Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2015 Annual Meeting of the APS Mid-Atlantic Section
Volume 60, Number 14
Friday–Sunday, October 23–25, 2015; Morgantown, West Virginia
Session B8: Astrophysics II |
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Chair: Sean McWilliams, West Virginia University Room: Waterfront Hotel Salon G |
Saturday, October 24, 2015 3:30PM - 4:06PM |
B8.00001: Toward a Space-based Gravitational Wave Observatory Invited Speaker: Robin Stebbins NASA and ESA have explored a gravitational wave mission since 1993. In November 2013, the European Space Agency (ESA) selected the science theme, the ``Gravitational Universe,'' for its third large mission opportunity, known as `L3,' under its Cosmic Vision Programme. The planned launch date is 2034.~ NASA is seeking a role as an international partner in L3. NASA is supporting: (1) US participation in early mission studies, (2) US technology development, (3) pre-decadal preparations, (4) ESA's LISA Pathfinder mission and (5) the ST7 Disturbance Reduction System project. This talk summarizes NASA's preparations for a future gravitational-wave mission. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 24, 2015 4:06PM - 4:18PM |
B8.00002: Ongoing efforts to observe gravitational waves in the Advanced LIGO era Sean McWilliams The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), which has recently begun operations, is the most sensitive gravitational-wave detector that has ever been constructed. This sensitivity makes the first direct detection of gravitational waves a likely possibility in the very near future. I will describe the current sensitivity, and what it means for expected detection rates. I will also discuss the important role that my research team at West Virginia University has played, and continues to play, in developing and implementing new and more efficient algorithms for modeling likely gravitational-wave sources, such as spinning and/or eccentric black-hole and neutron-star binaries, so that we can take full advantage of the detector’s unprecedented sensitivity to observe and characterize gravitational-wave signals. [Preview Abstract] |
Saturday, October 24, 2015 4:18PM - 4:30PM |
B8.00003: Dispersion Measure Variations in the NANOGrav Nine-Year Data Set Megan Jones, Maura McLaughlin The North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational waves (NANOGrav) is a collaboration of scientists working to detect gravitational waves using pulsar timing. Dispersion, a frequency-dependent time delay caused by free electrons along the line of sight, needs to be corrected for in the pulsar data in order to achieve the necessary sensitivity required to detect gravitational radiation. We analyze the dispersion measure (DM) variations of 37 milliseconds pulsars in the nine-year NANOGrav data release and constrain the sources of these variations. Variations in the DM over time can be caused by a variety of factors, including an increasing or decreasing distance between the pulsar and the Earth, inhomogeneities in the ISM, and solar effects. We fit for these types of trends in the DM measurements with time to measure the scale and periodicity, if any, of the variations. We present the structure functions of these pulsars and compare them to that expected for a Kolmogorov medium. [Preview Abstract] |
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