Search for gravitational-wave inspiral signals associated with short Gamma-Ray Bursts during LIGO's fifth and Virgo's first science run

TL;DR

This study searched for gravitational waves associated with short gamma-ray bursts during LIGO's fifth and Virgo's first science runs, finding no significant signals but setting exclusion limits on neutron star-black hole progenitors.

Contribution

First search for gravitational waves coincident with short GRBs during LIGO's S5 and Virgo's VSR1 runs, establishing new exclusion distances for progenitor models.

Findings

No gravitational-wave candidates found in the analyzed window.

No evidence for weak gravitational-wave signals in the sample.

Excluded neutron star-black hole progenitors to a median 90% CL distance of 6.7 Mpc.

Abstract

Progenitor scenarios for short gamma-ray bursts (short GRBs) include coalescenses of two neutron stars or a neutron star and black hole, which would necessarily be accompanied by the emission of strong gravitational waves. We present a search for these known gravitational-wave signatures in temporal and directional coincidence with 22 GRBs that had sufficient gravitational-wave data available in multiple instruments during LIGO's fifth science run, S5, and Virgo's first science run, VSR1. We find no statistically significant gravitational-wave candidates within a [-5, +1) s window around the trigger time of any GRB. Using the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney U test, we find no evidence for an excess of weak gravitational-wave signals in our sample of GRBs. We exclude neutron star-black hole progenitors to a median 90% CL exclusion distance of 6.7 Mpc.