the prospects of finding an electromagnetic (EM) counterpart to gravitational wave (GW) detections during the early years of only two advanced detectors. The perils of such a search may have appeared insurmountable when considering the coarse ring-shaped GW localizations spanning thousands of square degrees using time-of-arrival information alone. Leveraging the amplitude and phase information of the predicted GW signal narrows the localization to arcs with a median area of only a few hundred square degrees, thereby making an EM search tractable. Based on the locations and orientations of the two LIGO detectors, we find that the GW sensitivity is limited to only two of the four sky quadrants. Thus, the rates of GW events with two interferometers is only ≈40% of the rate with three interferometers of similar sensitivity. Another important implication of the sky quadrant bias is that EM observatories in North America and Southern Africa would be able to systematically respond to GW triggers several hours sooner than Russia and Chile. Given the larger sky areas and the relative proximity of detected mergers, 1 m class telescopes with very wide-field cameras are well-positioned for the challenge of finding an EM counterpart. Identification of the EM counterpart amidst the larger numbers of false positives further underscores the importance of building a comprehensive catalog of foreground stellar sources, background active galactic nucleus and potential host galaxies in the local universe. This initial study is based on a small sample of 17 detected mergers; future works will expand this sample.

COMPARING Hα AND H I SURVEYS AS MEANS TO A COMPLETE LOCAL GALAXY CATALOG IN THE ADVANCED LIGO/VIRGO ERA

Identifying the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational wave (GW) sources detected by upcoming networks of advanced ground-based interferometers will be challenging due in part to the large number of unrelated astrophysical transients within the ~10-100 square degree sky localizations. A potential way to greatly reduce the number of such false positives is to limit detailed follow-up to only those candidates near galaxies within the GW sensitivity range of ~200 Mpc for binary neutron star mergers. Such a strategy is currently hindered by the fact that galaxy catalogs are grossly incomplete within this volume. Here we compare two methods for completing the local galaxy catalog: (1) a narrow-band H-alpha imaging survey; and (2) an HI emission line radio survey. Using H-alpha fluxes, stellar masses (M_star), and star formation rates (SFR) from galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), combined with HI data from the GALEX Arecibo SDSS Survey and the Herschel Reference Survey, we estimate that a H-alpha survey with a luminosity sensitivity of L_H-alpha = 1e40 erg/s at 200 Mpc could achieve a completeness of f_SFR ~ 75% with respect to total SFR, but only f_Mstar ~ 33% with respect to stellar mass (due to lack of sensitivity to early-type galaxies). These numbers are significantly lower than those achieved by an idealized spectroscopic survey due to the loss of H-alpha flux resulting from resolving out nearby galaxies and the inability to correct for the underlying stellar continuum. An HI survey with sensitivity similar to the proposed WALLABY survey on ASKAP could achieve f_SFR ~ 80% and f_Mstar ~ 50%, somewhat higher than that of the H-alpha survey. Finally, both H-alpha and HI surveys should achieve > 50% completeness with respect to the host galaxies of short duration gamma-ray bursts, which may trace the population of binary neutron star mergers.