According to general relativity a perturbed black hole will settle to a stationary configuration by the emission of gravitational radiation. Such a perturbation will occur, for example, in the coalescence of a black hole binary, following their inspiral and subsequent merger. At late times the waveform is a superposition of quasi-normal modes, which we refer to as the ringdown. The dominant mode is expected to be the fundamental mode, l=m=2. Since this is a well-known waveform, matched filtering can be implemented to search for this signal using LIGO data. We present a search for gravitational waves from black hole ringdowns in the fourth LIGO science run S4, during which LIGO was sensitive to the dominant mode of perturbed black holes with masses in the range of 10 Msun to 500 Msun, the regime of intermediate-mass black holes, to distances up to 300 Mpc. We present a search for gravitational waves from black hole ringdowns using data from S4. No gravitational wave candidates were found; we place a 90%-confidence upper limit on the rate of ringdowns from black holes with mass between 85 Msun and 390 Msun in the local universe, assuming a uniform distribution of sources, of 3.2 x 10^-5 yr^-1 Mpc^-3 = 1.6 x 10^-3yr^-1 L_10^-1, where L_10 is 10^10 times the solar blue-light luminosity.

We report on a matched-filter search for gravitational wave bursts from cosmic string cusps using LIGO data from the fourth science run (S4) which took place in February and March 2005. No gravitational waves were detected in 14.9 days of data from times when all three LIGO detectors were operating. We interpret the result in terms of a frequentist upper limit on the rate of gravitational wave bursts and use the limits on the rate to constrain the parameter space (string tension, reconnection probability, and loop sizes) of cosmic string models. Many grand unified theory-scale models (with string tension Gμ/c2≈10-6) can be ruled out at 90% confidence for reconnection probabilities p≤10-3 if loop sizes are set by gravitational back reaction.

Keywords: Extended classical solutions, cosmic strings, domain walls, texture, Strings and branes, Particle-theory and field-theory models of the early Universe, Extended classical solutions; cosmic strings, domain walls, texture, Strings and branes, Particle-theory and field-theory models of the early Universe

One class of gravitational wave signals LIGO is searching for consists of short duration bursts of unknown waveforms. Potential sources include core collapse supernovae, gamma ray burst progenitors and mergers of binary black holes or neutron stars. We present a density-based clustering algorithm to improve the performance of time-frequency searches for such gravitational-wave bursts when they are extended in time and/or frequency, and not sufficiently well known to permit matched filtering. We have implemented this algorithm as an extension to the QPipeline, a gravitational-wave data analysis pipeline for the detection of bursts, which currently determines the statistical significance of events based solely on the peak significance observed in minimum uncertainty regions of the time-frequency plane. Density-based clustering improves the performance of such a search by considering the aggregate significance of arbitrarily shaped regions in the time-frequency plane and rejecting the isolated minimum uncertainty features expected from the background detector noise. In this paper, we present test results for simulated signals and demonstrate that density-based clustering improves the performance of the QPipeline for signals extended in time and/or frequency.

We present the results of a LIGO search for short-duration gravitational waves (GWs) associated with the 2006 March 29 SGR 1900+14 storm. A new search method is used, "stacking” the GW data around the times of individual soft-gamma bursts in the storm to enhance sensitivity for models in which multiple bursts are accompanied by GW emission. We assume that variation in the time difference between burst electromagnetic emission and potential burst GW emission is small relative to the GW signal duration, and we time-align GW excess power time-frequency tilings containing individual burst triggers to their corresponding electromagnetic emissions. We use two GW emission models in our search: a fluence-weighted model and a flat (unweighted) model for the most electromagnetically energetic bursts. We find no evidence of GWs associated with either model. Model-dependent GW strain, isotropic GW emission energy E_GW, and γ= E_GW / E_EM upper limits are estimated using a variety of assumed waveforms. The stacking method allows us to set the most stringent model-dependent limits on transient GW strain published to date. We find E_GW upper limit estimates (at a nominal distance of 10 kpc) of between 2x10^45 erg and 6x10^50 erg depending on waveform type. These limits are an order of magnitude lower than upper limits published previously for this storm and overlap with the range of electromagnetic energies emitted in SGR giant flares.

