Astrophysicists have reduced the alert for the detection of gravitational waves to less than 30 seconds, to improve understanding of collisions of neutron stars and black holes.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities College of Science and Engineering co-led work on these ripples in space-time, which may also shed light on how heavy elements, including gold and uranium, are produced. The results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Gravitational waves interact with space-time by compressing it in one direction while stretching it in the perpendicular direction. For this reason, next-generation gravitational wave detectors are L-shaped and measure relative laser lengths using interferometry, a measurement method that analyzes interference patterns produced by the combination of two light sources.
Detecting gravitational waves requires measuring the length of the laser with precise measurements: equivalent to measuring the distance to the nearest star, about four light years away, to the width of a human hair.
This research is part of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration, a network of gravitational-wave interferometers around the world.
In the latest simulation campaign, data from previous observation periods were used and simulated gravitational wave signals were added to show software performance and equipment upgrades. The software can detect the shape of the signals, track how the signal behaves, and estimate what masses are included in the event, such as neutron stars or black holes. Neutron stars are the smallest and densest stars known and are formed when massive stars explode in supernovae.
Once this software detects a gravitational wave signal, it sends alerts to subscribers, which typically include astronomers or astrophysicists, to communicate where the signal was in the sky. With updates in this observation period, scientists can send alerts faster, less than 30 seconds, after the detection of a gravitational wave.
“With this software, we can detect the gravitational wave from neutron star collisions that is normally too faint to see unless we know exactly where to look,” Andrew Toivonen, a doctoral candidate in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Massachusetts, said in a statement. University of Minnesota Twin Cities. “Detecting the gravitational waves first will help locate the collision and help astronomers and astrophysicists complete further investigations.”
Astronomers and astrophysicists could use this information to understand how neutron stars behave, study nuclear reactions between neutron stars and colliding black holes, and how heavy elements, including gold and uranium, are produced.
This is the fourth campaign using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), which will last until February 2025. Between the last three observation periods, scientists have made improvements in signal detection. Once this series of observations is complete, researchers will continue to analyze the data and make further improvements with the goal of sending alerts even faster.
