Search

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are effective in detecting low-frequency gravitational waves (GWs), especially in circular binary systems of supermassive black holes. To evaluate the effectiveness and accuracy of PTAs in searching for GW parameter estimation, we use the Cramer-Rao lower bound to estimate the parameters of the Virgo source under various search conditions, including both evolving and non-evolving scenarios, as well as Earth and pulsar term searches, and only Earth term searches. The results show that the estimation accuracy of the inclination angle and GW strain is lower in the evolving condition than in the non-evolving condition because the two parameters participate in the evolving process. In addition, we find that the parameters estimable relates to signal-to-noise ratio, which is beneficial for reducing the dimensionality in the search process. In summary, our method serves as a reference for exploring lower parameter limits under different conditions and assists in assessing the optimization of parameter estimation in GW detection algorithms. This helps lay the theoretical foundation for advances in the field of GWs and the optimization of PTAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate modeling of selection effects is a key ingredient to the success of gravitational-wave astronomy. The detection probability plays a crucial role in both statistical population studies, where it enters the hierarchical Bayesian likelihood, and astrophysical modeling, where it is used to convert predictions from population-synthesis codes into observable distributions. We review the most commonly used approximations, extend them, and present some recipes for a straightforward implementation. These include a closed-form expression capturing both multiple detectors and noise realizations written in terms of the so-called Marcum Q -function and a ready-to-use mapping between signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) thresholds and false-alarm rates from state-of-the-art detection pipelines. The bias introduced by approximating the matched filter SNR with the optimal SNR is not symmetric: sources that are nominally below threshold are more likely to be detected than sources above threshold are to be missed. Using both analytical considerations and software injections in detection pipelines, we confirm that including noise realizations when estimating the selection function introduces an average variation of a few %. This effect is most relevant for large catalogs and specific subpopulations of sources at the edge of detectability (e.g. high redshifts). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore a method to assess the relative scale of the strain measured in the different detectors of the gravitational-wave (GW) network, using binary black hole (BBH) events detected during the third observing run (O3). The number of such signals is becoming sufficiently large to adopt a statistical approach based on the ratio of the signal-to-noise ratio of the events between the detectors and the number of observed events in each detector. We demonstrate the principle of the method on simulations of BBH signals and we present its application to published O3 events reported by the multi-band template analysis pipeline. Constraints on the relative calibration of the GW network for O3 are obtained at the level of ∼ 3.5 % between the two LIGO detectors and at the level of ∼ 10 % between the LIGO Livingston detector and the Virgo detector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spontaneous scalarization during the stellar core collapse in the massive scalarâ€"tensor theories of gravity introduces extra polarizations (on top of the plus and cross modes) in gravitational waves, whose amplitudes are determined by several model parameters. Observations of such scalarization-induced gravitational waveforms therefore offer valuable probes into these theories of gravity. Considering a triple-scalar interactions in such theories, we find that the self-coupling effects suppress the magnitude of the scalarization and thus reduce the amplitude of the associated gravitational wave signals. In addition, the self-interacting effects in the gravitational waveform are shown to be negligible due to the dispersion throughout the astrophysically distant propagation. As a consequence, the gravitational waves observed on the Earth feature the characteristic inverse-chirp pattern. Although not with the on-going ground-based detectors, we illustrate that the scalarization-induced gravitational waves may be detectable at a signal-to-noise ratio level of O (100) with future detectors, such as Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black-holes are known to span at least 9 orders of magnitude in mass: from the stellar-mass objects observed by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration, to supermassive black-holes like the one observed by the Event Horizon Telescope at the heart of M87. Regardless of the mass scale, all of these objects are expected to form binaries and eventually emit observable gravitational radiation, with more massive objects emitting at ever lower gravitational-wave frequencies. We present the