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Hierarchical follow-up of subthreshold candidates of an all-sky Einstein@Home search for continuous gravitational waves on LIGO sixth science run data

Maria Alessandra Papa1,2,4,*, Heinz-Bernd Eggenstein2,3, Sinéad Walsh1,2, Irene Di Palma1,2,5, Bruce Allen2,4,3, Pia Astone5, Oliver Bock2,3, Teviet D. Creighton7, David Keitel2,3,6 et al.

Bernd Machenschalk2,3, Reinhard Prix2,3, Xavier Siemens4, Avneet Singh1,2,3, Sylvia J. Zhu1,2, and Bernard F. Schutz8,1

  • 1Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
  • 2Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik, Callinstraβe 38, 30167 Hannover, Germany
  • 3Leibniz Universität Hannover, Welfengarten 1, 30167 Hannover, Germany
  • 4University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201, USA
  • 5Universita di Roma “La Sapienza,” P.zle A. Moro 2, 00185 Roma, Italy
  • 6Universitat de les Illes Balears, IAC3—IEEC, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
  • 7The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, Texas 78520, USA
  • 8Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 3AA, United Kingdom

  • *maria.alessandra.papa@aei.mpg.de
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Phys. Rev. D 94, 122006 – Published 28 December, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.94.122006

Abstract

We report results of an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves with frequency between 50 and 510 Hz from isolated compact objects, e.g., neutron stars. A new hierarchical multistage approach is taken, supported by the computing power of the Einstein@Home project, allowing us to probe more deeply than ever before. 16 million subthreshold candidates from the initial search [LIGO Scientific and Virgo Collaborations, Phys. Rev. D 94, 102002 (2016)] are followed up in four stages. None of those candidates is consistent with an isolated gravitational wave emitter, and 90% confidence level upper limits are placed on the amplitudes of continuous waves from the target population. Between 170.5 and 171 Hz, we set the most constraining 90% confidence upper limit on the strain amplitude h0 at 4.3×10−25, while at the high end of our frequency range, we achieve an upper limit of 7.6×10−25. These are the most constraining all-sky upper limits to date and constrain the ellipticity of rotating compact objects emitting at 300 Hz at a distance D to less than 6×10−7 [D100  pc].

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References (21)

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Phys. Rev. D 94, 122006– Published 28 December, 2016
  • Received 1 September 2016
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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