Targeted searches for gravitational waves from radio pulsars

TL;DR

This paper reviews targeted gravitational wave searches from radio pulsars using LIGO and GEO, detailing algorithms, validation methods, and preliminary results from recent data runs.

Contribution

It provides an overview of the search techniques, validation through hardware injections, and initial findings from the S3/S4 LIGO and GEO data sets.

Findings

Assessment of data gaussianity in pulsar frequency bands

Validation of search algorithms via hardware injections

Preliminary detection limits for pulsar J1939+2134

Abstract

An overview of the searches for gravitational waves from radio pulsars with LIGO and GEO is given. We give a brief description of the algorithm used in these targeted searches and provide end-to-end validation of the technique through hardware injections. We report on some aspects of the recent S3/S4 LIGO and GEO search for signals from several pulsars. The gaussianity of narrow frequency bands of S3/S4 LIGO data, where pulsar signals are expected, is assessed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. Preliminary results from the S3 run with a network of four detectors are given for pulsar J1939+2134.