arXiv subjects

Andrzej Krolak

Publications and source records attributed to Andrzej Krolak.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Search for Long-Transient Gravitational Waves from Supernova SN2023ixf using GFH-v2 Pipeline

We present a directed search for long-transient gravitational waves from the possible newborn magnetar remnant of SN2023ixf, a nearby Type II core-collapse supernova in the M101 galaxy. The analysis uses LIGO Hanford and Livingston data from Engineering Run 15, using coincident data lying within the on-source window associated with the supernova. We target signals from a rapidly rotating, non-axisymmetric neutron star whose spin-down is dominated by gravitational-wave emission, producing a power-law decrease in frequency and a corresponding decrease in strain amplitude. The search is performed with the GFH-v2 pipeline, based on the Generalized Frequency Hough transform. No candidate survives the coincidence and follow-up analysis. We therefore set upper limits on the maximum detectable distance as a function of initial frequency and ellipticity. For the highest ellipticity interval, the 90% upper limits reach distances of about 1-2.5~Mpc across most of the analysed band. Although these limits are below the distance to M101, the search provides the first application of GFH-v2 to a nearby core-collapse supernova and characterizes its performance on real detector data.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2026

Mode decomposition methods for the analysis of black hole ringdown signals

The ringdown phase of a binary black hole merger encodes fundamental information about the remnant through its quasinormal mode (QNM) spectrum. Extracting multiple modes from gravitational-wave data is essential for black-hole spectroscopy but remains challenging due to the short duration of the signal, limited signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and interference between modes. In this work, we investigate the applicability of Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and Variational Mode Decomposition (VMD) to the analysis of post-merger gravitational-wave signals. Using Monte Carlo simulations of noisy ringdown signals composed of pairs of QNMs, we assessed the ability of these methods to separate the two modes and estimate their frequencies. The instantaneous frequency is obtained via the Hilbert transform (HT) and our new proposed method, named instantaneous frequency and amplitude determination (IFAD). We analyze performance over a wide range of SNR values relevant to current and future gravitational-wave detectors. Our results show that both EMD and VMD can resolve multiple modes, and VMD provides significantly more accurate frequency estimates. We also introduce a modified instantaneous frequency estimator that improves accuracy over the Hilbert transform. The study quantifies the conditions under which two-mode resolution is feasible and highlights the limitations imposed by closely spaced mode frequencies and short signal duration. These results are relevant for current observations and for future high-SNR detections expected from space-based and next-generation ground detectors.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

On the stability of a superspinar

The superspinar proposed by Gimon and Horava is a rapidly rotating compact entity whose exterior is described by the over-spinning Kerr geometry. The compact entity itself is expected to be governed by superstringy effects, and in astrophysical scenarios it can give rise to interesting observable phenomena. Earlier it was suggested that the superspinar may not be stable but we point out here that this does not necessarily follow from earlier studies. We show, by analytically treating the Teukolsky equations by Detwiler's method, that in fact there are infinitely many boundary conditions that make the superspinar stable, and that the modes will decay in time. It follows that we need to know more on the physical nature of the superspinar in order to decide on its stability in physical reality.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

A comparison of methods for the detection of gravitational waves from unknown neutron stars

Rapidly rotating neutron stars are promising sources of continuous gravitational wave radiation for the LIGO and Virgo interferometers. The majority of neutron stars in our galaxy have not been identified with electromagnetic observations. All-sky searches for isolated neutron stars offer the potential to detect gravitational waves from these unidentified sources. The parameter space of these blind all-sky searches, which also cover a large range of frequencies and frequency derivatives, presents a significant computational challenge. Different methods have been designed to perform these searches within acceptable computational limits. Here we describe the first benchmark in a project to compare the search methods currently available for the detection of unknown isolated neutron stars. We employ a mock data challenge to compare the ability of each search method to recover signals simulated assuming a standard signal model. We find similar performance among the short duration search methods, while the long duration search method achieves up to a factor of two higher sensitivity. We find the absence of second derivative frequency in the search parameter space does not degrade search sensivity for signals with physically plausible second derivative frequencies. We also report on the parameter estimation accuracy of each search method, and the stability of the sensitivity in frequency, frequency derivative and in the presence of detector noise.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2007

Report on the second Mock LISA Data Challenge

The Mock LISA Data Challenges are a program to demonstrate LISA data-analysis capabilities and to encourage their development. Each round of challenges consists of several data sets containing simulated instrument noise and gravitational-wave sources of undisclosed parameters. Participants are asked to analyze the data sets and report the maximum information about source parameters. The challenges are being released in rounds of increasing complexity and realism: in this proceeding we present the results of Challenge 2, issued in January 2007, which successfully demonstrated the recovery of signals from supermassive black-hole binaries, from ~20,000 overlapping Galactic white-dwarf binaries, and from the extreme-mass-ratio inspirals of compact objects into central galactic black holes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2007

Optimal filtering of the LISA data

The LISA time-delay-interferometry responses to a gravitational-wave signal are rewritten in a form that accounts for the motion of the LISA constellation around the Sun; the responses are given in closed analytic forms valid for any frequency in the band accessible to LISA. We then present a complete procedure, based on the principle of maximum likelihood, to search for stellar-mass binary systems in the LISA data. We define the required optimal filters, the amplitude-maximized detection statistic (analogous to the F statistic used in pulsar searches with ground-based interferometers), and discuss the false-alarm and detection probabilities. We test the procedure in numerical simulations of gravitational-wave detection.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2005