tool, gwent , for modeling the sensitivities of current and future generations of gravitational wave detectors across the entire gravitational-wave spectrum of coalescing black-hole binaries (BHBs). We provide methods to generate sensitivity curves for pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) using a novel realistic PTA sensitivity curve generator (Hazboun, Romano and Smith 2019 Phys. Rev. D 100 104028), space-based interferometers using adaptive models that can represent a wide range of proposed detector designs (Amaro-Seoane et al 2017 arXiv:1702.00786), and ground-based interferometers using realistic noise models that can reproduce current (Abbott et al 2016 Phys. Rev. Lett. 116 061102), second, and third generation designs (Hild et al 2011 Class. Quantum Grav. 28 094013), as well as novel variations of the essential design parameters. To model the signal from BHBs at any mass scale, we use phenomenological waveforms capable of modeling the inspiral, merger, and ringdown for sources with varying mass ratios and spins (Khan et al 2016 Phys. Rev. D 93 044007; Husa et al 2016 Phys. Rev. D 93 044006). Using this adaptable framework, we produce signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) for the combination of any modeled parameter, associated with either the detector or the source. By allowing variation across each detector and source parameter, we can pinpoint the most important factors to determining the optimal performance for particular instrument designs. The adaptability of our detector and signal models can easily be extended to new detector designs and other models of gravitational wave signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shapiro time delay is one of the fundamental tests of general relativity and post-Newtonian theories of gravity. Consequently, its measurements can be used to probe the parameter γ which is related to spacetime curvature produced by a unit mass in the post-Newtonian formalism of gravity. To date all measurements of time delay have been conducted on astronomical scales. It was asserted in 2010 that gravitational wave detectors on Earth could be used to measure Shapiro delay on a terrestrial scale via massive rotating systems. Building on that work, we consider how measurements of Shapiro delay can be made using next-generation gravitational wave detectors. We perform an analysis for measuring Shapiro delay with the next-generation gravitational wave detectors Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope to determine how precisely the effect can be measured. Using a rotating mass unit design, we find that Cosmic Explorer and Einstein Telescope can measure the Shapiro delay signal with amplitude signal to noise ratios upwards of ∼28 and ∼43 in 1 year of integration time, respectively. By measuring Shapiro delay with this technique, next-generation interferometers will allow for terrestrial measurements of γ in the paramaterized post-Newtonian formalism of gravity with sub-percent precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High precision measurements in various applications rely on active seismic isolation to decouple the experiment from seismic motion; therefore, closed feed-back control techniques such as sensor blending and sensor correction are commonly implemented. This paper reviews the active isolation techniques of the Albert Einstein Institute seismic attenuation system (AEI-SAS). Two approaches to improve the well known techniques are presented. First, the influence of the sensor basis for the signal-to-noise ratio in the chosen coordinate system is calculated and second, a procedural optimization of blending filters to minimize the optical table velocity is performed. Active isolation techniques are adapted to the mechanical properties and the available sensors and actuators of the AEI-SAS. The performance of the final isolation is presented and limitations to the isolation are analyzed in comparison to a noise model. The optical table motion reaches approximately at 1 Hz, reducing the ground motion by a factor of approximately 100. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance of gravitational wave (GW) detectors can be characterized by several figures of merit (FOMs) which are used to guide the detector’s commissioning and operations, and to gauge astrophysical sensitivity. One key FOM is the range in Mpc, averaged over orientation and sky location, at which a GW signal from binary neutron star inspiral and coalescence would have a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 8 in a single detector. This fixed-SNR approach does not accurately reflect the effects of transient noise (glitches), which can severely limit the detectability of transient GW signals expected from a variety of astrophysical sources. We propose a FOM based instead on a fixed false-alarm probability (FAP). This is intended to give a more realistic estimate of the detectable GW transient range including the effect of glitches. Our approach applies equally to individual interferometers or a network of interferometers. We discuss the advantages of the fixed-FAP approach, present examples from a prototype implementation, and discuss the impact it has had on the recent commissioning of the GW detector GEO 600. