Support for LIGO Data Analysis Activities at the University of Texas at Brownsville.

The University Of Texas At Brownsville, Brownsville TX

Investigators

Abstract

The emerging field of gravitational wave (GW) astronomy has entered an exciting phase with several large-scale detectors, the most sensitive being the NSF supported LIGO detectors, now operating and collecting data. Since GW signals are weak compared to the intrinsic noise in the detectors, success in detecting and measuring these signals depends critically on the use of powerful data analysis techniques. S.D. Mohanty (PI), S. Mukherjee (co-PI) and J. Romano (co-PI) will work on data analysis projects in three key areas: (1) search for GWs from Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), (2) characterizing the statistical properties of detector noise and (3) search for stochastic GW signals. There will be a significant effort directed at education and outreach. Lecture modules anchored to the above research projects and incorporating hands-on activities will be developed. Among other venues, the lectures will be given during "The 21st Century Astronomy Ambassador's Program," at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) which targets local high school students from the predominantly Hispanic population of Brownsville and neighboring areas. The research projects above are motivated by exciting possibilities. GRBs are the most energetic explosions in the Universe yet known. The SWIFT mission operated by NASA is dedicated to observing these enigmatic events. GRBs arise if a black hole is formed as an end product of the death of a star. If we could detect and measure the GW signature of GRBs, we could learn a lot about the formation process of the black hole. Stochastic GW signals could arise from a variety of possible sources, such as the superposition of many weak and otherwise unobserved GRBs. However, the most important stochastic signal is the one left over from the Big Bang itself. The detection of this signal will revolutionize our understanding of the origin of the Universe. In order to detect and measure GW signals, it is critical that we understand the noise in our detectors very well. Given the enormous rate of data collection, this work requires exploiting methods at the frontiers of research in statistics, data mining and machine learning. These research projects will expose students at UTB, a minority serving institution, to the cutting edge of astronomy and astrophysics. Education and outreach to a community that is traditionally under-represented in science and technology will help promote greater interest in these areas. The activities involving high school students will be an essential tool in helping to recruit them into the physical sciences, thus helping to advance NSF's mission of increasing minority participation in this area.