Enabling Confident Burst Gravitational Wave Detections with LIGO Data Quality Investigations

LIGO第一次直接探测到引力波，使人类能够对双星黑洞系统进行范式转换的观测。从那时起，又有数十次引力波探测到，而且都来自同一个来源类别：双星聚合。从这些观测中，我们已经了解了很多关于我们宇宙的知识，但通过观测新的源类，如爆发引力波，还将探索更多的物理现象。爆发是一类引力波，起源于不能自信地模拟或无法预料到的来源。正因为如此，人们对它们知之甚少，但它们有可能导致对我们宇宙的新发现。在该奖项中进行的研究将通过减少使用LIGO搜索爆发引力波的故障的影响，使有信心的爆发引力波探测成为可能。该奖项的重点是培养本科生对这项研究做出重大贡献，正式指导他们进行负责任的研究，并通过与附近的美国直升机博物馆和教育中心(AHMEC)的合作，在专业会议上向专业科学家和公众宣传他们的工作。这项奖励还包括为至少9名处境不利的女孩和年轻妇女(每年3名)提供的学费支持，以参加由AHMEC运营的科技女孩(GIST)方案。提出的研究将通过减少瞬时数据伪影(毛刺)对搜索算法的影响来增加对爆发引力波的候选检测的置信度。对突发引力波的搜索不能对他们寻找的波形做出假设，除非它们是瞬时的，与周围的探测器噪声不相关。正因为如此，猝发搜索算法被设计为检测探测器输出中的统计过剩，并且特别容易受到仪器或其环境产生的毛刺的存在的影响。当突发搜索算法将毛刺识别为潜在的检测候选时，生成意外触发。通过对意外触发分布进行仔细的研究，对突发搜索影响最大的小故障可以通过直接从搜索中删除(否决)来减轻。这一裁决将涉及制定突击搜查的否决权，对基于对存在故障的置信度而降低候选事件重要性的否决权进行调查(而不是简单地排除时间)，自动将现有否决工具的结果应用于突击搜查，根据目前的查询性能衡量突击搜查的可检测范围，以及促进相关工作组之间的协调。这将导致更低的错误警报概率和更高的候选探测置信度，提高爆发引力波搜索的灵敏度，并增加对引力波天文学和多信使天文学不断增长的领域的观测。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

LIGO’s first direct detection of a gravitational wave has allowed humans to make paradigm-shifting observations of a binary black hole system. Since then, there have been tens of additional gravitational wave detections and all have been from the same source class: binary coalescences. Much has been learned about our Universe from these observations, but additional physical phenomena will be explored through observations of new source classes such as burst gravitational waves. Bursts are a class of gravitational waves that originate from sources that can’t be modeled confidently or are unanticipated. Because of this, little is known about them, yet they hold the potential to lead to new discoveries about our Universe. The research conducted in this award will enable confident burst gravitational wave detections by reducing the impact of glitches in the search for burst gravitational waves with LIGO. This award focuses on training undergraduate students to significantly contribute to this research, formally instructing them in the responsible conduct of research, and communicating their work to both professional scientists at professional meetings and the public through a partnership with the nearby American Helicopter Museum and Education Center (AHMEC). This award also includes tuition support for at least 9 disadvantaged girls and young women (3 each year) to participate in the Girls in Science and Technology (GIST) program run by the AHMEC. The research proposed will increase the confidence in candidate detections of burst gravitational waves by decreasing the impact of transient data artifacts (glitches) on their search algorithms. Searches for burst gravitational waves cannot make assumptions about the waveforms they seek other than they are transient and uncorrelated with the ambient detector noise. Because of that, burst search algorithms are designed to detect statistical excesses in the detector output and are particularly susceptible to the presence of glitches originating from the instrument or its environment. An accidental trigger is generated when the burst search algorithm identifies a glitch as a potential detection candidate. By conducting careful studies on the accidental trigger distribution, glitches with the most impact on the burst searches can be mitigated through their direct removal (veto) from searches. This award will involve the development of vetoes for burst searches, investigations into vetoes that reduce the significance of candidate events based on the confidence that a glitch is present (instead of simply excluding the time), automation of applying results from existing veto tools to burst searches, measurement of the detectable range for a burst search based on the current performance of the search, and facilitating coordination between relevant working groups. This will result in a lower false alarm probability and higher confidence of candidate detections, improved sensitivity of the burst gravitational wave searches, and increased observations for the growing fields of gravitational wave astronomy and multi-messenger astronomy.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.