Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts During LIGO Science Run 6 and Virgo Science Runs 2 and 3

Authors

J. Abadie, California Institute of Technology
B. P. Abbott, California State University Fullerton
R. Abbott, University of Glasgow
T. D. Abbott, Universite de Savoie
M. Abernathy, University of Naples Federico II
T. Accadia, University of Salerno
F. Acernese, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
C. Adams, Leibniz University Hannover
R. X. Adhikari, National Institute for Subatomic Physics
C. Affeldt, National Institutes of Natural Sciences - National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
M. Agathos, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
K. Agatsuma, University of Florida
P. Ajith, University of Birmingham
B. Allen, National Institute for Nuclear Physics
E. Amador Ceron, National Science Foundation
D. Amariutei, Montana State University
S. B. Anderson, European Gravitational Observatory
W. G. Anderson, Syracuse University
K. Arai, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M. A. Arain, Observatoire de Paris
M. C. Araya, Columbia University
S. M. Aston, Sezione di Pisa
P. Astone, University of Pisa
D. Atkinson, Stanford University
P. Aufmuth, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
C. Aulbert, University of Texas at Brownsville
B. E. Aylott, San Jose State University
S. Babak, Lomonosov Moscow State University
P. Baker, ComUE Paris-Saclay
G. Ballardin, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Shaon Ghosh, Montclair State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-20-2012

Abstract

We present the results of a search for gravitational waves associated with 154 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) that were detected by satellite-based gamma-ray experiments in 2009-2010, during the sixth LIGO science run and the second and third Virgo science runs. We perform two distinct searches: a modeled search for coalescences of either two neutron stars or a neutron star and black hole, and a search for generic, unmodeled gravitational-wave bursts. We find no evidence for gravitational-wave counterparts, either with any individual GRB in this sample or with the population as a whole. For all GRBs we place lower bounds on the distance to the progenitor, under the optimistic assumption of a gravitational-wave emission energy of 10-2 M⊙ c 2 at 150 Hz, with a median limit of 17Mpc. For short-hard GRBs we place exclusion distances on binary neutron star and neutron-star-black-hole progenitors, using astrophysically motivated priors on the source parameters, with median values of 16Mpc and 28Mpc, respectively. These distance limits, while significantly larger than for a search that is not aided by GRB satellite observations, are not large enough to expect a coincidence with a GRB. However, projecting these exclusions to the sensitivities of Advanced LIGO and Virgo, which should begin operation in 2015, we find that the detection of gravitational waves associated with GRBs will become quite possible.

DOI

10.1088/0004-637X/760/1/12

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Abadie, J.; Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M.; Accadia, T.; Acernese, F.; Adams, C.; Adhikari, R. X.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Ceron, E. Amador; Amariutei, D.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Arain, M. A.; Araya, M. C.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Atkinson, D.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Aylott, B. E.; Babak, S.; Baker, P.; Ballardin, G.; and Ghosh, Shaon, "Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts During LIGO Science Run 6 and Virgo Science Runs 2 and 3" (2012). Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 110.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/physics-astron-facpubs/110

Published Citation

Abadie, J., Abbott, B. P., Abbott, R., Abbott, T. D., Abernathy, M., Accadia, T., ... & Colas, J. (2012). Search for gravitational waves associated with gamma-ray bursts during LIGO science run 6 and Virgo science runs 2 and 3. The Astrophysical Journal, 760(1), 12.