How much spin wandering can continuous gravitational wave search algorithms handle?

The canonical signal model in continuous gravitational wave searches is deterministic, and stable over the long integration times needed to separate a putative signal from the noise, e.g., with a matched filter. However, there exist plausible physical mechanisms that give rise to ``spin-wandering,'' i.e., small stochastic variations in the frequency of the gravitational wave. Stochastic variations degrade the sensitivity of matched filters which assume a deterministic frequency evolution. Suites of synthetic spin-wandering injections are performed to infer the loss in sensitivity depth ${\mathcal{D}}_{\mathrm{SW}}$ when compared to the depth for a canonical signal ${\mathcal{D}}_{\mathrm{det}}$. For a fiducial spin-wandering signal that wanders by $\ensuremath{\lesssim}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Hz}$ per day, the depth ratio is ${\mathcal{D}}_{\mathrm{det}}/{\mathcal{D}}_{\mathrm{SW}}=4.3{9}_{\ensuremath{-}0.27}^{+0.23}$, ${1.51}_{\ensuremath{-}0.03}^{+0.02}$, ${1.75}_{\ensuremath{-}0.04}^{+0.04}$, and ${1.07}_{\ensuremath{-}0.02}^{+0.01}$ for the coherent $\mathcal{F}$-statistic, semicoherent $\mathcal{F}$-statistic, CrossCorr, and HMM-Viterbi algorithms respectively. Increasing the coherence time of the semicoherent algorithms does not necessarily increase their sensitivity to spin-wandering signals.

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Publication Details

Journal
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Published
2025-04-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.111.083016
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.31

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article

How much spin wandering can continuous gravitational wave search algorithms handle?

J. B. Carlin, A. Melatos
2 citations
Physical review. D/Physical review. D.
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
2.31
article

How much spin wandering can continuous gravitational wave search algorithms handle?

J. B. Carlin, A. Melatos
article en
2 citations

Abstract

The canonical signal model in continuous gravitational wave searches is deterministic, and stable over the long integration times needed to separate a putative signal from the noise, e.g., with a matched filter. However, there exist plausible physical mechanisms that give rise to ``spin-wandering,'' i.e., small stochastic variations in the frequency of the gravitational wave. Stochastic variations degrade the sensitivity of matched filters which assume a deterministic frequency evolution. Suites of synthetic spin-wandering injections are performed to infer the loss in sensitivity depth ${\mathcal{D}}_{\mathrm{SW}}$ when compared to the depth for a canonical signal ${\mathcal{D}}_{\mathrm{det}}$. For a fiducial spin-wandering signal that wanders by $\ensuremath{\lesssim}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}6}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Hz}$ per day, the depth ratio is ${\mathcal{D}}_{\mathrm{det}}/{\mathcal{D}}_{\mathrm{SW}}=4.3{9}_{\ensuremath{-}0.27}^{+0.23}$, ${1.51}_{\ensuremath{-}0.03}^{+0.02}$, ${1.75}_{\ensuremath{-}0.04}^{+0.04}$, and ${1.07}_{\ensuremath{-}0.02}^{+0.01}$ for the coherent $\mathcal{F}$-statistic, semicoherent $\mathcal{F}$-statistic, CrossCorr, and HMM-Viterbi algorithms respectively. Increasing the coherence time of the semicoherent algorithms does not necessarily increase their sensitivity to spin-wandering signals.

Physical review. D/Physical review. D.Vol. 111(8)
Australian Research Council (AU), The University of Melbourne (AU), ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (AU)
National Science Foundation, Swinburne University of Technology, Australian Research Council
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
2.31
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How much spin wandering can continuous gravitational wave search algorithms handle? — J. B. Carlin, A. Melatos · Physical review. D/Physical review. D. (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS