Award Abstract # 1806824
Extending the Reach of Continous Gravitational Wave Searches

NSF Org: PHY
Division Of Physics
Recipient: ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Initial Amendment Date: August 13, 2018
Latest Amendment Date: June 18, 2020
Award Number: 1806824
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Pedro Marronetti
pmarrone@nsf.gov  (703)292-7372
PHY  Division Of Physics
MPS  Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Start Date: August 15, 2018
End Date: July 31, 2022 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $240,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $240,000.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2018 = $79,271.00
FY 2019 = $79,993.00
FY 2020 = $80,736.00
History of Investigator:
  • John Whelan (Principal Investigator)
     john.whelan@ligo.org
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Rochester Institute of Tech
 1 LOMB MEMORIAL DR
 ROCHESTER
 NY  US  14623-5603
(585)475-7987
Sponsor Congressional District: 25
Primary Place of Performance: Rochester Institute of Tech
 1 Lomb Memorial Drive
 Rochester
 NY  US  14623-5603
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:		 25
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): J6TWTRKC1X14
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): LIGO RESEARCH SUPPORT
Primary Program Source: 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01001920DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s): 125200
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.049

ABSTRACT

With the direct detection of Gravitational Waves (GWs) in Advanced LIGO's first and second observing runs, the era of Gravitational Wave Astronomy is upon us. Gravitational waves, distortions of the geometry and space and time predicted by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity, provide a new window on the universe, allowing us to supplement the range of information available from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and from cosmic ray and neutrino observations. The GW signals observed so far have been short-lived, and from the final stages of black holes and neutron stats orbiting into one another. This project is aimed at detection of long-lived GWs from rapidly spinning neutron stars, extremely dense objects more massive than the Sun and the size of a city, spinning tens to hundreds of times every second. The main targets for this search are neutron stars in binary orbits with lower-mass stars. The neutron stars attract material from their companions, which powers their rotation and emits X-rays, allowing a multimessenger analysis.

This project will involve faculty and students of the Rochester Institute of Technology, who will broaden the multimessenger effort to search for GWs from low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) in several ways: 1) ensuring the search for Scorpius X-1, the brightest LMXB, is as sensitive as possible with algorithmic improvements and mock data validation, 2) expanding the search to other LMXBs, and 3) implementing a hierarchical followup to existing searches for unknown neutron stars in binary systems. The group will also enhance the sensitivity of a variety of continuous-wave searches by incorporating an improved detection statistic into the LSC algorithm library. The search for the Sco X-1, as well as accreting binaries J1751-305, Cygnus X-3, and 4U 1636-536, is considered a highest priority by the LIGO scientific collaboration, and this award will be instrumental in maximizing its success.

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.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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(Showing: 1 - 10 of 65)
Abbott, B. P. "Low-latency Gravitational-wave Alerts for Multimessenger Astronomy during the Second Advanced LIGO and Virgo Observing Run" The Astrophysical Journal , v.875 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab0e8f Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, A. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, "Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo network" Physical Review D , v.100 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.064064 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "A Gravitational-wave Measurement of the Hubble Constant Following the Second Observing Run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo" The Astrophysical Journal , v.909 , 2021 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abdcb7 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "All-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars using Advanced LIGO O2 data" Physical Review D , v.100 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.024004 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "All-sky search for long-duration gravitational-wave transients in the second Advanced LIGO observing run" Physical Review D , v.99 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.104033 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "All-sky search for short gravitational-wave bursts in the second Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo run" Physical Review D , v.100 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.024017 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "Binary Black Hole Population Properties Inferred from the First and Second Observing Runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo" The Astrophysical Journal , v.882 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab3800 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "Directional limits on persistent gravitational waves using data from Advanced LIGOs first two observing runs" Physical Review D , v.100 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.062001 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "GW190425: Observation of a Compact Binary Coalescence with Total Mass 3.4 M " The Astrophysical Journal , v.892 , 2020 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab75f5 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs" Physical Review X , v.9 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.9.031040 Citation Details
Abbott, B. P. and Abbott, R. and Abbott, T. D. and Abraham, S. and Acernese, F. and Ackley, K. and Adams, C. and Adhikari, R. X. and Adya, V. B. and Affeldt, C. and Agathos, M. and Agatsuma, K. and Aggarwal, N. and Aguiar, O. D. and Aiello, L. and Ain, A. "Narrow-band search for gravitational waves from known pulsars using the second LIGO observing run" Physical Review D , v.99 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.122002 Citation Details
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 65)

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

The goals of this project were to improve and apply methods to search for gravitational waves (GWs, distortions of spacetime, travelling at the speed of light, which are predicted by Einstein's General Relativity) with advanced gravitational wave detectors.  The third observing run (O3) of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors was conducted from April 2019 to March 2020, and led to numerous observational results from searches for a variety of astrophysical sources.

Important outcomes of the award:

A major objective of the project was the search for gravitational waves from a spinning neutron star in a low-mass X-ray binary system, specifically Scorpius X-1.  (The gravitational waves in this case come not from the orbit of the neutron star, but from the fact that it's deformed and spinning.)  This is one of the most promising continuous GW sources, with a predicted signal strength that may be within the reach of advanced detectors.

Graduate student Jared Wofford and PI John Whelan led a search for GWs from Sco X-1 in LIGO O3 data.  The sensitivity of this search for the first time reached the important benchmark of the inclination-averaged torque balance model.  The upper limits set by the search begin to constrain possible models of the accretion of matter onto the neutron star in Sco X-1.

In order to carry out the search efficiently, graduate student Katelyn Wagner, together with Whelan, Wofford and a collaborator in Australia, implemented an improved template placement scheme.  This more efficiently chose sets of values for the unknown parameters of the binary system (especially orbital period and phase), and allowed a sensitive search to be done with fewer computing resources than the older method.  This work was begun under PI Whelan's supervision as part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates program in Multi-Messenger Astrophysics, and continued as Wagner's Master's project.

In addition, a paper was brought to publication in the first year of the project which demonstrated an effective approximation for a detection statistic for continuous waves.  This work was carried out by prior master's student John J. Bero under the supervision of PI Whelan.

Broader impacts of the award included career development for graduate students Wofford (who visited Goethe University Frankfurt along with PI Whelan) and Wagner.  Gravitational wave science was also disseminated both at institutions beyond the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and at international conferences.


Last Modified: 11/28/2022
Modified by: John T Whelan

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