Recommended Citation
October 1, 2017.
Abstract
One goal of LIGO (the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) is the detection of gravitational waves from continuous sources, such as those produced by an asymmetric rotating neutron star. The LIGO detectors are sensitive to a number of environmental and instrumental sources of noise. These noise sources provide a challenge when observing, and need to be identified and ignored when considering potential astrophysical signals. The Fscan algorithm uses Fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) to create spectrograms and time-averaged power spectra to identify noise lines. Fscans can be used to search for coincidence lines between environmental sensors and the gravitational wave channel to identify lines of non-astrophysical origins. Combs, strong lines that appear at regular frequency intervals, could identify noise sources from that of an electronic clock and its harmonics and potentially other sources. The implementation of a comb finding algorithm is presented, along with setting up comparisons between daily Fscans.
Mentor
Greg Mendell
Lab site
LIGO Hanford Observatory (LIGO)
Funding Acknowledgement
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation through the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program under Grant # 1418852. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The research was also made possible by the California State University STEM Teacher and Researcher Program, in partnership with Chevron (www.chevron.com), the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (www.marinesanctuary.org) and LIGO Hanford Observatory.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/star/450