Toward Enabling the Detection of Compact Binary Coalescences and their Astrophysical Characterization with a Network of Second-Generation Gravitational-Wave Interferometers

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This project will support the development, testing, and subsequent implementation of a fast data analysis pipeline for searching gravitational-wave (GW) signals from compact binary coalescences (CBCs) in the data of Advanced LIGO (aLIGO) and other second-generation detectors. These detectors are expected to make the first direct observations of gravitational waves and herald the birth of GW astronomy by harnessing information on the distribution of the sources in the sky, distance, masses, and spins. These observations may also shed light on the nature of the host galaxies of CBCs. This project will also support work on aLIGO commissioning and instrumentation at the Hanford site, and the development of rapid detector characterization techniques and tools. To catch a prompt electromagnetic or neutrino emission from a CBC it is critical that the duty factors of the GW detectors be high for sky localization, and detector characterization and background estimation be rapid so that robust GW alerts can be communicated to electromagnetic and neutrino observatories.Rapid detector characterization will facilitate the publishing of gravitational-wave data to the public, with robust data quality flags in hand. This project will also engage the faculty of the Washington State University campuses in Pullman and Tri-Cities in education and outreach on gravitational-wave science. The latter campus caters to a large percentage of Hispanic and Native-American populations, both of which are under-represented, and offers a rare setting for integrating university education with cutting-edge research in gravitation being carried out at a nearby lab.