arXiv subjects

Gregory Mendell

Publications and source records attributed to Gregory Mendell.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2021

Characterization of systematic error in Advanced LIGO calibration in the second half of O3

We present the probability distribution of the systematic errors in the most accurate, high-latency version of the reconstructed dimensionless strain $h$, at the Hanford and Livingston LIGO detectors, used for gravitational-wave astrophysical analysis, including parameter estimation, in the last five months of the third observing run (O3B). This work extends the results presented in Sun et. al (2020) [1] for the first six months of the third observing run (O3A). The complex-valued, frequency-dependent, and slowly time-varying systematic error (excursion from unity magnitude and zero phase) in O3B generally remains at a consistent level as in O3A, yet changes of detector configurations in O3B have introduced a non-negligible change in the frequency dependence of the error, leading to larger excursions from unity at some frequencies and/or during some observational periods; in some other periods the excursions are smaller than those in O3A. For O3B, the upper limit on the systematic error and associated uncertainty is 11.29% in magnitude and 9.18 deg in phase (68% confidence interval) in the most sensitive frequency band 20-2000 Hz. The systematic error alone is estimated at levels of < 2% in magnitude and $\lesssim 4$ deg in phase. These errors and uncertainties are dominated by the imperfect modeling of the frequency dependence of the detector response functions rather than the uncertainty in the absolute reference, the photon calibrators.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

Characterization of systematic error in Advanced LIGO calibration

The raw outputs of the detectors within the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory need to be calibrated in order to produce the estimate of the dimensionless strain used for astrophysical analyses. The two detectors have been upgraded since the second observing run and finished the year-long third observing run. Understanding, accounting, and/or compensating for the complex-valued response of each part of the upgraded detectors improves the overall accuracy of the estimated detector response to gravitational waves. We describe improved understanding and methods used to quantify the response of each detector, with a dedicated effort to define all places where systematic error plays a role. We use the detectors as they stand in the first half (six months) of the third observing run to demonstrate how each identified systematic error impacts the estimated strain and constrain the statistical uncertainty therein. For this time period, we estimate the upper limit on systematic error and associated uncertainty to be $< 7\%$ in magnitude and $< 4$ deg in phase ($68\%$ confidence interval) in the most sensitive frequency band 20-2000 Hz. The systematic error alone is estimated at levels of $< 2\%$ in magnitude and $< 2$ deg in phase.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2020

A self-consistent method to estimate the rate of compact binary coalescences with a Poisson mixture model

The recently published GWTC-1 - a journal article summarizing the search for gravitational waves (GWs) from coalescing compact binaries in data produced by the LIGO-Virgo network of ground-based detectors during their first and second observing runs - quoted estimates for the rates of binary neutron star, neutron star black hole binary, and binary black hole mergers, as well as assigned probabilities of astrophysical origin for various significant and marginal GW candidate events. In this paper, we delineate the formalism used to compute these rates and probabilities, which assumes that triggers above a low ranking statistic threshold, whether of terrestrial or astrophysical origin, occur as independent Poisson processes. In particular, we include an arbitrary number of astrophysical categories by redistributing, via mass-based template weighting, the foreground probabilities of candidate events, across source classes. We evaluate this formalism on synthetic GW data, and demonstrate that this method works well for the kind of GW signals observed during the first and second observing runs.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2008

Using generalized PowerFlux methods to estimate the parameters of periodic gravitational waves

We investigate methods to estimate the parameters of the gravitational-wave signal from a spinning neutron star using Fourier transformed segments of the strain response from an interferometric detector. Estimating the parameters from the power, we find generalizations of the PowerFlux method. Using simulated elliptically polarized signals injected into Gaussian noise, we apply the generalized methods to estimate the squared amplitudes of the plus and cross polarizations (and, in the most general case, the polarization angle), and test the relative detection efficiencies of the various methods.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2002

The r-modes in accreting neutron stars with magneto-viscous boundary layers

We explore the dynamics of the r-modes in accreting neutron stars in two ways. First, we explore how dissipation in the magneto-viscous boundary layer (MVBL) at the crust-core interface governs the damping of r-mode perturbations in the fluid interior. Two models are considered: one assuming an ordinary-fluid interior, the other taking the core to consist of superfluid neutrons, type II superconducting protons, and normal electrons. We show, within our approximations, that no solution to the magnetohydrodynamic equations exists in the superfluid model when both the neutron and proton vortices are pinned. However, if just one species of vortex is pinned, we can find solutions. When the neutron vortices are pinned and the proton vortices are unpinned there is much more dissipation than in the ordinary-fluid model, unless the pinning is weak. When the proton vortices are pinned and the neutron vortices are unpinned the dissipation is comparable or slightly less than that for the ordinary-fluid model, even when the pinning is strong. We also find in the superfluid model that relatively weak radial magnetic fields ~ 10^9 G (10^8 K / T)^2 greatly affect the MVBL, though the effects of mutual friction tend to counteract the magnetic effects. Second, we evolve our two models in time, accounting for accretion, and explore how the magnetic field strength, the r-mode saturation amplitude, and the accretion rate affect the cyclic evolution of these stars. If the r-modes control the spin cycles of accreting neutron stars we find that magnetic fields can affect the clustering of the spin frequencies of low mass x-ray binaries (LMXBs) and the fraction of these that are currently emitting gravitational waves.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2001