Keywords: gamma rays: bursts, gravitational waves, pulsars: individual: SGR 1900+14, stars: neutron

A stochastic background of gravitational waves is expected to arise from a superposition of a large number of unresolved gravitational-wave sources of astrophysical and cosmological origin. It should carry unique signatures from the earliest epochs in the evolution of the Universe, inaccessible to standard astrophysical observations. Direct measurements of the amplitude of this background are therefore of fundamental importance for understanding the evolution of the Universe when it was younger than one minute. Here we report limits on the amplitude of the stochastic gravitational-wave background using the data from a two-year science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). Our result constrains the energy density of the stochastic gravitational-wave background normalized by the critical energy density of the Universe, in the frequency band around 100Hz, to be <6.9×10-6 at 95% confidence. The data rule out models of early Universe evolution with relatively large equation-of-state parameter, as well as cosmic (super)string models with relatively small string tension that are favoured in some string theory models. This search for the stochastic background improves on the indirect limits from Big Bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background at 100Hz.

This paper reports on an all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves from sources such as deformed isolated rapidly-spinning neutron stars. The analysis uses 840 hours of data from 66 days of the fifth LIGO science run (S5). The data was searched for quasi-monochromatic waves with frequencies f in the range from 50 Hz to 1500 Hz, with a linear frequency drift .f (measured at the solar system barycenter) in the range -f/τ< .f < 0.1 f/τ, for a minimum spin-down age τof 1000 years for signals below 400 Hz and 8000 years above 400 Hz. The main computational work of the search was distributed over approximately 100000 computers volunteered by the general public. This large computing power allowed the use of a relatively long coherent integration time of 30 hours while searching a large parameter space. This search extends Einstein@Home's previous search in LIGO S4 data to about three times better sensitivity. No statistically significant signals were found. In the 125 Hz to 225 Hz band, more than 90% of sources with dimensionless gravitational-wave strain tensor amplitude greater than 3e-24 would have been detected.

We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries, of total mass between 2 and 35 Msun, using LIGO observations between November 14, 2006 and May 18, 2007. No gravitational-wave signals were detected. We report upper limits on the rate of compact binary coalescence as a function of total mass. The LIGO cumulative 90%-confidence rate upper limits of the binary coalescence of neutron stars, black holes and black hole-neutron star systems are 1.4x10^-2, 7.3x10^-4 and 3.6x10^-3 yr^-1L_10^-1 respectively, where L_10 is 10^10 times the blue solar luminosity.

We introduce a novel cooling technique capable of approaching the quantum ground state of a kilogram-scale system—an interferometric gravitational wave detector. The detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) operate within a factor of 10 of the standard quantum limit (SQL), providing a displacement sensitivity of 10‑18 m in a 100 Hz band centered on 150 Hz. With a new feedback strategy, we dynamically shift the resonant frequency of a 2.7 kg pendulum mode to lie within this optimal band, where its effective temperature falls as low as 1.4 μK, and its occupation number reaches about 200 quanta. This work shows how the exquisite sensitivity necessary to detect gravitational waves can be made available to probe the validity of quantum mechanics on an enormous mass scale.

We have searched for gravitational waves from coalescing low mass compact binary systems with a total mass between 2 and 35 Msun and a minimum component mass of 1 Msun using data from the first year of the fifth science run (S5) of the three LIGO detectors, operating at design sensitivity. Depending on mass, we are sensitive to coalescences as far as 150 Mpc from the Earth. No gravitational wave signals were observed above the expected background. Assuming a compact binary objects population with a Gaussian mass distribution representing binary neutron star systems, black hole-neutron star binary systems, and binary black hole systems, we calculate the 90%-confidence upper limit on the rate of coalescences to be 3.9 ×10^-2 yr^-1 L_10^-1, 1.1 ×10^-2 yr^-1 L_10^-1, and 2.5 ×10^-3 yr^-1 L_10^-1 respectively, where L₁₀ is 10¹⁰ times the blue solar luminosity. We also set improved upper limits on the rate of compact binary coalescences per unit blue-light luminosity, as a function of mass.

