arXiv subjects

Iuri La Rosa

Publications and source records attributed to Iuri La Rosa.

7 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↗

arXiv2025

Harnessing the potential of PyStoch: detecting continuous gravitational waves from interesting supernova remnant targets

Detecting continuous gravitational waves (CWs) is challenging due to their weak amplitude and high computational demands, especially with poorly constrained source parameters. Stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB) searches using cross-correlation techniques can identify unresolved astrophysical sources, including CWs, at lower computational cost, albeit with reduced sensitivity. This motivates a hybrid approach where SGWB algorithms act as a first-pass filter to identify CW candidates for follow-up with dedicated CW pipelines. We evaluated the discovery potential of the SGWB analysis tool PyStoch for detecting CWs, using simulated signals from spinning down NSs. We then applied the method to data from the third LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observing run (O3), covering the (20-1726) Hz frequency band, and targeting four supernova remnants: Vela Jr., G347.3-0.5, Cassiopeia A, and the NS associated with the 1987A supernova remnant. If necessary, significant candidates are followed up using the 5-vector Resampling and Band-Sampled Data Frequency-Hough techniques. However, since no interesting candidates were identified in the real O3 analysis, we set 95\% confidence-level upper limits on the CW strain amplitude $h_0$. The most stringent limit was obtained for Cassiopeia A, and is $h_0 = 1.13 \times 10^{-25}$ at $201.57$ Hz with a frequency resolution of $1/32$ Hz. As for the other targets, the best upper limits have been set with the same frequency resolution, and correspond to $h_0 = 1.20 \times 10^{-25} $ at $202.16$ Hz for G347.3-0.5, $1.20 \times 10^{-25}$ at $217.81$ Hz for Vela Jr., and $1.47 \times 10^{-25}$ at $186.41$ Hz for the NS in the 1987A supernova remnant.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Impact of signal clusters in wide-band searches for continuous gravitational waves

In this paper we present a study of some relevant steps of the hierarchical frequency-Hough (FH) pipeline, used within the LIGO and Virgo Collaborations for wide-parameter space searches of continuous gravitational waves (CWs) emitted, for instance, by spinning neutron stars (NSs). Because of their weak expected amplitudes, CWs have not been still detected so far. These steps, namely the spectral estimation, the {\it peakmap} construction and the procedure to select candidates in the FH plane, are critical as they contribute to determine the final search sensitivity. Here, we are interested in investigating their behavior in the (presently quite) extreme case of signal clusters, due to many and strong CW sources, emitting gravitational waves (GWs) within a small (i.e. <1 Hz wide) frequency range. This could happen for some kinds of CW sources detectable by next generation detectors, like LISA, Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer. Moreover, this possibility has been recently raised even for current Earth-based detectors, in some scenarios of CW emission from ultralight boson clouds around stellar mass black holes (BHs). We quantitatively evaluate the robustness of the FH analysis procedure, designed to minimize the loss of single CW signals, under the unusual situation of signal clusters. Results depend mainly on how strong in amplitude and dense in frequency the signals are, and on the range of frequency they cover. We show that indeed a small sensitivity loss may happen in presence of a very high mean signal density affecting a frequency range of the order of one Hertz, while when the signal cluster covers a frequency range of one tenth of Hertz, or less, we may actually have a sensitivity gain. Overall, we demonstrate the FH to be robust even in presence of moderate-to-large signal clusters.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Probing new light gauge bosons with gravitational-wave interferometers using an adapted semi-coherent method

We adapt a method, originally developed for searches for quasi-monochromatic, quasi-infinite gravitational-wave signals, to directly detect new light gauge bosons with laser interferometers, which could be candidates for dark matter. To search for these particles, we optimally choose the analysis coherence time as a function of boson mass, such that all of the signal power will be confined to one frequency bin. We focus on the dark photon, a gauge boson that could couple to baryon or baryon-lepton number, and explain that its interactions with gravitational-wave interferometers result in a narrow-band, stochastic signal. We provide an end-to-end analysis scheme, estimate its computational cost, and investigate follow-up techniques to confirm or rule out dark matter candidates. Furthermore, we derive a theoretical estimate of the sensitivity, and show that it is consistent with both the empirical sensitivity determined through simulations, and results from a cross-correlation search. Finally, we place Feldman-Cousins upper limits using data from LIGO Livingston's second observing run, which give a new and strong constraint on the coupling of gauge bosons to the interferometer.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

Direct constraints on ultra-light boson mass from searches for continuous gravitational waves

\textit{Superradiance} can trigger the formation of an ultra-light boson cloud around a spinning black hole. Once formed, the boson cloud is expected to emit a nearly periodic, long-duration, gravitational-wave signal. For boson masses in the range $(10^{-13}-10^{-11})$ eV, and stellar mass black holes, such signals are potentially detectable by gravitational wave detectors, like Advanced LIGO and Virgo. In this {\it Letter} we present full band upper limits for a generic all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO O2 data, and use them to derive - for the first time - direct constraints on the ultra-light scalar boson field mass.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

How effective is machine learning to detect long transient gravitational waves from neutron stars in a real search?

We present a comprehensive study of the effectiveness of Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs) to detect long duration transient gravitational-wave signals lasting $O(hours-days)$ from isolated neutron stars. We determine that CNNs are robust towards signal morphologies that differ from the training set, and they do not require many training injections/data to guarantee good detection efficiency and low false alarm probability. In fact, we only need to train one CNN on signal/noise maps in a single 150 Hz band; afterwards, the CNN can distinguish signals/noise well in any band, though with different efficiencies and false alarm probabilities due to the non-stationary noise in LIGO/Virgo. We demonstrate that we can control the false alarm probability for the CNNs by selecting the optimal threshold on the outputs of the CNN, which appears to be frequency dependent. Finally we compare the detection efficiencies of the networks to a well-established algorithm, the Generalized FrequencyHough (GFH), which maps curves in the time/frequency plane to lines in a plane that relates to the initial frequency/spindown of the source. The networks have similar sensitivities to the GFH but are orders of magnitude faster to run and can detect signals to which the GFH is blind. Using the results of our analysis, we propose strategies to apply CNNs to a real search using LIGO/Virgo data to overcome the obstacles that we would encounter, such as a finite amount of training data. We then use our networks and strategies to run a real search for a remnant of GW170817, making this the first time ever that a machine learning method has been applied to search for a gravitational wave signal from an isolated neutron star.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2018

A method to search for long duration gravitational wave transients from isolated neutron stars using the generalized FrequencyHough

We describe a method to detect gravitational waves lasting $O(hours-days)$ emitted by young, isolated neutron stars, such as those that could form after a supernova or a binary neutron star merger, using advanced LIGO/Virgo data. The method is based on a generalization of the FrequencyHough (FH), a pipeline that performs hierarchical searches for continuous gravitational waves by mapping points in the time/frequency plane of the detector to lines in the frequency/spindown plane of the source. We show that signals whose spindowns are related to their frequencies by a power law can be transformed to coordinates where the behavior of these signals is always linear, and can therefore be searched for by the FH. We estimate the sensitivity of our search across different braking indices, and describe the portion of the parameter space we could explore in a search using varying fast Fourier Transform (FFT) lengths.

astro-ph.IM↗