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

该项目将支持快速数据分析管道的开发，测试和后续实施，用于在高级LIGO（aLIGO）和其他第二代探测器的数据中搜索来自紧凑型二元聚结（CBC）的引力波（GW）信号。这些探测器预计将首次直接观测引力波，并通过利用有关源在天空中的分布、距离、质量和自旋的信息，预示着GW天文学的诞生。这些观测也可能揭示CBCs宿主星系的性质。该项目还将支持汉福德基地的aLIGO调试和仪器工作，以及快速探测器表征技术和工具的开发。 为了捕捉CBC的电磁或中微子发射，GW探测器的占空因数必须很高，以便进行天空定位，并且探测器表征和背景估计必须迅速，以便将强大的GW警报传达给电磁和中微子观测站。快速探测器表征将有助于向公众发布引力波数据，并提供强大的数据质量标志。该项目还将使华盛顿州立大学在普尔曼和三城校区的教师参与引力波科学的教育和推广。后者的校园迎合了很大比例的西班牙裔和美国原住民人口，这两个都是代表性不足，并提供了一个罕见的设置整合大学教育与尖端研究的引力正在附近的实验室进行。

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.