RUI: Coherent And Coincident Gravitational Wave Searches With LIGO And Other Detectors

引力波物理学目前正处于一个具有历史意义的阶段：灵敏的引力波探测器，如LIGO，激发了我们在十年内首次直接探测到引力波的前景。在接下来的一段时间里，对日益频繁的引力波观测的分析将为天体物理学和宇宙学信息提供一个全新的来源，补充电磁波谱的不同部分以及宇宙射线和中微子观测的可用信息范围。该研究计划将开发和实施引力波数据分析，其统一主题是对来自不同探测器的数据进行连贯分析（将多个数据流作为一个整体进行分析）或巧合分析（将每个探测器的数据单独分析，然后根据不同探测器的结果组合得出结论）。该研究将集中于激光干涉仪引力波天文台（LIGO）位于洛杉矶利文斯顿（LLO）和华盛顿州汉福德（LHO）的站点以及位于洛杉矶巴吞鲁日的ALLEGRO谐振棒探测器的数据。研究的主要重点是一个特定的相干分析，寻找一个随机（随机）背景引力波类似于电磁宇宙微波背景。这个项目将对新奥尔良洛约拉大学的教育环境产生广泛的影响，这是路易斯安那州的一所本科大学。它将通过将学生作为研究助理纳入项目，并允许PI作为终身教职员工继续积极参与开创性研究来直接实现这一目标。

Gravitational wave physics is in a historically significant phase at the moment: sensitive gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO inspire us with the prospect of for the first direct detection of gravitational waves, before the decade is out. Analysis of increasingly frequent gravitational wave observations in the period to follow will provide an entirely new source of astrophysical and cosmological information, supplementing the range of information available from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and from cosmic ray and neutrino observations.This research program will develop and implement gravitational wave data analysis, with the unifying theme of analyzing data from different detectors either coherently (with multiple data streams analyzed as a whole) or in coincidence (with each detector's data analyzed separately and then conclusions drawn based on the combination of the results from the different detectors). The research will focus on data from the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) sites in Livingston, LA (LLO) and Hanford, WA (LHO) and the ALLEGRO resonant bar detector in Baton Rouge, LA. The primary focus of the research is on a particular coherent analysis, the search for a stochastic (random) background of gravitational waves akin to the electromagnetic Cosmic MicrowaveBackground. This project will have a broad impact on the educational environment at Loyola University New Orleans, a primarily undergraduate university in Louisiana. It will do this directly by incorporating students into the project as research assistants, and also by allowing the PI, as tenure-track faculty member, to remain active in groundbreaking research.