paper

Sky localization and polarization mode reconstruction of gravitational waves from GW170104 and GW150914

arXiv:2504.00198 · doi:10.1007/s10509-025-04465-0

Abstract

The detections\citep{KAGRA:2023pio,LIGOScientific:2019lzm} and analysis of gravitational waves(GWs) have introduced us in a new era of our understanding of the cosmos, providing new insights into astrophysical systems involving massive objects as black holes and neutron stars. Normally the precise sky localization of a GW source needs data from three or more observatories\citep{LIGOScientific:2016lio,Abbott:2017oio}. However, the results presented in this article demonstrate that it is in fact possible to obtain the position of a GW source in a small region of the celestial sphere using data from just two GW observatories, in this case LIGO Hanford and LIGO Livingston. Furthermore, we are also able to reconstruct the gravitational-wave polarization\citep{Poisson2014} modes(PMs) for the GW170104\citep{Abbott:2017vtc} and GW150914\citep{TheLIGOScientific:2016qqj} events, with data from only these two detectors. The procedure only uses the spin 2 properties of the GW, so that it does not rely on specific assumptions on the nature of the source. Our findings are possible through careful data filtering methods\citep{Moreschi:2019vxw}, the use of refined signal processing algorithms\citep{Moreschi:2024njx}, and the application of dedicated denoising\citep{Mallat2009} techniques. This progress in the GW studies represents the first instance of a direct measurement of PMs using such a limited observational data. We provide detailed validation through the reconstruction of PMs for different polarization angles, and calculations of residuals for the GW170104 event. We also test the procedure with synthetic data with ten different source locations and polarization angles.

34 pages, 60 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science on July 15, (2025)

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