MG12 - Talk detail
 

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Abstract

Gravitational waveforms from self-force calculations

Now that the capability is finally being developed for using self-force calculations to modify the inspiral process, it is time to begin thinking about the gravitational waves that a modified orbit would develop. While there may be reasons to be interested in tens or hundreds of thousands of orbits, it is highly unlikely that numerical evolution alone will provide waveforms of the requisite duration. Rather, a combination of numerical and semi-analytical techniques might be used. Foremost among these would be the possibility to compare, and even modify, a post-Newtonian description with the detailed results of numerical evolution. This opportunity already exists for full numerical relativity. We discuss what the requirements would be for similar progress with EMRI calculations.

Searching for an Isotropic or Spatially Structured Background Stochastic Gravitational Waves Using Long-baseline Interferometers

A 2-year long science run (S5) has been completed, in which the three LIGO interferometers operated at their design sensitivities, partly in conjunction with the GEO and Virgo detectors. Data acquired during the first calendar year of this run has been analyzed for the presence of an isotropic background of stochastic gravitational waves signals. I will describe this search, and discuss its potential implications for some current theoretical models. Following that analysis, additional capability has been created for inclusion in future searches. The development of intermediate data, which encompasses essential steps in all these analyses, provides a common basis for carrying out and cross-checking these different search techniques with uniform consistency, and will be central to all analyses of data from future LIGO/Virgo science runs. These will include the ability to locate stochastic point sources on the sky, or the full reconstruction of intensity maps of the whole sky - both based on a spherical harmonic description of the celestial domain.

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