A first comparison of search methods for gravitational wave bursts using LIGO and Virgo simulated data

TL;DR

This study compares six search methods for gravitational wave bursts using simulated data from LIGO and Virgo, evaluating their effectiveness with multiple metrics to identify the most promising approaches.

Contribution

It provides the first comparative analysis of different search algorithms for gravitational wave bursts on simulated LIGO and Virgo data.

Findings

Different search methods show varying efficiencies in detecting signals.

Some methods require lower signal-to-noise ratios for high detection efficiency.

Estimates of burst arrival times vary in bias and variance across methods.

Abstract

We present a comparative study of 6 search methods for gravitational wave bursts using simulated LIGO and Virgo noise data. The data's spectra were chosen to follow the design sensitivity of the two 4km LIGO interferometers and the 3km Virgo interferometer. The searches were applied on replicas of the data sets to which 8 different signals were injected. Three figures of merit were employed in this analysis: (a) Receiver Operator Characteristic curves, (b) necessary signal to noise ratios for the searches to achieve 50 percent and 90 percent efficiencies, and (c) variance and bias for the estimation of the arrival time of a gravitational wave burst.