2012/01/31 by Reinhard Prix, R. Prix, Miroslav Shaltev +1 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Applied mathematics #Bounded function #Classical mechanics #Computer science #Gamma-ray bursts and supernovae #Gaussian #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Gravitation #Gravitational wave #Grid #Mathematical analysis #Mathematical optimization #Mathematics #Noise (video) #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Scaling #Sensitivity (control systems) #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.85.084010
published as PRD 85, 084010 (2012) · 18 pages, 3 figures, RevTeX4. Final version, equivalent to that published in PRD
openalex publication_date 2012/04/10 · arxiv created 2012/05/03 · arxiv updated 2015/06/03 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Coherent wide parameter-space searches for continuous gravitational waves are typically limited in sensitivity by their prohibitive computing cost. Therefore, semicoherent methods (such as StackSlide) can often achieve a better sensitivity. We develop an analytical method for finding optimal StackSlide parameters at fixed computing cost under ideal conditions of gapless data with Gaussian stationary noise. This solution separates two regimes: an unbounded regime, where it is always optimal to use all the data, and a bounded regime with a finite optimal observation time. Our analysis of the sensitivity scaling reveals that both the fine- and coarse-grid mismatches contribute equally to the average StackSlide mismatch, an effect that had been overlooked in previous studies. We discuss various practical examples for the application of this optimization framework, illustrating the potential gains in sensitivity compared to previous searches.