RUI: New Parameter Estimation, Data Analysis and Statistical Strategies for LIGO

首席研究员将与激光干涉仪引力波天文台（LIGO）进行研究。 这项工作将以卡尔顿学院为基础，这是一所本科院校。 LIGO的建设已接近完成，该设施正在投入运营。 第一次科学考察定于2002年进行。 该研究的重点是分析LIGO的数据，该项目涉及对LIGO记录的数据进行统计分析的新策略。 在过去的十年里，贝叶斯统计的计算方法发生了革命。 如果没有这些新方法，参数空间上的多维积分使得贝叶斯分析在计算上是不可行的。与称为马尔可夫链蒙特卡罗的新技术的积分进行评估通过控制随机行走通过参数空间。 本研究将应用马尔可夫链蒙特卡罗方法对LIGO观测数据进行分析，试图识别引力辐射的特征，并估计引力辐射的天体物理源参数。

The principal investigator will conduct research with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO). The effort will be based at Carlton College, an undergraduate institution. The LIGO construction is nearly complete and the facility is being commissioned for operations. A first science run is scheduled for 2002. The focus of this research will be the analysis of data from LIGO.The project involves a new strategy for the statistical analysis of data recorded by LIGO. Over the last decade there has been a revolution in the computational methods for treating Bayesian statistics. Without these new methods the multidimensional integrals over the parameter space make a Bayesian analysis computationally prohibitive. With the new technique known as Markov Chain Monte Carlo the integrals are evaluated by a controlled random walk through the parameter space. This research will apply the techniques of Markov Chain Monte Carlo to LIGO data in an attempt to identify the signature of gravitational radiation and to estimate the parameters of the astrophysical source of the gravitational radiation.