Coincidence detection of broadband signals by networks of the planned interferometric gravitational wave detectors

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how a network of planned interferometric gravitational wave detectors can be optimized for coincidence detection of broadband signals, comparing sensitivities and configurations to maximize sky coverage and detection rates.

Contribution

It evaluates the sensitivities of various detector configurations and proposes optimal network setups for effective coincidence detection of gravitational wave signals.

Findings

Power recycling mode enhances binary coalescence detection sensitivity.

Including VIRGO in the network significantly increases sky coverage.

Optimal time-delay windows improve coincidence detection efficiency.

Abstract

We describe how the six planned detectors (2 LIGOs, VIRGO, GEO, AIGO, TAMA) can be used to perform coincidence experiments for the detection of broadband signals from either coalescing compact binaries or burst sources. We make comparisons of the achievable sensitivities of these detectors under different optical configurations and find that a meaningful coincidence experiment for the detection of coalescing binary signals can only be performed by a network where the LIGOs and VIRGO are operated in power recycling mode and other medium scale detectors are operated in dual recycling mode. For the model of burst waveform considered by us (i.e. uniform power upto 2000Hz), we find that the relative sensitivity of the power-recycled VIRGO is quite high as compared to others with their present design parameters and thus coincidence experiment performed by including VIRGO in the network would not be a meaningful one. We also calculate optimized values for the time-delay window sizes for different possible networks. The effect of filtering on the calculation of thresholds has also been discussed. We set the thresholds for different detectors and find out the volume of sky that can be covered by different possible networks and the corresponding rate of detection of coalescing binaries in the beginning of the next century. We note that a coincidence experiment of power-recycled LIGOs and VIRGO and dual-recycled GEO and AIGO can increase the volume of the sky covered by 3.2 times as compared with only the power-recycled LIGO detectors and by 1.7 times the sky covered by the power-recycled LIGO-VIRGO network. These values are far less than the range that can be covered by only the LIGO-VIRGO network with dual recycling operation at a later stage, but the accuracy in the determination of direction, distance and other source parameters will be much