Data analysis challenges in transient gravitational-wave astronomy

TL;DR

This paper reviews the data analysis techniques used in gravitational-wave astronomy, highlighting challenges in detecting weak signals amid noise and summarizing recent observational results from Virgo and LIGO detectors.

Contribution

It provides an overview of current data analysis methods and observational findings, and discusses future prospects with advanced detectors in gravitational-wave astronomy.

Findings

Detection of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources

Challenges in analyzing non-stationary, non-Gaussian noise

Progress in observational capabilities and techniques

Abstract

Gravitational waves are radiative solutions of space-time dynamics predicted by Einstein's theory of General Relativity. A world-wide array of large-scale and highly sensitive interferometric detectors constantly scrutinizes the geometry of the local space-time with the hope to detect deviations that would signal an impinging gravitational wave from a remote astrophysical source. Finding the rare and weak signature of gravitational waves buried in non-stationary and non-Gaussian instrument noise is a particularly challenging problem. We will give an overview of the data-analysis techniques and associated observational results obtained so far by Virgo (in Europe) and LIGO (in the US), along with the prospects offered by the up-coming advanced versions of those detectors.