First LIGO search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic (super)strings

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic string cusps using LIGO data, setting upper limits on event rates and constraining cosmic string parameters.

Contribution

First LIGO search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic (super)strings, providing new constraints on string tension, reconnection probability, and loop sizes.

Findings

No gravitational wave bursts detected in 14.9 days of data.

Established upper limits on the rate of cosmic string bursts.

Constrained cosmic string model parameters based on non-detection.

Abstract

We report on a matched-filter search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic string cusps using LIGO data from the fourth science run (S4) which took place in February and March 2005. No gravitational waves were detected in 14.9 days of data from times when all three LIGO detectors were operating. We interpret the result in terms of a frequentist upper limit on the rate of gravitational wave bursts and use the limits on the rate to constrain the parameter space (string tension, reconnection probability, and loop sizes) of cosmic string models.