Many of the astrophysical sources and violent phenomena observed in our Universe are potential emitters of gravitational waves (GWs) and high-energy neutrinos (HENs). A network of GW detectors such as LIGO and Virgo can determine the direction/time of GW bursts while the IceCube and ANTARES neutrino telescopes can also provide accurate directional information for HEN events. Requiring the consistency between both, totally independent, detection channels shall enable new searches for cosmic events arriving from potential common sources, of which many extra-galactic objects.

Keywords: Astrophysics - Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

The time delay of light as it passes by a massive object, first calculated by Shapiro in 1964, is a hallmark of the curvature of space-time. To date, all measurements of the Shapiro time delay have been made over solar-system distance scales. We show that the new generation of kilometer-scale laser interferometers being constructed as gravitational wave detectors, in particular Advanced LIGO, will in principle be sensitive enough to measure variations in the Shapiro time delay produced by a suitably designed rotating object placed near the laser beam. We show that such an apparatus is feasible (though not easy) to construct, present an example design, and calculate the signal that would be detectable by Advanced LIGO. This offers the first opportunity to measure space-time curvature effects on a laboratory distance scale.

Keywords: General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) have unique properties that make them intriguing targets for gravitational wave (GW) searches. They are nearby, their burst emission mechanism may involve neutron star crust fractures and excitation of quasi-normal modes, and they burst repeatedly and sometimes spectacularly. A recent LIGO search for transient GW from these sources placed upper limits on a set of almost 200 individual SGR bursts. These limits were within the theoretically predicted range of some models. We present a new search strategy which builds upon the method used there by "stacking" potential GW signals from multiple SGR bursts. We assume that variation in the time difference between burst electromagnetic emission and burst GW emission is small relative to the GW signal duration, and we time-align GW excess power time-frequency tilings containing individual burst triggers to their corresponding electromagnetic emissions. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we confirm that gains in GW energy sensitivity of N^1/2 are possible, where N is the number of stacked SGR bursts. Estimated sensitivities for a mock search for gravitational waves from the 2006 March 29 storm from SGR 1900+14 are also presented, for two GW emission models, "fluence-weighted" and "flat" (unweighted).

Keywords: Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range 50-1100 Hz and with the frequency's time derivative in the range -5.0E-9 Hz/s to zero. Data from the first eight months of the fifth LIGO science run (S5) have been used in this search, which is based on a semi-coherent method (PowerFlux) of summing strain power. Observing no evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report 95% confidence-level upper limits on radiation emitted by any unknown isolated rotating neutron stars within the search range. Strain limits below 1.E-24 are obtained over a 200-Hz band, and the sensitivity improvement over previous searches increases the spatial volume sampled by an average factor of about 100 over the entire search band. For a neutron star with nominal equatorial ellipticity of 1.0E-6, the search is sensitive to distances as great as 500 pc-a range that could encompass many undiscovered neutron stars, albeit only a tiny fraction of which would likely be rotating fast enough to be accessible to LIGO. This ellipticity is at the upper range thought to be sustainable by conventional neutron stars and well below the maximum sustainable by a strange quark star.

We are observing the lunar near side intensively with a network of robotic imaging telescopes tuned to detect small transient changes in photometry (on timescales of  1 to 100 min). We also describe a parallel program to detect quasi-permanent photometric surface changes.

