Gravitational Waves

Tiffany Summerscales (Physics)

Gravitational Waves: Parameter Estimation and Educational Outreach

Installation of the Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory) detectors is nearing completion. Once the detectors have been fully installed and tuned, they will have ten times the sensitivity of the Initial LIGO detectors.  The first direct gravitational wave detections should occur within the next few years.

In order for these detections to have maximum scientific impact, the properties of the gravitational waves must be inferred from the data. BayesWave is a data analysis pipeline that uses Bayesian statistics to estimate gravitational wave parameters such as sky location and frequency content. The Andrews LIGO research group has joined the effort to characterize and test the BayesWave pipeline so that it is ready to be used to analyze Advanced LIGO detections.

Since the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) is primarily NSF funded, its public outreach and education efforts are a priority. The Andrews LIGO group plans to contribute to this effort through the development of educational games to teach the public, especially young people about gravitational science.

The funds requested in this proposal will be used to pay a student to do research and outreach work as well as fulfilling collaboration duties such as participation in a LSC meeting (a collaboration, not professional meeting) and paying the LSC membership fee.