Gravitational-wave Research
Lead Research Organisation:
CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Information Already Provided.
Organisations
- CARDIFF UNIVERSITY (Lead Research Organisation)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
- UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM (Collaboration)
- University of the Balearic Islands (Collaboration)
- University of the West of Scotland (Collaboration)
- LIGO scientific collaboration (Collaboration)
- University of Glasgow (Collaboration)
Publications
Abbott B
(2019)
Tests of general relativity with the binary black hole signals from the LIGO-Virgo catalog GWTC-1
in Physical Review D
Abbott B
(2020)
GW190425: Observation of a Compact Binary Coalescence with Total Mass ~ 3.4 M ?
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Abbott B
(2019)
Binary Black Hole Population Properties Inferred from the First and Second Observing Runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Abbott B
(2021)
A Gravitational-wave Measurement of the Hubble Constant Following the Second Observing Run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo
in The Astrophysical Journal
Abbott BP
(2020)
Prospects for observing and localizing gravitational-wave transients with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA.
in Living reviews in relativity
Abbott BP
(2019)
Tests of General Relativity with GW170817.
in Physical review letters
Abbott BP
(2019)
Search for Subsolar Mass Ultracompact Binaries in Advanced LIGO's Second Observing Run.
in Physical review letters
Abbott R
(2020)
Properties and Astrophysical Implications of the 150 M ? Binary Black Hole Merger GW190521
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Abbott R
(2021)
Observation of Gravitational Waves from Two Neutron Star-Black Hole Coalescences
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Abbott R
(2021)
All-sky search in early O3 LIGO data for continuous gravitational-wave signals from unknown neutron stars in binary systems
in Physical Review D
| Description | We made very significant contributions to signal characterisation and astrophysical inference of gravitational-wave observations by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration. In particular our contributions were instrumental in the characterisation of the first multi-messenger detection: GW170817. This collaboration work was complemented by independent investigations on the high-mass event GW170729 and on instrumental effects and their mitigation for GW170817. We contributed to the analysis of GW190521, the most massive binary black-hole to date at 150 solar masses, that of GW190814, an exceptional 23 solar masses and 2.6 solar masses binary, GW190412: a high mass-ratio binary black-hole, and GW190425, an unusually heavy binary neutron-star with a mass of 3.4 solar masses. Furthermore we developed Reduced Order Quadratures (ROQ) rules for gravitational-wave analysis, which allow for speed-up of several orders of magnitude in parameter estimation analyses. From this work we have created a python-based framework to compute rules for new waveform models: PyROQ, which enables faster deployment of such rules than previously. This software has been used in several studies, constructing ROQs for several gravitational-wave signal models. We also characterised the spin measurement capabilities of early advanced LIGO, informing requirements for detector commissioning, waveform models, and population studies. We characterised the impact of higher-mode physics on parameter inference, identifying the potential biases for future observations and waveform model developments. And using machine-learning techniques we showed the future of binary neutron star equation-of-state inference: we built a new approach to combine the posterior from individual neutron-star observations, solving the issue of the limited number of posterior samples. This paves the way towards ground-breaking measurement of the state of matter at supranuclear densities. The new era of the field requires an adaptation of the scientific tools used. We developed a new post-processing library, PESummary, now a reference for the world-wide community. In addition, the next generation parameter estimation software is being developed with the expertise of the Cardiff group. We showed the benefits of fast three-dimensional localisation of gravitational-wave sources to greatly increase the likelihood of identifying an electromagnetic counterpart. Furthering this work, we developed a new method for fast localisation, Focused Reduced Order Quadrature (FROQ), enabling accurate sky-localisation of binary neutron star sources in minutes, while including key information about their masses and orientation on the same time-scale. This analysis provides an estimate of the sky location of gravitational-wave sources in minutes that is more accurate than faster approximate methods. GW170817 demonstrated the great potential of multi-messenger astronomy, and that accurate localisation in minutes is key. |
| Exploitation Route | All results are public, including data and software, via github/zenodo resources linked from all relevant published work. |
| Sectors | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Financial Services and Management Consultancy |
| Description | Our findings in using high-performance computing for gravitational-wave data analysis have been used by, for instance, the Oracle corporation for their cloud computing efforts. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | Advanced LIGO Operations Support |
| Amount | £1,259,847 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ST/V001337/1 |
| Organisation | Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2020 |
| End | 09/2023 |
| Description | GEO600 |
| Organisation | Max Planck Society |
| Department | Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics |
| Country | Germany |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Detector characterisation and data analysis; strategic plans, scientific motivation for improving detector sensitivity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Building, maintaining, and operating the detector, detector characterisation and data analysis. |
| Impact | A working gravitational wave detector, development of advanced technology for advanced and third generation detectors. |
| Description | GEO600 |
| Organisation | University of Birmingham |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Detector characterisation and data analysis; strategic plans, scientific motivation for improving detector sensitivity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Building, maintaining, and operating the detector, detector characterisation and data analysis. |
| Impact | A working gravitational wave detector, development of advanced technology for advanced and third generation detectors. |
| Description | GEO600 |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Detector characterisation and data analysis; strategic plans, scientific motivation for improving detector sensitivity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Building, maintaining, and operating the detector, detector characterisation and data analysis. |
| Impact | A working gravitational wave detector, development of advanced technology for advanced and third generation detectors. |
| Description | GEO600 |
| Organisation | University of the Balearic Islands |
| Country | Spain |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Detector characterisation and data analysis; strategic plans, scientific motivation for improving detector sensitivity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Building, maintaining, and operating the detector, detector characterisation and data analysis. |
| Impact | A working gravitational wave detector, development of advanced technology for advanced and third generation detectors. |
| Description | GEO600 |
| Organisation | University of the West of Scotland |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Detector characterisation and data analysis; strategic plans, scientific motivation for improving detector sensitivity. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Building, maintaining, and operating the detector, detector characterisation and data analysis. |
| Impact | A working gravitational wave detector, development of advanced technology for advanced and third generation detectors. |
| Description | LIGO Scientific Collaboration |
| Organisation | LIGO Scientific Collaboration |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Search algorithms and software, data analysis and astrophysical interpretation, scientific motivation for improvement in detector sensitivity |
| Collaborator Contribution | Building, maintaining, and operating the LIGO detectors |
| Impact | Publications, conference plenaries, conference contributions |
| Title | Gravitational Wave Analysis Software |
| Description | Software to perform parameter estimation and model selection, especially (but not limited to) for gravitational waves emitted by merging black holes and neutron stars. |
| Type Of Technology | Software |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Open Source License? | Yes |
| Impact | Next generation software to be used by the LIGO-Virgo collaboration in the analysis of gravitational waves. |
| URL | https://lscsoft.docs.ligo.org/bilby/index.html |
| Description | Interview for national and international news |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interview in both print media (BBC, The Guardian) and local TV (BBC Wales) on gravitational-wave analysis results. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57639520 https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jun/29/gravitational-waves-from-star-eating-black-holes-detected-on-earth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57639520 |
| Description | Presentations at the Cardiff University Open Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentations to prospective undergraduate students at the Cardiff University Open Day, Cardiff, UK. Title: Exploding stars, black holes and gravitational waves. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019,2020,2021,2022 |
| Description | Public outreach presentation at the Cardiff, Bristol and Bath Astronomical Societies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on gravitational-wave research titled "Stellar-size Black holes" at a joint event of the Bath, Bristol and Cardiff astronomical societies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/extreme-stellar-environments-tickets-169977235487 |