Incorporating information from source simulations into searches for gravitational-wave bursts

TL;DR

This paper introduces an algorithm that leverages catalogs of simulated gravitational-wave signals to improve detection and analysis of short-duration gravitational-wave bursts from astrophysical sources.

Contribution

It presents a novel method to incorporate source simulation data into gravitational-wave searches, enhancing detection capabilities without relying on well-known waveforms.

Findings

Improved detection sensitivity for gravitational-wave bursts.

Facilitates direct comparison between observations and simulations.

Easily incorporates new simulation data into search algorithms.

Abstract

The detection of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources of gravitational waves is a realistic goal for the current generation of interferometric gravitational-wave detectors. Short duration bursts of gravitational waves from core-collapse supernovae or mergers of binary black holes may bring a wealth of astronomical and astrophysical information. The weakness of the waves and the rarity of the events urges the development of optimal methods to detect the waves. The waves from these sources are not generally known well enough to use matched filtering however; this drives the need to develop new ways to exploit source simulation information in both detections and information extraction. We present an algorithmic approach to using catalogs of gravitational-wave signals developed through numerical simulation, or otherwise, to enhance our ability to detect these waves. As more detailed simulations become available, it is straightforward to incorporate the new information into the search method. This approach may also be useful when trying to extract information from a gravitational-wave observation by allowing direct comparison between the observation and simulations.