Astrophysical event rates in the detection era

Document #:

LIGO-G1200346-v1

Document type:

G - Presentations (eg Graphics)

Abstract:

Distinguishing signals from noise is often aided by setting thresholds on the value of the detection statistic. In the fortunate case of having detected multiple events above this threshold (e.g. in the advanced detector era) we will be able to perform inference on the physical parameters governing the population of sources. We expand upon existing work on astrophysical rates estimates for single detections by developing a fully Bayesian approach. This allows us to naturally incorporate multiple events and informs us of the strong influence of the detection statistic threshold. In general, incorrect handling of this threshold can significantly bias inference on global parameters.

Files in Document:

• malmquist_LSCMARCH2012.pdf (file is not accessible)

Topics:

• Compact Binaries
• Astrophysics / Multi-messenger
• Data analysis software
• Other data analysis

Authors:

• Chris Messenger
• John Veitch

Keywords:

bayesian rate advanced bias statistics