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the effect of an important class of glitches occurring in the detector data on matched filter searches of gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries in the advanced detector era. The glitches, which can be modeled as sine-Gaussians, can produce triggers with significant time delays and thus have important bearing on veto procedures as will be described in the paper. We provide approximated analytical estimates of the trigger signal to noise ratio (SNR) and time as a function of the parameters describing the sine-Gaussian (center time, center frequency and Q-factor) and the inspiral filter (chirp mass). We validate our analytical predictions through simple numerical simulations, performed by filtering noiseless sine-Gaussians with the inspiral matched filter and recovering the time and value of the maximum of the resulting SNR time series. Although we identify regions of the parameter space in which each approximation no longer reproduces the numerical results, the approximations complement each other and together effectively cover the whole parameter space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is used in gravitational-wave observations as the basic figure of merit for detection confidence and, together with the Fisher matrix, for the amount of physical information that can be extracted from a detected signal. SNRs are usually computed from a sensitivity curve, which describes the gravitational-wave amplitude needed by a monochromatic source of given frequency to achieve a threshold SNR. Although the term 'sensitivity' is used loosely to refer to the detector's noise spectral density, the two quantities are not the same: the sensitivity includes also the frequency- and orientationdependent response of the detector to gravitationalwaves and takes into account the duration of observation. For interferometric space-based detectors similar to LISA, which are sensitive to long-lived signals and have constantly changing position and orientation, exact SNRs need to be computed on a source-bysource basis. For convenience, most authors prefer to work with sky-averaged sensitivities, accepting inaccurate SNRs for individual sources and giving up control over the statistical distribution of SNRs for source populations. In this paper, we describe a straightforward end-to-end recipe to compute the non-skyaveraged sensitivity of interferometric space-based detectors of any geometry. This recipe includes the effects of spacecraft motion and of seasonal variations in the partially subtracted confusion foreground from Galactic binaries, and it can be used to generate a sampling distribution of sensitivities for a given source population. In effect, we derive error bars for the sky-averaged sensitivity curve, which provide a stringent statistical interpretation for previously unqualified statements about sky-averaged SNRs. As a worked-out example, we consider isotropic and Galactic-disk populations of monochromatic sources, as observed with the 'classic LISA' configuration. We confirm that the (standard) inverserms average sensitivity for the isotropic population remains the samewhether or not the LISA orbits are included in the computation. However, detector motion tightens the distribution of sensitivities, so for 50% of sources the sensitivity is within 30% of its average. For the Galactic-disk population, the average and the distribution of the sensitivity for a moving detector turn out to be similar to the isotropic case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Newtonian constant of gravitation G historically has the largest relative uncertainty over all other fundamental constants with some discrepancies in values between different measurements. We propose a new scheme to measure G by detecting the position of a test mass in a precision displacement sensor induced by a force modulation from periodically rotating source masses. To seek different kinds of experimental setups, laser interferometers for the gravitational wave detection and optically-levitated microspheres are analyzed. The high sensitivity of the gravitational wave detectors to the displacement is advantageous to have a high signal-to-noise ratio of 10−6 with a few hours of the measurement time, whereas the tunability of parameters in optically-levitated microspheres can enable competitive measurements with a smaller scale setup dedicated to the G measurement. To achieve an accuracy of G better than currently available measurements, developments in force calibration is essential. These measurements can provide an alternative method to measure G precisely, potentially leading to the improvement in the accuracy of G, as well as a better search for non-Newtonian gravity at a length scale of  ∼1 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While current gravitational wave observations with ground based detectors have been consistent with compact binaries in quasi-circular orbits, eccentric binaries may be detectable by ground-based and space-based instruments in the near future. Eccentricity significantly complicates the gravitational wave signal, and we currently lack fast and accurate models that are