Extending the Reach of Gravitational-Wave Detectors to Detect Post-Merger Signals from Binary Neutron Stars

This award supports research in relativity and relativistic astrophysics and it addresses the priority areas of NSF's 'Windows on the Universe' Big Idea. Multi-messenger gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy has already shown itself capable of answering fundamental questions about the synthesis of heavy elements and the expansion rate of the Universe. New methods developed here will study the non-astrophysical noise sources, including earthquakes and Earth-wide magnetic fields, and remove those effects from the data. It will also make it possible to detect more neutron star and black hole mergers, in addition to GWs from other astrophysical sources such as exploding stars or the emission from a newly-born neutron star. This work will capitalize on the excitement of GW astronomy to build a new outreach program with a focus on GWs to Minneapolis and St. Paul. The group will use these activities to help students understand what LIGO is and how it detects GW signals in order to make this field accessible and available to a new generation of young scientists.

Multi-messenger gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy has arrived with the detection of the merger of compact binary systems. With Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo pushing towards design sensitivity, continued and new efforts to characterize the detectors and subtract known physical effects from the data is required. This work enables the possibility of detecting more compact binaries, as well as discoveries of GWs from other astrophysical sources. Along with the ongoing advances in instrumentation, the realization of GW astronomy depends critically on continued advances in data analysis capabilities. With the goal of significantly increasing the science reach of the advanced detectors, this project will develop techniques and lead searches with new observing run data. The improved search for long-duration burst GWs from compact binary mergers and other sources will increase our sensitivity to signals belonging to an astrophysically important sector of parameter space. Work on the identification and characterization of the seismic environments will increase the available observing time for the observatories, maximizing both their sensitivity and uptime. The new techniques for subtraction of non-linear signals illuminate all of the information that is possible to extract from the interferometer data, supporting understanding of the detector and increasing sensitivity.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.