Using Supernova Observations in the Electromagnetic Spectrum to Guide LIGO Searches for Gravitational Waves: LIGO Summer Undergraduate Research Report

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Abstract:: Core-collapse supernovae are predicted to be significant sources of gravitational waves; however, their signals are also predicted to lie close to the noise threshold of LIGO even for a galactic event. In order to make a search for true signals from any of these events practical, the time of core collapse must be constrained to a reasonable window within the data. In this project, we have compiled a catalogue of over 100 supernovae of types Ib, Ic, and II within 50 Megaparsecs that occurred after November 2005. The first light visible from a supernova, the shock breakout, is almost never observed directly, so methods must be developed to trace back to that time from observations made days or weeks afterward. We have been able to constrain the shock breakout times to within a few days or less for 8 supernovae based on non-detections made just before discovery. We have begun to use the Expanding Photosphere Method to determine the shock breakout times for type II supernovae once photometry and spectra for each become available, and we are investigating a similar method for the remaining types Ib/c.

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LIGO Document T1000658-v1