Search for long-lived gravitational-wave transients coincident with long gamma-ray bursts

Search for long-lived gravitational-wave transients coincident with long gamma-ray bursts

Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been linked to extreme core-collapse supernovae from massive stars. Gravitational waves (GW) offer a probe of the physics behind long GRBs. We investigate models of long-lived (∼10–1000  s) GW emission associated with the accretion disk of a collapsed star or with i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Barnum, Sam, Barsotti, Lisa, Bodiya, Timothy Paul, Donovan, Frederick J., Essick, Reed Clasey, Evans, Matthew J., Foley, S., Fritschel, Peter K., Gras, Slawek, Isogai, Tomoki, Katsavounidis, Erotokritos, Kissel, Jeffrey S., Kwee, Patrick, Lee, J., MacInnis, Myron E., Mason, Kenneth R., Matichard, Fabrice, Mavalvala, Nergis, Mittleman, Richard K., Oelker, Eric Glenn, Shoemaker, David H., Vaulin, Ruslan, Vitale, Salvatore, Waldman, S. J., Weiss, Rainer, Wipf, Christopher, Zhang, Fan, Zucker, Michael E., Aggarwal, Nancy,Ph. D.Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: American Physical Society 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/87745
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0026-3877
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0219-9706
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2815-7387
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6550-3045
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4147-2560
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8459-4499
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8150-7062
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2544-1596
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2700-0767
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1983-3187
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8196-9267
Description
Summary:Long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been linked to extreme core-collapse supernovae from massive stars. Gravitational waves (GW) offer a probe of the physics behind long GRBs. We investigate models of long-lived (∼10–1000  s) GW emission associated with the accretion disk of a collapsed star or with its protoneutron star remnant. Using data from LIGO’s fifth science run, and GRB triggers from the Swift experiment, we perform a search for unmodeled long-lived GW transients. Finding no evidence of GW emission, we place 90% confidence-level upper limits on the GW fluence at Earth from long GRBs for three waveforms inspired by a model of GWs from accretion disk instabilities. These limits range from F < 3.5  ergs cm[superscript −2] to F < 1200  ergs cm[superscript −2], depending on the GRB and on the model, allowing us to probe optimistic scenarios of GW production out to distances as far as ≈ 33  Mpc. Advanced detectors are expected to achieve strain sensitivities 10 × better than initial LIGO, potentially allowing us to probe the engines of the nearest long GRBs.

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