Gravitational Wave Seminar Series: “Solving the challenges of working with real data from ground-based gravitational-wave detectors”

The Syracuse University Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and Astrophysics, in conjunction with the Syracuse University Physics Department, is pleased to welcome Dr. Derek Davis, a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology working with the LIGO Laboratory to give a talk as part of the Gravitational Wave Seminar Series.

Abstract:

Gravitational-wave detectors, such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO), have changed how we observe our universe by detecting gravitational waves from merging black holes and neutron stars. However, finding these signals requires highly sensitive detectors and careful procedures to analyze the recorded data. As the detection of gravitational-wave events becomes an everyday occurrence, the demand for precision in our gravitational-wave data analysis techniques continues to grow. One of the main roadblocks to further improvements is the presence of continually evolving instrumental artifacts in our data. In this talk, Davis will discuss their ongoing work to decode the complexities of gravitational-wave data and improve the robustness of astrophysical analyses. This includes direct investigations of the nature of instrumental artifacts, how these artifacts might mimic gravitational-wave signals or impact analysis of real events, and how we can use multiple analysis approaches to separate exciting new physics from everyday noise.