The White Dwarf -- White Dwarf galactic background in the LISA data

LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) is a proposed space mission, which will use coherent laser beams exchanged between three remote spacecraft to detect and study low-frequency cosmic gravitational radiation. In the low-part of its frequency band, the LISA strain sensitivity will be dominated by the incoherent superposition of hundreds of millions of gravitational wave signals radiated by inspiraling white-dwarf binaries present in our own galaxy. In order to estimate the magnitude of the LISA response to this background, we have simulated a synthesized population that recently appeared in the literature. We find the amplitude of the galactic white-dwarf binary background in the LISA data to be modulated in time, reaching a minimum equal to about twice that of the LISA noise for a period of about two months around the time when the Sun-LISA direction is roughly oriented towards the Autumn equinox. Since the galactic white-dwarfs background will be observed by LISA not as a stationary but rather as a cyclostationary random process with a period of one year, we summarize the theory of cyclostationary random processes, present the corresponding generalized spectral method needed to characterize such process, and make a comparison between our analytic results and those obtained by applying our method to the simulated data. We find that, by measuring the generalized spectral components of the white-dwarf background, LISA will be able to infer properties of the distribution of the white-dwarfs binary systems present in our Galaxy.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2003

Resolving signals in the LISA data

We estimate the upper frequency cutoff of the galactic white dwarf binaries gravitational wave background that will be observable by the LISA detector. This is done by including the modulation of the gravitational wave signal due the motion of the detector around the Sun. We find this frequency cutoff to be equal to $10^{-3.0}$Hz, a factor of 2 smaller than the values previously derived. This implies an increase in the number of resolvable signals in the LISA band by a factor of about 4. Our theoretical derivation is complemented by a numerical simulation, which shows that by using the maximum likelihood estimation technique it is possible to accurately estimate the parameters of the resolvable signals and then remove them from the LISA data.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2000

Resampled random processes in gravitational-wave data analysis

The detection of continuous gravitational-wave signals requires to account for the motion of the detector with respect to the solar system barycenter in the data analysis. In order to search efficiently for such signals by means of the fast Fourier transform the data needs to be transformed from the topocentric time to the barycentric time by means of resampling. The resampled data form a non-stationary random process. In this communication we prove that this non-stationary random process is mathematically well defined, and show that generalizations of the fundamental results for stationary processes, like Wiener-Khintchine theorem and Cramèr representation, exist.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2000

New properties of Cauchy and event horizons

We present several recent results concerning Cauchy and event horizons. In the first part of the paper we review the differentiablity properties of the Cauchy and the event horizons. In the second part we discuss compact Cauchy horizons and summarize their main properties.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2000

Nature of singularities in gravitational collapse

We discuss several aspects of cosmic censorship hypothesis. There is evidence both in favor and against the hypothesis. On one hand one can prove that cosmic censorship holds in several special cases and on the other hand there is a number of special solutions of Einstein equations in which it is violated. One way to resolve cosmic censorship problem is to test it observationally. We point out to several possibilities of such tests using present and future instruments.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

Data Analysis for Continuous Gravitational-Wave Signals

The main problem that we will face in the data analysis for continuous gravitational-wave sources is processing of a very long time series and a very large parameter space. We present a number of analytic and numerical tools that can be useful in such a data analysis. These consist of methods to calculate false alarm probabilities, use of probabilistic algorithms, application of signal splitting, and accurate estimation of parameters by means of optimization algorithms.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

On the differentiability of Cauchy horizons

Chrusciel and Galloway constructed a Cauchy horizon that is nondifferentiable on a dense set. We prove that in a certain class of Cauchy horizons densely nondifferentiable Cauchy horizons are generic. We show that our class of densely nondifferentiable Cauchy horizons implies the existence of densely nondifferentiable Cauchy horizons arising from partial Cauchy surfaces and also the existence of densely nondifferentiable black hole event horizons.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

Data analysis of gravitational-wave signals from spinning neutron stars. III. Detection statistics and computational requirements

We develop the analytic and numerical tools for data analysis of the gravitational-wave signals from spinning neutron stars for ground-based laser interferometric detectors. We study in detail the statistical properties of the optimum functional that need to be calculated in order to detect the gravitational-wave signal from a spinning neutron star and estimate its parameters. We derive formulae for false alarm and detection probabilities both for the optimal and the suboptimal filters. We assess the computational requirements needed to do the signal search. We compare a number of criteria to build sufficiently accurate templates for our data analysis scheme. We verify the validity of our concepts and formulae by means of the Monte Carlo simulations. We present algorithms by which one can estimate the parameters of the continuous signals accurately.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1997

Cauchy Horizon Endpoints and Differentiability

Cauchy horizons are shown to be differentiable at endpoints where only a single null generator leaves the horizon. A Cauchy horizon fails to have any null generator endpoints on a given open subset iff it is differentiable on the open subset and also iff the horizon is (at least) of class C^1 on the open subset. Given the null convergence condition, a compact horizon which is of class C^2 almost everywhere has no endpoints and is (at least) of class C^1 at all points.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1996

Naked strong curvature singularities in Szekeres space-times

We investigate the occurrence and nature of naked singularities in the Szekeres space-times. These space-times represent irrotational dust. They do not have any Killing vectors and they are generalisations of the Tolman-Bondi-Lemaitre space-times. It is shown that in these space-times there exist naked singularities that satisfy both the limiting focusing condition and the strong limiting focusing condition. The implications of this result for the cosmic censorship hypothesis are discussed.

gr-qc↗