2013/10/31 by Eric Thrane, Joseph D Romano · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.IM #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.88.124032
12 pages, 11 figures
arxiv created 2013/11/25 · arxiv updated 2015/06/17
We propose a graphical representation of detector sensitivity curves for stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds that takes into account the increase in sensitivity that comes from integrating over frequency in addition to integrating over time. This method is valid for backgrounds that have a power-law spectrum in the analysis band. We call these graphs "power-law integrated curves." For simplicity, we consider cross-correlation searches for unpolarized and isotropic stochastic backgrounds using two or more detectors. We apply our method to construct power-law integrated sensitivity curves for second-generation ground-based detectors such as Advanced LIGO, space-based detectors such as LISA and the Big Bang Observer, and timing residuals from a pulsar timing array. The code used to produce these plots is available at https://dcc.ligo.org/LIGO-P1300115/public for researchers interested in constructing similar sensitivity curves.