Magnetic effects on the viscous boundary layer damping of the r-modes in neutron stars

This paper explores the effects that magnetic fields have on the viscous boundary layers (VBLs) that can form in neutron stars at the crust-core interface, and it investigates the VBL damping of the gravitational-radiation driven r-mode instability. Approximate solutions to the magnetohydrodynamic equations valid in the VBL are found for ordinary-fluid neutron stars. It is shown that magnetic fields above 10^9 Gauss significantly change the structure of the VBL, and that magnetic fields decrease the VBL damping time. Furthermore, VBL damping completely suppresses the r-mode instability for B >= 10^{12} Gauss. Thus, magnetic fields will profoundly affect the VBL damping of the r-mode instability in hot young pulsars (that are cool enough to have formed a solid crust). One can speculate that magnetic fields can affect the VBL damping of this instability in LMXBs and other cold old pulsars (if they have sufficiently large internal fields).

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

R-Modes in Superfluid Neutron Stars

The analogs of r-modes in superfluid neutron stars are studied here. These modes, which are governed primarily by the Coriolis force, are identical to their ordinary-fluid counterparts at the lowest order in the small angular-velocity expansion used here. The equations that determine the next order terms are derived and solved numerically for fairly realistic superfluid neutron-star models. The damping of these modes by superfluid ``mutual friction'' (which vanishes at the lowest order in this expansion) is found to have a characteristic time-scale of about 10^4 s for the m=2 r-mode in a ``typical'' superfluid neutron-star model. This time-scale is far too long to allow mutual friction to suppress the recently discovered gravitational radiation driven instability in the r-modes. However, the strength of the mutual friction damping depends very sensitively on the details of the neutron-star core superfluid. A small fraction of the presently acceptable range of superfluid models have characteristic mutual friction damping times that are short enough (i.e. shorter than about 5 s) to suppress the gravitational radiation driven instability completely.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1999

Second-order rotational effects on the r-modes of neutron stars

Techniques are developed here for evaluating the r-modes of rotating neutron stars through second order in the angular velocity of the star. Second-order corrections to the frequencies and eigenfunctions for these modes are evaluated for neutron star models. The second-order eigenfunctions for these modes are determined here by solving an unusual inhomogeneous hyperbolic boundary-value problem. The numerical techniques developed to solve this unusual problem are somewhat non-standard and may well be of interest beyond the particular application here. The bulk-viscosity coupling to the r-modes, which appears first at second order, is evaluated. The bulk-viscosity timescales are found here to be longer than previous estimates for normal neutron stars, but shorter than previous estimates for strange stars. These new timescales do not substantially affect the current picture of the gravitational radiation driven instability of the r-modes either for neutron stars or for strange stars.

gr-qc↗

arXiv1997

Magnetohydrodynamics in Superconducting-Superfluid Neutron Stars

MHD equations are presented for the mixture of superfluid neutrons, superconducting protons, and normal electrons believed to exist in the outer cores of neutron stars. The dissipative effects of electron viscosity and mutual friction due to electron-vortex scattering are also included. It is shown that Alfven waves are replaced by cyclotron- vortex waves that have not been previously derived from MHD theory. The cyclotron- vortex waves are analogous to Alfven waves with the tension due to the magnetic energy density replaced by the vortex energy density. The equations are then put into a simplified form useful for studying the effects of the interior magnetic field on the dynamics. Of particular interest is the crust-core coupling time which can be inferred from pulsar glitch observations. The hypothesis that cyclotron-vortex waves play a significant role in the core spin-up during a glitch is used to place limits on the interior magnetic field. The results are compared with those of other studies.

astro-ph↗

arXiv1997

Relativistic Stellar Pulsations With Near-Zone Boundary Conditions

A new method is presented here for evaluating approximately the pulsation modes of relativistic stellar models. This approximation relies on the fact that gravitational radiation influences these modes only on timescales that are much longer than the basic hydrodynamic timescale of the system. This makes it possible to impose the boundary conditions on the gravitational potentials at the surface of the star rather than in the asymptotic wave zone of the gravitational field. This approximation is tested here by predicting the frequencies of the outgoing non-radial hydrodynamic modes of non-rotating stars. The real parts of the frequencies are determined with an accuracy that is better than our knowledge of the exact frequencies (about 0.01%) except in the most relativistic models where it decreases to about 0.1%. The imaginary parts of the frequencies are determined with an accuracy of approximately M/R, where M is the mass and R is the radius of the star in question.

gr-qc↗