We present a method to precisely calibrate the time delay in a long baseline gravitational-wave interferometer. An accurate time stamp is crucial for data analysis of gravitational wave detectors, especially when performing coincidence and correlation analyses between multiple detectors. Our method uses an intensity-modulated radiation pressure force to actuate on the mirrors. The time delay is measured by comparing the phase of the signal at the actuation point with the phase of the recorded signal within the calibrated data stream used for gravitational wave searches. Because the signal-injection path is independent of the interferometer's control system, which is used for the standard calibration, this method can be an independent verification of the timing error in the system. A measurement performed with the 4 km interferometer at the LIGO Hanford Observatory shows a 1 µs relative accuracy when averaging over 50 min. Our understanding of the systematic time delay in the detector response has reached the level of 10 µs.

It is widely expected that the coming decade will witness the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs). The ground-based LIGO and Virgo GW observatories are being upgraded to advanced sensitivity, and are expected to observe a significant binary merger rate. The launch of The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) would extend the GW window to low frequencies, opening new vistas on dynamical processes involving massive (M >  10^5 M_Sun) black holes. GW events are likely to be accompanied by electromagnetic (EM) counterparts and, since information carried electromagnetically is complementary to that carried gravitationally, a great deal can be learned about an event and its environment if it becomes possible to measure both forms of radiation in concert. Measurements of this kind will mark the dawn of trans-spectral astrophysics, bridging two distinct spectral bands of information. The aim of this whitepaper is to articulate future directions in both theory and observation that are likely to impact broad astrophysical inquiries of general interest. What will EM observations reflect on the nature and diversity of GW sources? Can GW sources be exploited as complementary probes of cosmology? What cross-facility coordination will expand the science returns of gravitational and electromagnetic observations?

Keywords: Astrophysics - Cosmology and Extra-Galactic Astrophysics, Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena, General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology

A search for periodic gravitational waves, from sources such as isolated rapidly-spinning neutron stars, was carried out using 510 hours of data from the fourth LIGO science run (S4). The search was for quasi-monochromatic waves in the frequency range from 50 Hz to 1500 Hz, with a linear frequency drift f-dot (measured at the solar system barycenter) in the range -f/tau < f-dot < 0.1 f/tau, where the minimum spin-down age tau was 1000 years for signals below 300 Hz and 10000 years above 300 Hz. The main computational work of the search was distributed over approximately 100000 computers volunteered by the general public. This large computing power allowed the use of a relatively long coherent integration time of 30 hours, despite the large parameter space searched. No statistically significant signals were found. The sensitivity of the search is estimated, along with the fraction of parameter space that was vetoed because of contamination by instrumental artifacts. In the 100 Hz to 200 Hz band, more than 90% of sources with dimensionless gravitational wave strain amplitude greater than 1e-23 would have been detected.

We present the results of the first joint search for gravitational-wave bursts by the LIGO and GEO 600 detectors. We search for bursts with characteristic central frequencies in the band 768 2048 Hz in the data acquired between 22 February and 23 March, 2005 (fourth LSC Science Run S4). We discuss the inclusion of the GEO 600 data in the Waveburst CorrPower pipeline that first searches for coincident excess power events without taking into account differences in the antenna responses or strain sensitivities of the various detectors. We compare the performance of this pipeline to that of the coherent Waveburst pipeline based on the maximum likelihood statistic. This likelihood statistic is derived from a coherent sum of the detector data streams that takes into account the antenna patterns and sensitivities of the different detectors in the network. We find that the coherent Waveburst pipeline is sensitive to signals of amplitude 30 50% smaller than the Waveburst CorrPower pipeline. We perform a search for gravitational-wave bursts using both pipelines and find no detection candidates in the S4 data set when all four instruments were operating stably.

We present a LIGO search for short-duration gravitational waves (GWs) associated with soft gamma ray repeater (SGR) bursts. This is the first search sensitive to neutron star f modes, usually considered the most efficient GW emitting modes. We find no evidence of GWs associated with any SGR burst in a sample consisting of the 27 Dec. 2004 giant flare from SGR 1806-20 and 190 lesser events from SGR 1806-20 and SGR 1900+14. The unprecedented sensitivity of the detectors allows us to set the most stringent limits on transient GW amplitudes published to date. We find upper limit estimates on the model-dependent isotropic GW emission energies (at a nominal distance of 10 kpc) between 3×10e45 and 9×10e52 erg depending on waveform type, detector antenna factors and noise characteristics at the time of the burst. These upper limits are within the theoretically predicted range of some SGR models.