valid in the moderate to large eccentricity range. In a previous paper, we built a Fourier domain, eccentric waveform model at leading order in the post-Newtonian approximation, i.e. as an expansion in small velocities and weak fields. Here we extend this model to 3rd post-Newtonian order, incorporating the effects of periastron precession and higher post-Newtonian order effects that qualitatively change the waveform behavior. Our 3PN model combines the stationary phase approximation, a truncated sum of harmonics of combinations of two orbital frequencies (an azimuthal one and a radial one), and a bivariate expansion in the orbital separation and the eccentricity. We validate the model through comparisons with a fully-numerical, time domain post-Newtonian model, and find good agreement (matches between ) in much of the parameter space. We estimate in what regions of parameter space eccentric effects are important by exploring the signal to noise ratio of eccentric corrections. We also examine the effects of higher post-Newtonian order terms in the waveform amplitude, and the agreement between different PN-consistent, numerical, time-domain models. In an effort to guide future improvements to the model, we gauge the error in our 3PN model incurred by the different analytic approximations used to construct it. This model is useful for preliminary data analysis investigations and it could allow for a phenomenological hybrid that incorporates eccentricity into an inspiral-merger-ringdown model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will open the mHz band of the gravitational wave spectrum for exploration. Sensitivity curves are a useful tool for surveying the types of sources that can be detected by the LISA mission. Here we describe how the sensitivity curve is constructed, and how it can be used to compute the signal-to-noise ratio for a wide range of binary systems. We adopt the 2018 LISA mission performance requirement design parameters. We consider both sky-averaged sensitivities, and the sensitivity to sources at particular sky locations. The calculations are included in a publicly available Python notebook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The range to which the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) can observe astrophysical systems varies over time, limited by noise in the instruments and their environments. Identifying and removing the sources of noise that limit LIGO’s range enables higher signal-to-noise observations and increases the number of observations. The LIGO observatories are continuously monitored by hundreds of thousands of auxiliary channels that may contain information about these noise sources. This paper describes an algorithm that uses linear regression, namely lasso (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression, to analyze all of these channels and identify a small subset of them that can be used to reconstruct variations in LIGO’s astrophysical range. Exemplary results of the application of this method to three different periods of LIGO Livingston data are presented, along with computational performance and current limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population analysis and estimation of merger rates of compact binaries is one of the important topics in gravitational wave astronomy. The primary ingredient in these analyses is the population-averaged sensitive volume. Typically, sensitive volume, of a given search to a given simulated source population, is estimated by drawing signals from the population model and adding them to the detector data as injections. Subsequently injections, which are simulated gravitational waveforms, are searched for by the search pipelines and their signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is determined. Sensitive volume is estimated, by using Monte-Carlo (MC) integration, from the total number of injections added to the data, the number of injections that cross a chosen threshold on SNR and the astrophysical volume in which the injections are placed. So far, only fixed population models have been used in the estimation of binary black holes (BBH) merger rates. However, as the scope of population analysis broaden in terms of the methodologies and source properties considered, due to an increase in the number of observed gravitational wave (GW) signals, the procedure will need to be repeated multiple times at a large computational cost. In this letter we address the problem by performing a weighted MC integration. We show how a single set of generic injections can be weighted to estimate the sensitive volume for multiple population models; thereby greatly reducing the computational cost. The weights in this MC integral are the ratios of the output probabilities, determined by the population model and standard cosmology, and the injection probability, determined by the distribution function of the generic injections. Unlike analytical/semi-analytical methods, which usually estimate sensitive volume using single detector sensitivity, the method is accurate within statistical errors, comes at no added cost and requires minimal computational resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

