2007/10/31 by Marc van der Sluys, M. V. van der Sluys, Christian Röver +10 · 4 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology #astro-ph #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/595279
published as ApJL 688, L61 (2008) · v2: major conceptual changes, 4 pages, 1 figure, 1 table, submitted to ApJL
arxiv created 2008/08/02 · openalex publication_date 2008/10/23 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2020/11/23 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Inspiral signals from binary compact objects (black holes and neutron stars) are primary targets of the ongoing searches by ground-based gravitational-wave interferometers (LIGO, Virgo, and GEO-600). We present parameter-estimation simulations for inspirals of black hole-neutron star binaries using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods. For the first time, we both estimated the parameters of a binary inspiral source with a spinning, precessing component and determined the accuracy of the parameter estimation, for simulated observations with ground-based gravitational-wave detectors. We demonstrate that we can obtain the distance, sky position, and binary orientation at a higher accuracy than previously suggested in the literature. For an observation of an inspiral with sufficient spin and two or three detectors we find an accuracy in the determination of the sky position of the order of tens of square degrees.