Detecting binary compact-object mergers with gravitational waves: Understanding and improving the sensitivity of the PyCBC search

Nitz, Alexander H., Dent, Thomas, Dal Canton, Tito, Fairhurst, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8480-1961 and Brown, Duncan A. 2017. Detecting binary compact-object mergers with gravitational waves: Understanding and improving the sensitivity of the PyCBC search. Astrophysical Journal 849 (2) , 118. 10.3847/1538-4357/aa8f50

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Abstract

We present an improved search for binary compact-object mergers using a network of ground-based gravitationalwave detectors. We model a volumetric, isotropic source population and incorporate the resulting distribution over signal amplitude, time delay, and coalescence phase into the ranking of candidate events. We describe an improved modeling of the background distribution, and demonstrate incorporating a prior model of the binary mass distribution in the ranking of candidate events. We find an ~10% and ~20% increase in detection volume for simulated binary neutron star and neutron star black hole systems, respectively, corresponding to a reduction of the false alarm rates assigned to signals by between one and two orders of magnitude.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Physics and Astronomy
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics
Publisher:	American Astronomical Society
ISSN:	1538-4357
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 December 2017
Date of Acceptance:	24 September 2017
Last Modified:	04 May 2023 23:36
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/107223

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