Estimating galactic foreground with the population of resolved galactic binaries

TL;DR

This paper models the galactic binary population to estimate the foreground noise in gravitational wave data, aiding the detection of the stochastic background in space-based interferometers.

Contribution

It introduces a method to derive detector response variations from binary populations and applies it to simulated data for foreground estimation.

Findings

Modeling binary populations can produce feasible foreground estimates.

The approach helps in distinguishing stochastic background signals from galactic foreground.

Preliminary results demonstrate the potential of population-based foreground modeling.

Abstract

The stochastic gravitational wave background in the mHz band is a key target for future spaceborne interferometers. Detecting such a signal presents multiple challenges for data processing, especially complicated by the presence of numerous compact binaries in our galaxy. The superposition of gravitational waves from their inspiral stages creates a confusion foreground that need to be estimated accurately. In this work, we derive the variation in the intensity of detector response to this foreground by analyzing the spatial distribution of binary systems. Subsequently, we search for an injected stochastic background using the modeled foreground within Taiji Data Challenge II. With some assumptions about the statistical properties of foreground, the results show that the approach of describing foreground based on the population properties of resolved Galactic binaries can yield preliminary feasible results.