Effects of Blip Glitches on Parameter Estimation

Document #:

LIGO-T2000395-v6

Document type:

T - Technical notes

Abstract:

No scientific endeavor ever runs flawlessly. There are always malfunctions and interference that render the data less than perfect. In the case of gravitational wave astronomy, one of the defects found in the signals are abrupt noise transients, commonly known as glitches. These glitches are often difficult to model due to their non-Gaussian behavior. It is not currently routine practice to remove all glitches, although sometimes glitch subtraction must be done when the glitch strongly interferes with the signal. Each glitch is unique, but a very common type are blip glitches. These glitches bare a particular resemblance to signals, with the absence of the extended signal tail. The process of glitch subtraction is time consuming and is not fully automated. In this study we chose to explore whether or not glitch subtraction of a blip is necessary, as avoiding glitch subtraction could save valuable time during data analysis. Our data set is comprised of simulated signals created using a variety of masses and glitch injection times. By analyzing how well the Bilby program is able to recover the set parameters we can determine how much of an impact the glitch has on parameter estimation.

Files in Document:

• Lilah_Mercadante_LIGO_FinalReport (Effects_of_Glitches_on_Parameter_Estimation.pdf, 1.3 MB)

Other Files:

• Lilah_Mercadante_LIGO_Presentation (Effects_of_Glitches_on_PE.mp4, 19.9 MB)

Topics:

• Data quality / vetoes
• Detector Characterization
• Data Analysis

Authors:

• Lilah Mercadante
• Jonah Kanner

Referenced by:

• LIGO-T2000645: Final reports from LIGO SURF program, Summer 2020