Extracting Physics from the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background

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Abstract:: A gravitational-wave background is expected to arise from the superposition of many gravitational- wave signals, which are too weak to detect individually, but which combine to create a ”stochastic” gravitational-wave glow. By measuring the stochastic background, we can probe a wide range of interesting science, from neutron stars to the inflationary epoch shortly after the Big Bang. This project is focused on studying the stochastic gravitational wave background originating from compact binary coalescence sources that we hope to detect with the Advanced LIGO-Virgo detector network. In particular, we are in the process of developing software to analize data from the Advanced LIGO-Virgo network, using Baysian analysis with a Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm to estimate the parameters associated with the stochastic gravitational wave background. We have applied this technique to simulated LIGO data in order to show that it is possible to infer the parameters associated with star formation rate density. Future work will focus on making the software sensitive enough to extract information from tiny signals buried deep in the noise of real LIGO data.

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LIGO Document P1400199-v1