Gravitational wave (GW) bursts (short duration signals) are expected to be associated with highly energetic astrophysical processes. With such high energies present, it is likely these astrophysical events will have signatures in the EM spectrum as well as in gravitational radiation. We have initiated a program, "Locating and Observing Optical Counterparts to Unmodeled Pulses in Gravitational Waves" (LOOC UP) to promptly search for counterparts to GW burst candidates. The proposed method analyzes near real-time data from the LIGO-Virgo network, and then uses a telescope network to seek optical-transient counterparts to candidate GW signals. We carried out a pilot study using S5/VSR1 data from the LIGO-Virgo network to develop methods and software tools for such a search. We will present the method, with an emphasis on the potential for such a search to be carried out during the next science run of LIGO and Virgo, expected to begin in 2009.

We report on the methods and results of the first dedicated search for gravitational waves emitted during the inspiral of compact binaries with spinning component bodies. We analyze 788 hours of data collected during the third science run (S3) of the LIGO detectors. We searched for binary systems using a detection template family specially designed to capture the effects of the spin-induced precession of the orbital plane. We present details of the techniques developed to enable this search for spin-modulated gravitational waves, highlighting the differences between this and other recent searches for binaries with nonspinning components. The template bank we employed was found to yield high matches with our spin-modulated target waveform for binaries with masses in the asymmetric range 1.0M[sun]<m1<3.0M[sun] and 12.0M[sun]<m2<20.0M[sun] which is where we would expect the spin of the binary's components to have a significant effect. We find that our search of S3 LIGO data has good sensitivity to binaries in the Milky Way and to a small fraction of binaries in M31 and M33 with masses in the range 1.0M[sun]<m1, m2<20.0M[sun]. No gravitational wave signals were identified during this search. Assuming a binary population with spinning components and Gaussian distribution of masses representing a prototypical neutron star–black hole system with m1 =1.35M[sun] and m2 =5M[sun], we calculate the 90%-confidence upper limit on the rate of coalescence of these systems to be 15.9 yr-1L10-1, where L10 is 1010 times the blue light luminosity of the Sun.

We present direct upper limits on gravitational wave emission from the Crab pulsar using data from the first 9 months of the fifth science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). These limits are based on two searches. In the first we assume that the gravitational wave emission follows the observed radio timing, giving an upper limit on gravitational wave emission that beats indirect limits inferred from the spin-down and braking index of the pulsar and the energetics of the nebula. In the second we allow for a small mismatch between the gravitational and radio signal frequencies and interpret our results in the context of two possible gravitational wave emission mechanisms.

Keywords: Gravitational Waves, pulsars: individual (Crab pulsar)

A new seismic isolation system, TAMA Seismic Attenuation System (TAMA-SAS), was installed to TAMA300 in order to improve the sensitivity at low frequencies. Inertial damping is one of the hierarchical control systems of the TAMA-SAS which are employed to give full play to its ability. We have established two servo loops to control the Inverted Pendulum (IP) which composes the SAS. One is the servo loop using LVDT position sensors to keep the position of the IP. The other is the inertial damping which uses accelerometers to control the inertial motion of the IP for the horizontal direction. The fluctuation of the IP was reduced using our servo system. In addition, reduction of angular and longitudinal fluctuation of the mirror was also confirmed. These results indicate that the control for the IP properly works and the isolation performance of the TAMA-SAS was improved.

