Quick search Find article
Quick search
Find article

Proposed method for searches of gravitational waves from PKS 2155-304 and other blazar flares

S Desai1, K Hayama2, S D Mohanty2, M Rakhmanov2, T Summerscales3 and S Yoshida4

Show affiliations


We propose to search for gravitational waves from PKS 2155-304 as well as other blazars. PKS 2155-304 emitted a long-duration energetic flare in July 2006 with total isotropic equivalent energy released in TeV gamma rays of approximately 1045 ergs. Possible gravitational wave signals associated with this outburst are expected to be seen at the same time as the electromagnetic signal. During this flare, the two LIGO interferometers at Hanford and the GEO detector were in operation and collecting data. For this search we will use the data from multiple gravitational wave detectors. The method we use for this purpose is a coherent network analysis algorithm which is called RIDGE. To estimate the sensitivity of the search, we perform numerical simulations. For a detection probability of 20%, we estimate that this method is sensitive to total isotropic equivalent energy at the source of about 2.5 × 1055 ergs. For this analysis, an end-to-end pipeline has been developed, which takes into account the motion of the source across the sky.


PACS

04.80.Nn Gravitational wave detectors and experiments

97.30.Nr Flare stars (UV Ceti, RS Canum Venaticorum, FU Orionis, R Coronae Borealis variables, etc.)

98.54.Cm Active and peculiar galaxies and related systems (including BL Lacertae objects, blazars, Seyfert galaxies, Markarian galaxies, and active galactic nuclei)

95.55.Ym Gravitational radiation detectors; mass spectrometers; and other instrumentation and techniques

MSC

85A15 Galactic and stellar structure

83C35 Gravitational waves

Subjects

Instrumentation and measurement

Gravitation and cosmology

Astrophysics and astroparticles

Dates

Issue 18 (21 September 2008)

Received 1 April 2008, in final form 11 July 2008

Published 2 September 2008



View by subject




Export






Please login to access our web services, or create an account if you don't yet have one.

You must have cookies enabled in your web browser to be able to login.

Username
Password

Forgotten your password? Get a new one here.