Bayesian $\mathcal{F}$-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 $\{h_0,\cos \iota ,\psi ,{\varphi }_0\}$ of continuous-gravitational waves emitted by known pulsars. This approach leverages the well-established $\mathcal{F}$-statistic framework and software. We further explore the benefits of employing a likelihood function that is analytically marginalized over ${\varphi }_0$, which avoids signal degeneracy problems in the $\psi$-${\varphi }_0$ subspace. The method is tested on simulated signals, hardware injections in Advanced-LIGO detector data, and by performing percentile-percentile (PP) 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 $h_0^{95\%}$ on the gravitational-wave amplitude of approximately $7\times 10^{-27}$, comparable with a previous frequentist upper limit.

arXiv comment15 pages, 17 figures, updated to match published version

References in corpus (49)

• dynesty: A Dynamic Nested Sampling Package for Estimating Bayesian Posteriors and Evidences
• Bilby: A user-friendly Bayesian inference library for gravitational-wave astronomy
• Data analysis of gravitational-wave signals from spinning neutron stars. I. The signal and its detection
• Detection, Measurement and Gravitational Radiation
• Open data from the first and second observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo
• Maximum elastic deformations of compact stars with exotic equations of state
• Setting upper limits on the strength of periodic gravitational waves using the first science data from the GEO600 and LIGO detectors
• Upper limits on gravitational wave emission from 78 radio pulsars
• First search for gravitational waves from known pulsars with Advanced LIGO
• Gravitational waves from known pulsars: results from the initial detector era
• Limits on gravitational wave emission from selected pulsars using LIGO data
• The generalized F-statistic: multiple detectors and multiple GW pulsars
• Searches for gravitational waves from known pulsars with S5 LIGO data
• Nested sampling for physical scientists
• Searches for Continuous-Wave Gravitational Radiation
• Searches for Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars at Two Harmonics in 2015-2017 LIGO Data
• Bayesian estimation of pulsar parameters from gravitational wave data
• All-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars using Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo O3 data
• Targeted search for continuous gravitational waves: Bayesian versus maximum-likelihood statistics
• Gravitational-wave constraints on the equatorial ellipticity of millisecond pulsars
• Probing Dynamical Gravity with the Polarization of Continuous Gravitational Waves
• Evidence for a minimum ellipticity in millisecond pulsars
• Bilby-MCMC: An MCMC sampler for gravitational-wave inference
• SWIGLAL: Python and Octave interfaces to the LALSuite gravitational-wave data analysis libraries
• Narrowband searches for continuous and long-duration transient gravitational waves from known pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo third observing run
• Searches for Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars at Two Harmonics in the Second and Third LIGO-Virgo Observing Runs
• Discovery of a Gamma-ray Black Widow Pulsar by GPU-accelerated Einstein@Home
• Search for continuous gravitational wave emission from the Milky Way center in O3 LIGO--Virgo data
• All-sky Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves from Isolated Neutron Stars in the Early O3 LIGO Data
• Gravitational-wave astronomy with a physical calibration model
• Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves from Scorpius X-1 in LIGO O2 Data
• Deep Einstein@Home all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves in LIGO O3 public data
• physiCal: A physical approach to the marginalization of LIGO calibration uncertainties
• Hierarchical multi-stage MCMC follow-up of continuous gravitational wave candidates
• The TRAPUM L-band survey for pulsars in Fermi-LAT gamma-ray sources
• Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 with a hidden Markov model in O3 LIGO data
• Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves from the Central Compact Objects in Supernova Remnants Cassiopeia A, Vela Jr. and G347.3-0.5
• Continuous gravitational waves from Galactic neutron stars: demography, detectability and prospects
• Identification and removal of non-Gaussian noise transients for gravitational wave searches
• Model-based cross-correlation search for gravitational waves from the low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1 in LIGO O3 data
• New searches for continuous gravitational waves from seven fast pulsars
• The search for continuous gravitational waves from small-ellipticity sources at low frequencies
• New Coordinates for the Amplitude Parameter Space of Continuous Gravitational Waves
• A frequency resolved atlas of the sky in continuous gravitational waves
• First results and future prospects for dual-harmonic searches for gravitational waves from spinning neutron stars
• Results from an Einstein@Home search for continuous gravitational waves from G347.3 at low frequencies in LIGO O2 data
• Search for Gravitational Waves from Scorpius X-1 in LIGO O3 Data With Corrected Orbital Ephemeris
• Early release of the expanded atlas of the sky in continuous gravitational waves
• An efficient Matched Filtering Algorithm for the Detection of Continuous Gravitational Wave Signals

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Applications of machine learning in gravitational wave research with current interferometric detectors
• Gravitational wave probes of particle dark matter: a review
• Two sides of the same coin: the F-statistic and the 5-vector method
• Einstein@Home Searches for Gamma-ray Pulsars in the Inner Galaxy
• Results from an Einstein@Home search for continuous gravitational waves from Cassiopeia A and Vela Jr. using LIGO O2 data
• A practical Bayesian method for gravitational-wave ringdown analysis with multiple modes
• Searching for continuous gravitational waves from highly deformed compact objects with DECIGO
• Bayesian Framework to Follow-up Continuous Gravitational Wave Candidates from Deep Surveys