The Horizontal Access Module Seismic Attenuation System (HAM-SAS) is a mechanical device expressly designed to isolate a multipurpose optical table and fit in the tight space of the LIGO HAM Ultra-High-Vacuum chamber. Seismic attenuation in the detectors' sensitivity frequency band is achieved with state of the art passive mechanical attenuators. These devices should provide an attenuation factor of about 70dB above 10Hz at the suspension point of the Advanced LIGO triple pendulum suspension. Automatic control techniques are used to position the optical table and damp rigid body modes. Here, we report the main results obtained from the full scale prototype installed at the MIT LIGO Advanced System Test Interferometer (LASTI) facility. Seismic attenuation performance, control strategies, improvements and limitations are also discussed.

We analyzed the available LIGO data coincident with GRB 070201, a short-duration, hard-spectrum ?-ray burst (GRB) whose electromagnetically determined sky position is coincident with the spiral arms of the Andromeda galaxy (M31). Possible progenitors of such short, hard GRBs include mergers of neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole, or soft ?-ray repeater (SGR) flares. These events can be accompanied by gravitational-wave emission. No plausible gravitational-wave candidates were found within a 180 s long window around the time of GRB 070201. This result implies that a compact binary progenitor of GRB 070201, with masses in the range 1 Msolar<m1<3 Msolar and 1 Msolar<m2<40 Msolar, located in M31 is excluded at >99% confidence. If the GRB 070201 progenitor was not in M31, then we can exclude a binary neutron star merger progenitor with distance D<3.5 Mpc, assuming random inclination, at 90% confidence. The result also implies that an unmodeled gravitational-wave burst from GRB 070201 most probably emitted less than 4.4*10-4 Msolarc2 (7.9*1050 ergs) in any 100 ms long period within the signal region if the source was in M31 and radiated isotropically at the same frequency as LIGO's peak sensitivity (f 150 Hz). This upper limit does not exclude current models of SGRs at the M31 distance.

Keywords: Gamma Rays: Bursts, Gravitational Waves, Methods: Data Analysis

In gravitational-wave detection, special emphasis is put onto searches that focus on cosmic events detected by other types of astrophysical observatories. The astrophysical triggers, e.g. from ?-ray and x-ray satellites, optical telescopes and neutrino observatories, provide a trigger time for analyzing gravitational-wave data coincident with the event. In certain cases the expected frequency range, source energetics, directional and progenitor information are also available. Beyond allowing the recognition of gravitational waveforms with amplitudes closer to the noise floor of the detector, these triggered searches should also lead to rich science results even before the onset of Advanced LIGO. In this paper we provide a broad review of LIGO's astrophysically triggered searches and the sources they target.

We present a coincidence search method for astronomical events using gravitational wave detectors in conjunction with other astronomical observations. We illustrate our method for the specific case of the LIGO gravitational wave detector and the IceCube neutrino detector. LIGO trigger events and IceCube events which occur within a given time window are selected as time-coincident events. Then the spatial overlap of the reconstructed event directions is evaluated using an unbinned maximum likelihood method. Our method was tested with Monte Carlo simulations based on realistic LIGO and IceCube event distributions. We estimated a typical false alarm rate for the analysis to be 1 event per 435 years. This is significantly smaller than the false alarm rates of the individual detectors.

TAMA300 has been upgraded to improve the sensitivity at low frequencies after the last observation run in 2004. To avoid the noise caused by seismic activities, we installed a new seismic isolation system-the TAMA seismic attenuation system (SAS). Four SAS towers for the test-mass mirrors were sequentially installed from 2005 to 2006. The recycled Fabry-Perot Michelson interferometer was successfully locked with the SAS. We confirmed the reduction of both length and angular fluctuations at frequencies higher than 1 Hz owing to the SAS.

