Beating the Spin-Down Limit on Gravitational Wave Emission from the Vela Pulsar

Authors

J. Abadie, LIGO - California Institute of Technology
B. P. Abbott, University of Glasgow
R. Abbott, Universite de Savoie
M. Abernathy, University of Naples Federico II
T. Accadia, University of Salerno
F. Acernese, California Institute of Technology
C. Adams, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
R. Adhikari, Leibniz University Hannover
C. Affeldt, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
B. Allen, Stanford University
G. S. Allen, University of Florida
E. Amador Ceron, Louisiana State University
D. Amariutei, National Institute for Nuclear Physics
R. S. Amin, University of Birmingham
S. B. Anderson, National Science Foundation
W. G. Anderson, Montana State University
F. Antonucci, European Gravitational Observatory
K. Arai, Carleton College
M. A. Arain, University of Western Australia
M. C. Araya, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
S. M. Aston, Universite Paris 7
P. Astone, Columbia University
D. Atkinson, Sezione di Pisa
P. Aufmuth, University of Pisa
C. Aulbert, National Institute for Subatomic Physics
B. E. Aylott, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
S. Babak, University of Texas at Brownsville
P. Baker, San Jose State University
G. Ballardin, Lomonosov Moscow State University
S. Ballmer, Universite de Nice-Sophia Antipolis
Shaon Ghosh, Montclair State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-20-2011

Journal / Book Title

The Astrophysical Journal

Abstract

We present direct upper limits on continuous gravitational wave emission from the Vela pulsar using data from the Virgo detector's second science run. These upper limits have been obtained using three independent methods that assume the gravitational wave emission follows the radio timing. Two of the methods produce frequentist upper limits for an assumed known orientation of the star's spin axis and value of the wave polarization angle of, respectively, 1.9 × 10-24 and 2.2 × 10-24, with 95% confidence. The third method, under the same hypothesis, produces a Bayesian upper limit of 2.1 × 10-24, with 95% degree of belief. These limits are below the indirect spin-down limit of 3.3 × 10-24 for the Vela pulsar, defined by the energy loss rate inferred from observed decrease in Vela's spin frequency, and correspond to a limit on the star ellipticity of ∼10-3. Slightly less stringent results, but still well below the spin-down limit, are obtained assuming the star's spin axis inclination and the wave polarization angles are unknown.

DOI

10.1088/0004-637X/737/2/93

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Abadie, J.; Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abernathy, M.; Accadia, T.; Acernese, F.; Adams, C.; Adhikari, R.; Affeldt, C.; Allen, B.; Allen, G. S.; Ceron, E. Amador; Amariutei, D.; Amin, R. S.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Antonucci, F.; 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.; Ballmer, S.; and Ghosh, Shaon, "Beating the Spin-Down Limit on Gravitational Wave Emission from the Vela Pulsar" (2011). Department of Physics and Astronomy Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 20.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/physics-astron-facpubs/20

Published Citation

Abadie, J., Abbott, B. P., Abbott, R., Abernathy, M., Accadia, T., Acernese, F., ... & Cook, D. (2011). Beating the spin-down limit on gravitational wave emission from the Vela pulsar. The Astrophysical Journal, 737(2), 93.