First upper limits from LIGO on gravitational wave bursts

TL;DR

This paper presents the first upper limits on gravitational wave burst rates from LIGO's initial science run, setting constraints on event frequency and sensitivity for short-duration signals in the 150-3000 Hz band.

Contribution

It introduces a search method for gravitational wave bursts and establishes initial upper limits on their rate based on LIGO data, with detailed sensitivity analysis.

Findings

Bound the burst rate at less than 1.6 events per day at 90% confidence

Achieved sensitivity to strains of approximately 10^{-19} to 10^{-17}

Discussed improvements for future gravitational wave searches

Abstract

We report on a search for gravitational wave bursts using data from the first science run of the LIGO detectors. Our search focuses on bursts with durations ranging from 4 ms to 100 ms, and with significant power in the LIGO sensitivity band of 150 to 3000 Hz. We bound the rate for such detected bursts at less than 1.6 events per day at 90% confidence level. This result is interpreted in terms of the detection efficiency for ad hoc waveforms (Gaussians and sine-Gaussians) as a function of their root-sum-square strain h_{rss}; typical sensitivities lie in the range h_{rss} ~ 10^{-19} - 10^{-17} strain/rtHz, depending on waveform. We discuss improvements in the search method that will be applied to future science data from LIGO and other gravitational wave detectors.