‘Blip glitches’ are a type of short duration transient noise in LIGO data. The cause for the majority of these is currently unknown. Short duration transient noise creates challenges for searches of the highest mass binary black hole systems, as standard methods of applying signal consistency, which look for consistency in the accumulated signal-to-noise of the candidate event, are unable to distinguish many blip glitches from short duration gravitational-wave signals due to similarities in their time and frequency evolution. We demonstrate a straightforward method, employed during Advanced LIGO’s second observing run, including the period of joint observation with the Virgo observatory, to separate the majority of this transient noise from potential gravitational-wave sources. This yields a  ∼ improvement in the detection rate of high mass binary black hole mergers (>) for the PyCBC analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that the gravitational wave source counts distribution can test how gravitational radiation propagates on cosmological scales. This test does not require obtaining redshifts for the sources. If the signal-to-noise ratio (ρ) from a gravitational wave source is proportional to the strain then it falls as , thus we expect the source counts to follow . However, if gravitational waves decay as they propagate or propagate into other dimensions, then there can be deviations from this generic prediction. We consider the possibility that the strain falls as , where recovers the expected predictions in a Euclidean uniformly-filled Universe, and forecast the sensitivity of future observations to deviations from standard General Relativity. We first consider the case of few objects, seven sources, with a signal-to-noise from 8 to 24, and impose a lower limit on γ, finding at 95% confidence level. The distribution of our simulated sample is very consistent with the distribution of the trigger events reported by Advanced LIGO. Future measurements will improve these constraints: with 100 events, we estimate that γ can be measured with an uncertainty of 15%. We generalize the formalism to account for a range of chirp masses and the possibility that the signal falls as . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Terrestrial gravitational-wave (GW) detectors are mostly based on Michelson-type laser interferometers with arm lengths of a few km and signal bandwidths of tens of Hz to a few kHz. Many conceivable sources would emit GWs below 10 Hz. A low-frequency tensor GW detector can be constructed by combining six magnetically levitated superconducting test masses. Seismic noise and Newtonian gravity noise are serious obstacles in constructing terrestrial GW detectors at such low frequencies. By using the transverse nature of GWs, a full tensor detector, which can in principle distinguish GWs from near-field Newtonian gravity, can be constructed. Such a tensor detector is sensitive to GWs coming from any direction with any polarization; thus a single antenna is capable of resolving the source direction and polarization. We present a design concept of a tensor GW detector that could reach a strain sensitivity of 10−19–10−20 Hz−1/2 at 0.2–10 Hz, compute its intrinsic detector noise, and discuss procedures of mitigating the seismic and Newtonian noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the validity of inspiral templates in gravitational wave data analysis with Advanced LIGO sensitivity for low mass binary black holes with total masses of We mainly focus on the nonspinning system. As our complete inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform model ( ), we assume the phenomenological model, ‘PhenomA’, and define our inspiral template model () by taking the inspiral part into account from up to the merger frequency (). We first calculate the true statistical uncertainties using signals and templates. Next, using signals and templates, we calculate fitting factors and systematic biases, and compare the biases with the true statistical uncertainties. We find that the valid criteria of the bank of templates are obtained as for detection (if the fitting factor is smaller than 0.97), and for parameter estimation (if the systematic bias is larger than the true statistical uncertainty where the signal-to-noise ratio is 20), respectively. In order to see the dependence on the cutoff frequency of the inspiral waveforms, we define another inspiral model which is terminated at the innermost-stable-circular-orbit frequency (). We find that the valid criteria of the bank of templates are obtained as and for detection and parameter estimation, respectively. We investigate the statistical uncertainties for the inspiral template models considering various signal-to-noise ratios, and compare those to the true statistical uncertainties. We also consider the aligned-spinning system with fixed mass ratio () and spin () by employing the recent phenomenological model, ‘PhenomC’. In this case, we find that the true statistical uncertainties can be much larger than those for the nonspinning system due to the mass-spin degeneracy. For inspiral PhenomC templates truncated at the fitting factors can be better but the biases are found to be much larger compared to those for the nonspinning