Developing optimal strategies for observing the electro-magnetic counterparts of gravitational-wave events
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Glasgow
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
The objective of this project will be to develop and apply Bayesian methodology to the problem of optimising follow up observations of the electro-magnetic counterparts of compact binary coalescence gravitational-wave events. The main context and focus for this work will be optical and near infra-red observations of kilonovae, following binary neutron star coalescences, but it is anticipated that the Bayesian tools developed will have broader applications. The project will seek to develop strategies for inferring the optimal number, epoch, exposure time and colour bands of kilonovae observations that will maximise the probability of detecting the kilonova and/or eliminating false positive detections from other transient events. The methods developed will recognise and fully accommodate the limited sky localisation capabilities of ground-based networks of gravitational-wave interferometers, and will also therefore seek to investigate strategies for optimally 'tiling' the sky localisation regions in which the gravitational-wave candidates are observed - building on and extending to more realistic cases methodology recently developed at Glasgow. This strand of the research may involve investigation of possible relationships between gravitational-wave sources, kilonovae and their host galaxy properties, developing earlier work at Glasgow on the "multi-messenger probability function". The methods developed will involve computing Bayesian posterior odds ratios for kilonova detections versus detections of other transient events. As the project develops, strategies for not simply detecting kilonovae but also characterising and estimating their source parameters will be explored. Machine learning methods may be appropriate to address such problems, and training in the application of these methods will be provided to the student. An extended long-term attachment to the LIGO Observatories will also be arranged, to work on characterisation of the calibration errors associated with the interferometers - and how these affect the sky localisation capabilities of the detector network.
People |
ORCID iD |
Stefan Hild (Primary Supervisor) | |
Laurence Datrier (Student) |
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
(2019)
GWTC-1: A Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog of Compact Binary Mergers Observed by LIGO and Virgo during the First and Second Observing Runs
in Physical Review X

Abbott B
(2019)
Low-latency Gravitational-wave Alerts for Multimessenger Astronomy during the Second Advanced LIGO and Virgo Observing Run
in The Astrophysical Journal

Abbott B
(2019)
All-sky search for long-duration gravitational-wave transients in the second Advanced LIGO observing run
in Physical Review D

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

Abbott B
(2019)
All-sky search for short gravitational-wave bursts in the second Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo run
in Physical Review D

Abbott B
(2019)
Search for intermediate mass black hole binaries in the first and second observing runs of the Advanced LIGO and Virgo network
in Physical Review D

Abbott B
(2019)
Searches for Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars at Two Harmonics in 2015-2017 LIGO Data
in The Astrophysical Journal

Abbott B
(2019)
Search for the isotropic stochastic background using data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run
in Physical Review D

Abbott B
(2019)
Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model
in Physical Review D
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ST/P006809/1 | 30/09/2017 | 29/09/2024 | |||
2039699 | Studentship | ST/P006809/1 | 30/09/2017 | 31/12/2021 | Laurence Datrier |
ST/R504750/1 | 30/09/2017 | 29/09/2021 | |||
2039699 | Studentship | ST/R504750/1 | 30/09/2017 | 31/12/2021 | Laurence Datrier |
Title | LIGO-related Artwork |
Description | Artwork of instrumentation for outreach. This was going to be presented at the now cancelled (due to coronavirus) LVK meeting 2020. |
Type Of Art | Artwork |
Year Produced | 2020 |
Impact | Product shared on social media, raised visibility of research |
Description | LIGO Scientific Collaboration |
Organisation | LIGO Scientific Collaboration |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Work on multi-messenger astronomy Work on calibration, in particular novel methods of calibrating detectors Work on environmental impact on detector (analysis for a wind fence at LIGO Hanford) |
Collaborator Contribution | An international collaboration for LIGO, Virgo and KAGRA - access to data, mentorship, fellowship programme at one of the observatories in the US |
Impact | Multiple papers 3.5 month visit to LIGO site at Hanford Several outreach events |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | Black Hole Hunters (panel) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A presentation with a panel of experts - many questions and a lot of interest from the audience. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Edinburgh Festival of Physics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Stall at a physics festival - few hundreds of participants of all ages. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Explorathon (European's Researcher Night) stall |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A stall at a very popular event celebrating researchers in Europe - attendance of the whole event was around ~1000. A lot of interest in the stall, both from the general public and researchers from other fields. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | I'm a scientist, get me out of here |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | A series of live chats and questions from young students from many schools in Britain and one school in Kazakhstan. The students were very interested in the research and what it was like to be a scientist. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | LIGO tours |
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 | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Recurring tours of LIGO Hanford. High attendance for each of them, with a lot of interest and enthusiasm from attendees. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Open Days |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Open days for prospective undergraduate and postgraduate students (recurring). A lot of interest in joining the university after discussions with attendees. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | Science Lates |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Stall at "Science Lates" at the Glasgow Science Centre - an evening of science activities aimed at adults. Attendance is usually 500+, the stall generated a lot of interest and a lot of discussion. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Science Lates with Sci-curious podcast |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | A stall at an event at the Glasgow Science centre aimed at adults. This was following a podcast aimed at highlighting LGBTQ+ people in STEM. Attendance was 50-100, lower than other science lates due to storms. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Talk at LIGO Hanford International Physics Educators Program |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | ~20 teachers from all over the world attended this talk as part of an international programme for physics educators. The talk generated a lot of interest, and the teachers reported wanting to bring their new knowledge to their students. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |