RUI: New Parameter Estimation, Data Analysis and Statistical Strategies for LIGO

Carleton College, Northfield MN

Investigators

Abstract

The principal investigator will conduct research with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The effort will be based at Carlton College, an undergraduate institution. The LIGO construction is nearly complete and the facility is being commissioned for operations. A first science run is scheduled for 2002. The focus of this research will be the analysis of data from LIGO. The project involves a new strategy for the statistical analysis of data recorded by LIGO. Over the last decade there has been a revolution in the computational methods for treating Bayesian statistics. Without these new methods the multidimensional integrals over the parameter space make a Bayesian analysis computationally prohibitive. With the new technique known as Markov Chain Monte Carlo the integrals are evaluated by a controlled random walk through the parameter space. This research will apply the techniques of Markov Chain Monte Carlo to LIGO data in an attempt to identify the signature of gravitational radiation and to estimate the parameters of the astrophysical source of the gravitational radiation.