Bayesian F -statistic-based parameter estimation of continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars

authored by: A. Ashok, P. B. Covas, R. Prix, M. A. Papa
Abstract: We present a new method and implementation to obtain Bayesian posteriors on the amplitude parameters {h0,cosι,ψ,φ0} of continuous gravitational waves emitted by known pulsars. This approach leverages the well-established F-statistic framework and software. We further explore the benefits of employing a likelihood function that is analytically marginalized over φ0, which avoids signal degeneracy problems in the ψ-φ0 subspace. The method is tested on simulated signals, hardware injections in Advanced-LIGO detector data, and by performing percentile-percentile self-consistency tests of the posteriors via Monte-Carlo simulations. We apply our methodology to PSR J1526-2744, a recently discovered millisecond pulsar. We find no evidence for a signal and obtain a Bayesian upper limit h095% on the gravitational-wave amplitude of approximately 7×10-27, comparable with a previous frequentist upper limit.
Organisation(s): Institute of Gravitation Physics
External Organisation(s): Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
Type: Article
Journal: Physical Review D
Volume: 109
No. of pages: 15
ISSN: 2470-0010
Publication date: 01.05.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2401.17025 (Access: Open)
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.104002 (Access: Open)

BibTeX

@article{9258b02f1cab4d2da534758ba2feb277,
title = "Bayesian F -statistic-based parameter estimation of continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars",
abstract = "We present a new method and implementation to obtain Bayesian posteriors on the amplitude parameters {h0,cosι,ψ,φ0} of continuous gravitational waves emitted by known pulsars. This approach leverages the well-established F-statistic framework and software. We further explore the benefits of employing a likelihood function that is analytically marginalized over φ0, which avoids signal degeneracy problems in the ψ-φ0 subspace. The method is tested on simulated signals, hardware injections in Advanced-LIGO detector data, and by performing percentile-percentile self-consistency tests of the posteriors via Monte-Carlo simulations. We apply our methodology to PSR J1526-2744, a recently discovered millisecond pulsar. We find no evidence for a signal and obtain a Bayesian upper limit h095% on the gravitational-wave amplitude of approximately 7×10-27, comparable with a previous frequentist upper limit.",
author = "A. Ashok and Covas, {P. B.} and R. Prix and Papa, {M. A.}",
note = "Funding Information: This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 101029058. This work has utilized the ATLAS computing cluster at the MPI for Gravitational Physics Hannover. We thank the anonymous referee for suggestions that improved the paper. ",
year = "2024",
month = may,
day = "1",
doi = "10.48550/arXiv.2401.17025",
language = "English",
volume = "109",
journal = "Physical Review D",
issn = "2470-0010",
publisher = "American Institute of Physics",
number = "10",
}