Observing Gravitational Waves from Core-Collapse Supernovae in the Advanced Detector Era

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the potential for detecting gravitational waves from core-collapse supernovae with advanced detectors, highlighting detection ranges for various scenarios and models in the local universe.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of GW detectability from CCSNe using realistic noise models and explores detection prospects for different supernova emission scenarios.

Findings

Detectability of CCSNe within 5.5 kpc for neutrino-driven explosions.

Detection of rapidly rotating core collapse up to 50 kpc.

Extreme GW emission models detectable up to 3.52 Mpc.

Abstract

The next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) has already exploded, and its electromagnetic (EM) waves, neutrinos, and gravitational waves (GWs) may arrive at any moment. We present an extensive study on the potential sensitivity of prospective detection scenarios for GWs from CCSNe within 5Mpc, using realistic noise at the predicted sensitivity of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors for 2015, 2017, and 2019. We quantify the detectability of GWs from CCSNe within the Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud, for which there will be an observed neutrino burst. We also consider extreme GW emission scenarios for more distant CCSNe with an associated EM signature. We find that a three detector network at design sensitivity will be able to detect neutrino-driven CCSN explosions out to ~5.5 kpc, while rapidly rotating core collapse will be detectable out to the Large Magellanic Cloud at 50kpc. Of the phenomenological models for extreme GW emission scenarios considered in this study, such as long-lived bar-mode instabilities and disk fragmentation instabilities, all models considered will be detectable out to M31 at 0.77 Mpc, while the most extreme models will be detectable out to M82 at 3.52 Mpc and beyond.