Persistent Gravitational Radiation: Sources and LIGO Detection

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This research will analyze the evolution of those rapidly rotating neutron stars that could be sources of persistent quasi-periodic gravitational radiation. The initial focus will be on those neutron stars that have been spun up via continued accretion from a stellar companion. X-ray observations of such binary sources (such as those carried out by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer satellite) will be employed in order to identify promising targets. A parametrized model of the system, which describes the evolution of those properties that determine the gravitational wave frequency and amplitude, will be developed.The Stanford group has been identified by the Astrophysical Source Identification and Signatures Subgroup of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration to lead the effort to develop "robust algorithms" for detection of such sources. Such algorithms produce parametrized predictions of the time dependence of the gravitational radiation, which greatly facilitate its detection by LIGO and other laser interferometer detectors. This research is the first step toward this goal.