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Article
Improved Upper Limits on the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from 2009-2010 LIGO and Virgo Data
Faculty Publications
  • Tiffany Summerscales, Andrews University
  • LIGO and Virgo Collaboration, LIGO and Virgo Collaboration
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-5-2014
Abstract

Gravitational waves from a variety of sources are predicted to superpose to create a stochastic background. This background is expected to contain unique information from throughout the history of the Universe that is unavailable through standard electromagnetic observations, making its study of fundamental importance to understanding the evolution of the Universe. We carry out a search for the stochastic background with the latest data from the LIGO and Virgo detectors. Consistent with predictions from most stochastic gravitational-wave background models, the data display no evidence of a stochastic gravitational-wave signal. Assuming a gravitational-wave spectrum of ΩGW(f)=Ωα(f/fref)α, we place 95% confidence level upper limits on the energy density of the background in each of four frequency bands spanning 41.5–1726 Hz. In the frequency band of 41.5–169.25 Hz for a spectral index of α=0, we constrain the energy density of the stochastic background to be ΩGW(f)

Journal Title
Physical Review Letters
Acknowledgements
Retrieved September 17, 2015, from http://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.4556.pdf
Citation Information
Tiffany Summerscales and LIGO and Virgo Collaboration. "Improved Upper Limits on the Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background from 2009-2010 LIGO and Virgo Data" Vol. 113 Iss. 23 (2014) p. 1 - 11
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/tiffany_summerscales/24/