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1. Searching for dark photon dark matter in LIGO O1 data

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-019-0255-0  

   Guo, Huai-Ke ; Riles, Keith ; Yang, Feng-Wei ; Zhao, Yue ( December 2019 , Communications Physics)

   Dark matter exists in our Universe, but its nature remains mysterious. The remarkable sensitivity of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) may be able to solve this mystery. A good dark matter candidate is the ultralight dark photon. Because of its interaction with ordinary matter, it induces displacements on LIGO mirrors that can lead to an observable signal. In a study that bridges gravitational wave science and particle physics, we perform a direct dark matter search using data from LIGO’s first (O1) data run, as opposed to an indirect search for dark matter via its production of gravitational waves. We demonstrate an achieved sensitivity on squared coupling as$$\sim\! 4\times 1{0}^{-45}$$$~4\times 10^{-45}$, in a$$U{(1)}_{{\rm{B}}}$$$U{\left(1\right)}_B$dark photon dark matter mass band around$${m}_{{\rm{A}}} \sim 4\,\times 1{0}^{-13}$$$m_A~4\times 10^{-13}$eV. Substantially improved search sensitivity is expected during the coming years of continued data taking by LIGO and other gravitational wave detectors in a growing global network.

    

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2. Neural network time-series classifiers for gravitational-wave searches in single-detector periods

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/ad40f0  

   Trovato, A. ; Chassande-Mottin, E. ; Bejger, M. ; Flamary, R. ; Courty, N. ( May 2024 , Classical and Quantum Gravity)

   The search for gravitational-wave (GW) signals is limited by non-Gaussian transient noises that mimic astrophysical signals. Temporal coincidence between two or more detectors is used to mitigate contamination by these instrumental glitches. However, when a single detector is in operation, coincidence is impossible, and other strategies have to be used. We explore the possibility of using neural network classifiers and present the results obtained with three types of architectures: convolutional neural network, temporal convolutional network, and inception time. The last two architectures are specifically designed to process time-series data. The classifiers are trained on a month of data from the LIGO Livingston detector during the first observing run (O1) to identify data segments that include the signature of a binary black hole merger. Their performances are assessed and compared. We then apply trained classifiers to the remaining three months of O1 data, focusing specifically on single-detector times. The most promising candidate from our search is 4 January 2016 12:24:17 UTC. Although we are not able to constrain the significance of this event to the level conventionally followed in GW searches, we show that the signal is compatible with the merger of two black holes with masses$m_1={50.7}_{-8.9}^{+10.4}{M}_{\odot }$and$m_2={24.4}_{-9.3}^{+20.2}{M}_{\odot }$at the luminosity distance of$d_{\mathrm{L}}={564}_{-338}^{+812}\mathrm{Mpc}$.

    

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3. Noise in the LIGO livingston gravitational wave observatory due to trains

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/acf01f  

   Glanzer, J. ; Soni, S. ; Spoon, J. ; Effler, A. ; González, G. ( September 2023 , Classical and Quantum Gravity)

   Environmental seismic disturbances limit the sensitivity of LIGO gravitational wave detectors. Trains near the LIGO Livingston detector produce low frequency (0.5–$10\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$) ground noise that couples into the gravitational wave sensitive frequency band (10–$100\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$) through light reflected in mirrors and other surfaces. We investigate the effect of trains during the Advanced LIGO third observing run, and propose a method to search for narrow band seismic frequencies responsible for contributing to increases in scattered light. Through the use of the linear regression tool Lasso (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) and glitch correlations, we identify the most common seismic frequencies that correlate with increases in detector noise as 0.6–$0.8\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$, 1.7–$1.9\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$, 1.8–$2.0\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$, and 2.3–$2.5\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}$in the LIGO Livingston corner station.

    

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4. Laser frequency noise in next generation gravitational-wave detectors

   https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.439253  

   Cahillane, Craig ; Mansell, Georgia_L ; Sigg, Daniel ( December 2021 , Optics Express)

   Future ground-based gravitational-wave detectors are slated to detect black hole and neutron star collisions from the entire stellar history of the universe. To achieve the designed detector sensitivities, frequency noise from the laser source must be reduced below the level achieved in current Advanced LIGO detectors. This paper reviews the laser frequency noise suppression scheme in Advanced LIGO, and quantifies the noise coupling to the gravitational-wave readout. The laser frequency noise incident on the current Advanced LIGO detectors is$8\times <\#comment/>{10}^{-<\#comment/>5}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}$at 1~kHz. Future detectors will require even lower incident frequency noise levels to ensure this technical noise source does not limit sensitivity. The frequency noise requirement for a gravitational wave detector with arm lengths of 40~km is estimated to be$7\times <\#comment/>{10}^{-<\#comment/>7}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}/\sqrt{\mathrm{H}\mathrm{z}}$. To reach this goal a new frequency noise suppression scheme is proposed, utilizing two input mode cleaner cavities, and the limits of this scheme are explored. Using this scheme the frequency noise requirement is met, even in pessimistic noise coupling scenarios.

    

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5. Estimating false alarm rates of sub-dominant quasi-normal modes in GW190521

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/ad84ae  

   Capano, Collin_D ; Abedi, Jahed ; Kastha, Shilpa ; Nitz, Alexander_H ; Westerweck, Julian ; Wang, Yi-Fan ; Cabero, Miriam ; Nielsen, Alex_B ; Krishnan, Badri ( November 2024 , Classical and Quantum Gravity)

   A major aim of gravitational wave astronomy is to test observationally the Kerr nature of black holes. The strongest such test, with minimal additional assumptions, is provided by observations of multiple ringdown modes, also known as black hole spectroscopy. For the gravitational wave merger event GW190521, we have previously claimed the detection of two ringdown modes emitted by the remnant black hole. In this paper we provide further evidence for the detection of multiple ringdown modes from this event. We analyse the recovery of simulated gravitational wave signals designed to replicate the ringdown properties of GW190521. We quantify how often our detection statistic reports strong evidence for a sub-dominant$(\ell ,m,n)=(3,3,0)$ringdown mode, even when no such mode is present in the simulated signal. We find this only occurs with a probability ∼0.02, which is consistent with a Bayes factor of$56\pm 1$(1σuncertainty) found for GW190521. We also quantify our agnostic analysis of GW190521, in which no relationship is assumed between ringdown modes, and find that only 1 in 250 simulated signals without a$(3,3,0)$mode yields a result as significant as GW190521. Conversely, we verify that when simulated signals do have an observable$(3,3,0)$mode they consistently yield a strong evidence and significant agnostic results. We also find that constraints on deviations from the$(3,3,0)$mode on GW190521-like signals with a$(3,3,0)$mode are consistent with what was obtained from our previous analysis of GW190521. Our results support our previous conclusion that the gravitational wave signal from GW190521 contains an observable sub-dominant$(\ell ,m,n)=(3,3,0)$mode.

    

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