system. In particular, we find significantly asymmetric shapes of the three-dimensional overlaps including bimodal distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic motion limits the low-frequency sensitivity of ground-based gravitational wave detectors. A conceptual design study into the feasibility of a future-generation gravitational wave observatory, coined the Einstein Telescope, has been completed. As part of this design phase, we performed a ground motion study to determine the seismic noise characteristics at various sites across the globe. This investigation focused on underground sites and encompassed a variety of geologies, including clay, salt, and hard rock, at 15 locations in nine European countries, the USA, and Japan. In addition, we analyzed data from the Virtual European Broadband Seismograph Network to characterize European seismic motion. We show that, in the region of interest for future-generation gravitational wave detectors (1–10 Hz), seismic motion is dominated by activity from anthropogenic sources. A number of sites were found that exhibited a reduction in seismic power of several orders of magnitude with respect to current detector sites, thus making it possible to set requirements for the Einstein Telescope seismic noise environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second generation of gravitational-wave detectors is scheduled to start operations in 2015. Gravitational-wave signatures of compact binary coalescences could be used to accurately test the strong-field dynamical predictions of general relativity (GR). Computationally expensive data analysis pipelines, including TIGER (test infrastructure for general relativity), have been developed to carry out such tests. As a means to cheaply assess whether a particular deviation from GR can be detected, Cornish et al (2011 Phys. Rev. D 84 062003) and Vallisneri (2012 Phys. Rev. D86 082001) recently proposed an approximate scheme to compute the Bayes factor between a GR gravitational-wave model and a model representing a class of alternative theories of gravity parametrized by one additional parameter. This approximate scheme is based on only two easy-to-compute quantities: the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the signal and the fitting factor (FF) between the signal and the manifold of possible waveforms within GR. In this work, we compare the prediction from the approximate formula against an exact numerical calculation of the Bayes factor using the lalinference library. We find that, using frequency-domain waveforms, the approximate scheme predicts exact results with good accuracy, providing the correct scaling with the SNR at a FF value of 0.992 and the correct scaling with the FF at a SNR of 20, down to a FF of . We extend the framework for the approximate calculation of the Bayes factor, which significantly increases its range of validity, at least to FFs of or higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black-hole binary coalescences are one of the most promising sources for the first detection of gravitational waves. Fast and accurate theoretical models of the gravitational radiation emitted from these coalescences are highly important for the detection and extraction of physical parameters. Spinning effective-one-body models for binaries with aligned-spins have been shown to be highly faithful, but are slow to generate and thus have not yet been used for parameter estimation (PE) studies. I provide a frequency-domain singular value decomposition-based surrogate reduced order model that is thousands of times faster for typical system masses and has a faithfulness mismatch of better than ∼0.1% with the original SEOBNRv1 model for advanced LIGO detectors. This model enables PE studies up to signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) of 20 and even up to 50 for total masses below . This paper discusses various choices for approximations and interpolation over the parameter space that can be made for reduced order models of spinning compact binaries, provides a detailed discussion of errors arising in the construction and assesses the fidelity of such models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the use of a Hamiltonian Monte–Carlo to map out the posterior density function for supermassive black hole binaries. While previous Markov Chain Monte–Carlo (MCMC) methods, such as Metropolis–Hastings MCMC, have been successfully employed for a number of different gravitational wave sources, these methods are essentially random walk algorithms. The Hamiltonian Monte–Carlo treats the inverse likelihood surface as a ‘gravitational potential’ and by introducing canonical positions and momenta, dynamically evolves the Markov chain by solving Hamiltonʼs equations of motion. This method is not as widely used as other MCMC algorithms due to the necessity of calculating gradients of the log-likelihood, which for most applications results in a bottleneck that makes the algorithm computationally prohibitive. We circumvent this problem by using accepted initial phase-space trajectory points to analytically fit for each of the individual gradients. Eliminating the waveform generation needed for the numerical derivatives reduces the