Implementation and testing of the first prompt search for gravitational wave transients with electromagnetic counterparts

Authors

J. Abadie
Matthew Benacquista, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Teviet Creighton, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Mario C. Diaz, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Soumya Mohanty, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Soma Mukherjee, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Volker Quetschke, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Malik Rakhmanov, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow
Joseph D. Romano, The University of Texas Rio Grande ValleyFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-3-2012

Abstract

Aims. A transient astrophysical event observed in both gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic (EM) channels would yield rich scientific rewards. A first program initiating EM follow-ups to possible transient GW events has been developed and exercised by the LIGO and Virgo community in association with several partners. In this paper, we describe and evaluate the methods used to promptly identify and localize GW event candidates and to request images of targeted sky locations. Methods. During two observing periods (Dec. 17, 2009 to Jan. 8, 2010 and Sep. 2 to Oct. 20, 2010), a low-latency analysis pipeline was used to identify GW event candidates and to reconstruct maps of possible sky locations. A catalog of nearby galaxies and Milky Way globular clusters was used to select the most promising sky positions to be imaged, and this directional information was delivered to EM observatories with time lags of about thirty minutes. A Monte Carlo simulation has been used to evaluate the low-latency GW pipeline's ability to reconstruct source positions correctly. Results. For signals near the detection threshold, our low-latency algorithms often localized simulated GW burst signals to tens of square degrees, while neutron star/neutron star inspirals and neutron star/black hole inspirals were localized to a few hundred square degrees. Localization precision improves for moderately stronger signals. The correct sky location of signals well above threshold and originating from nearby galaxies may be observed with ∼50% or better probability with a few pointings of wide-field telescopes. © 2012 ESO.

Comments

© Astronomy and Astrophysics. Original version available at: http://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201118219

Recommended Citation

Abadie, J., B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, M. Abernathy, T. Accadia, Fausto Acernese et al. "Implementation and testing of the first prompt search for gravitational wave transients with electromagnetic counterparts." Astronomy & Astrophysics 539 (2012): A124. http://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201118219

Publication Title

Astronomy and Astrophysics

DOI

10.1051/0004-6361/201118219