RUI: Coherent And Coincident Gravitational Wave Searches With LIGO And Other Detectors

Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans LA

Investigators

Abstract

Gravitational wave physics is in a historically significant phase at the moment: sensitive gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO inspire us with the prospect of for the first direct detection of gravitational waves, before the decade is out. Analysis of increasingly frequent gravitational wave observations in the period to follow will provide an entirely new source of astrophysical and cosmological information, supplementing the range of information available from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and from cosmic ray and neutrino observations. This research program will develop and implement gravitational wave data analysis, with the unifying theme of analyzing data from different detectors either coherently (with multiple data streams analyzed as a whole) or in coincidence (with each detector's data analyzed separately and then conclusions drawn based on the combination of the results from the different detectors). The research will focus on data from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) sites in Livingston, LA (LLO) and Hanford, WA (LHO) and the ALLEGRO resonant bar detector in Baton Rouge, LA. The primary focus of the research is on a particular coherent analysis, the search for a stochastic (random) background of gravitational waves akin to the electromagnetic Cosmic Microwave Background. This project will have a broad impact on the educational environment at Loyola University New Orleans, a primarily undergraduate university in Louisiana. It will do this directly by incorporating students into the project as research assistants, and also by allowing the PI, as tenure-track faculty member, to remain active in groundbreaking research.