total number of required templates for a iteration chain from to . The result is in an implementation of the Hamiltonian Monte–Carlo that is faster, and more efficient by a factor of approximately the dimension of the parameter space, than a Hessian MCMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the difficulty of direct observation, mergers of intermediate-mass black hole binaries are relatively less understood compared to stellar-mass binaries; however, the gravitational waves from their last few orbits and ringdown fall in the band of ground-based detectors. Because the typical source is expected to circularize prior to entering LIGO or VIRGO's range, inspiral searches concentrate on circularized binaries. It is possible that events will be missed if there are sources with residual eccentricity. We study the variation of the signal to noise present in the dominant mode of the eccentric evolutions as a function of mass and eccentricity and also the relative contribution of the signal in the various spherical harmonic modes. The energy radiated in gravitational waves increases with eccentricity until the eccentricity becomes too high, leading to plunging trajectories, at which point the energy radiated decreases. This enhancement of the energy for initial eccentricities near the transition value translates into larger signal-to-noise ratios. Consequently despite the anticipated loss in the signal-to-noise ratio due to the use of quasi-circular detection templates, some eccentric signals potentially may be seen farther out than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LISA space mission, designed to monitor low frequency gravitational waves, is also sensitive to passages of asteroids nearby one of its three spacecrafts. We report the expected rate of detections of asteroid passages, using the known catalog of asteroids and a modeled population. The method adopted consists of determining for each known asteroid the critical encounter distance capable of producing a detectable event, and then computing the rate of encounters within this distance. Results are then scaled to the modeled population using its differential distribution in absolute magnitude, correcting for selection effects. We find that an average of 2.0 +- 0.1 events per year at a signal-to-noise ratio of 1 will be detected by LISA, including all the asteroids in the modeled population with absolute magnitude H < 22, roughly equivalent to all asteroids with a diameter larger than 100 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A search for periodic gravitational-wave signals from isolated neutron stars in the NAUTILUS detector data is presented. We have analyzed half a year of data over the frequency band [?]922.2; 923.2[?] Hz, the spindown range [?] [?] 1.463 × 10[?]8; 0[?] Hz/s and over the entire sky. We have divided the data into two day stretches and we have analyzed each stretch coherently using matched filtering. We have imposed a low threshold for the optimal detection statistic to obtain a set of candidates that are further examined for coincidences among various data stretches. For some candidates we have also investigated the change of the signal-to-noise ratio when we increase the observation time from 2 to 4 days. Our analysis has not revealed any gravitational-wave signals. Therefore we have imposed upper limits on the dimensionless gravitational-wave amplitude over the parameter space that we have searched. Depending on frequency, our upper limit ranges from 3.4 × 10[?]23 to 1.3 × 10[?]22. We have attempted a statistical verification of the hypotheses leading to our conclusions. We estimate that our upper limit is accurate to within 18%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a simple framework to assess the LISA scientific performance (more specifically, its sensitivity and expected parameter-estimation precision for prescribed gravitational-wave signals) under the assumption of failure of one or two inter-spacecraft laser measurements (links) and of one to four intra-spacecraft laser measurements. We apply the framework to the simple case of measuring the LISA sensitivity to monochromatic circular binaries, and the LISA parameter-estimation precision for the gravitational-wave polarization angle of these systems. Compared to the six-link baseline configuration, the five-link case is characterized by a small loss in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the high-frequency section of the LISA band; the four-link case shows a reduction by a factor of \sqrt{2} at low frequencies, and by up to [?]2 at high frequencies. The uncertainty in the estimate of polarization, as computed in the Fisher-matrix formalism, also worsens when moving from six to five, and then to four links: this can be explained by the reduced SNR available in those configurations (except for observations shorter than three months, where five and six links do better than four even with the same SNR). In addition, we prove (for generic signals) that the SNR and Fisher matrix are invariant with respect to the choice of a basis of TDI observables; rather, they depend only on which inter-spacecraft and intra-spacecraft measurements are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]