2016/06/03 by C P L Berry, B Farr, W M Farr +15 · 1 voice
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.HE #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1088/1742-6596/716/1/012031
published as Journal of Physics: Conference Series; 76(1):012031(4); 2016 · 4 pages, 2 figures. Published in the proceedings of Amaldi 11
2015 will see the first observations of Advanced LIGO and the start of the gravitational-wave (GW) advanced-detector era. One of the most promising sources for ground-based GW detectors are binary neutron-star (BNS) coalescences. In order to use any detections for astrophysics, we must understand the capabilities of our parameter-estimation analysis. By simulating the GWs from an astrophysically motivated population of BNSs, we examine the accuracy of parameter inferences in the early advanced-detector era. We find that sky location, which is important for electromagnetic follow-up, can be determined rapidly (~5 s), but that sky areas may be hundreds of square degrees. The degeneracy between component mass and spin means there is significant uncertainty for measurements of the individual masses and spins; however, the chirp mass is well measured (typically better than 0.1%).