A Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with the Gamma Ray Burst GRB030329 Using the LIGO Detectors

TL;DR

This study used LIGO detectors to search for gravitational waves associated with the bright GRB030329, setting upper limits on wave strength and demonstrating the detectors' sensitivity in the 80-2048 Hz range.

Contribution

First search for gravitational waves linked to GRB030329 using LIGO, providing frequency-dependent upper limits and demonstrating detector sensitivity.

Findings

No gravitational wave candidates detected.

Set upper limits on gravitational wave strain around 6E-21 Hz^{-1/2}.

Results comparable to previous GRB gravitational wave searches.

Abstract

We have performed a search for bursts of gravitational waves associated with the very bright Gamma Ray Burst GRB030329, using the two detectors at the LIGO Hanford Observatory. Our search covered the most sensitive frequency range of the LIGO detectors (approximately 80-2048 Hz), and we specifically targeted signals shorter than 150 ms. Our search algorithm looks for excess correlated power between the two interferometers and thus makes minimal assumptions about the gravitational waveform. We observed no candidates with gravitational wave signal strength larger than a pre-determined threshold. We report frequency dependent upper limits on the strength of the gravitational waves associated with GRB030329. Near the most sensitive frequency region, around 250 Hz, our root-sum-square (RSS) gravitational wave strain sensitivity for optimally polarized bursts was better than h_RSS = 6E-21 Hz^{-1/2}. Our result is comparable to the best published results searching for association between gravitational waves and GRBs.