Gravitational Physics
Applications of python-based parameter estimation of gravitational waves
Speaker: Collin Capano (AEI)
Date: Friday 16 June 2017
Time: 10.00
Venue: Chart Room (N/3.28)
The detection of gravitational waves with the LIGO interferometers has made a wide range of previously unobservable phenomena possible to study. To date, such studies have been performed using LALInference, a software suite that was developed to estimate the source parameters of detected gravitational-waves via Bayesian inference. This software was used to determine the masses, spins, and locations of current detections, as well as to constrain deviations to general relativity. However, being written in C, LALInference can be challenging to use for non-experts, and difficult to modify. To remedy this, I have been working with collaborators to develop a new, python-based parameter estimation code, PyCBC Inference. I will provide an overview of PyCBC Inference, and I will discuss two current projects that make use of it: a test of Hawking's area theorem of black holes, and a study of the effect of priors on the estimated spins of detected events.