The first simultaneous operation of the AURIGA detector* and the LIGO observatory* was an opportunity to explore real data, joint analysis methods between two very different types of gravitational wave detectors: resonant bars and interferometers. This paper describes a coincident gravitational wave burst search, where data from the LIGO interferometers are cross-correlated at the time of AURIGA candidate events to identify coincident transients. The analysis pipeline is tuned with two thresholds, on the signal-to-noise ratio of AURIGA candidate events and on the significance of the cross-correlation test in LIGO. The false alarm rate is estimated by introducing time shifts between data sets and the network detection efficiency is measured by adding simulated gravitational wave signals to the detector output. The simulated waveforms have a significant fraction of power in the narrower AURIGA band. In the absence of a detection, we discuss how to set an upper limit on the rate of gravitational waves and to interpret it according to different source models. Due to the short amount of analyzed data and to the high rate of non-Gaussian transients in the detectors' noise at the time, the relevance of this study is methodological: this was the first joint search for gravitational wave bursts among detectors with such different spectral sensitivity and the first opportunity for the resonant and interferometric communities to unify languages and techniques in the pursuit of their common goal.

The time delay of light as it passes by a massive object, first calculated by Shapiro in 1964, is a hallmark of the curvature of space-time. To date, all measurements of the Shapiro time delay have been made over solar-system distance scales using radio ranging. We show that the new generation of kilometer-scale laser interferometers being constructed as gravitational wave detectors, in particular Advanced LIGO, will be sensitive enough to measure the Shapiro time delay produced by a suitably designed rotating object placed near the laser beam. We show that such an apparatus is feasible (though not easy) to construct, present an example design, and calculate the signal that would be detectable by Advanced LIGO. This offers the first opportunity to measure space-time curvature effects on a laboratory distance scale.

Violent astrophysical phenomena such as gamma-ray bursts may produce gravitational wave emission along with high energy neutrinos. A network of gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO and Virgo can determine the direction of gravitational wave bursts while the IceCube neutrino detector can also provide accurate directional information for neutrino events above 100GeV. By combining timing and directional information of events from these two independent detectors, we can search for coincident events that may arrive from common astrophysical sources. The coincidence analysis reduces the false alarm rate, and this in turn allows the trigger threshold to be relaxed and improves the ability to detect a shared class of sources. While the method can be applied to various combinations of detectors, we will present our method specifically for the case of the LIGO-Virgo network and IceCube, using the results of Monte Carlo simulations to demonstrate its performance.

Soft Gamma Repeaters are young neutron stars or supernova remnants with very strong magnetic fields that irregularly emit X-ray and gamma-ray bursts, and occasionally produce huge burst flares. Quasi periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the X-ray tail of such flares have been observed during the August 1998 giant flare from SGR 1900+14 and the Dec 2004 giant flare from SGR 1806-20. These QPOs can plausibly be accompanied by gravitational wave emission up to the energy scale of the electromagnetic emission. The search algorithm used for the analysis relies on coincident data streams from multiple interferometric gravitational wave detectors and incorporates the temporal and directional information available from detected SGR flares.

We present the results of a search for short-duration gravitational-wave bursts associated with 39 gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by gamma-ray satellite experiments during LIGO's S2, S3, and S4 science runs. The search involves calculating the crosscorrelation between two interferometer data streams surrounding the GRB trigger time. We search for associated gravitational radiation from single GRBs, and also apply statistical tests to search for a gravitational-wave signature associated with the whole sample. For the sample examined, we find no evidence for the association of gravitational radiation with GRBs, either on a single-GRB basis or on a statistical basis. Simulating gravitational-wave bursts with sine-Gaussian waveforms, we set upper limits on the root-sum-square of the gravitational-wave strain amplitude of such waveforms at the times of the GRB triggers. We also demonstrate how a sample of several GRBs can be used collectively to set constraints on population models. The small number of GRBs and the significant change in sensitivity of the detectors over the three runs, however, limits the usefulness of a population study for the S2, S3, and S4 runs. Finally, we discuss prospects for the search sensitivity for the ongoing S5 run, and beyond for the next generation of detectors.

We report on a search for gravitational waves from the coalescence of compact binaries during the third and fourth LIGO science runs. The search focused on gravitational waves generated during the inspiral phase of the binary evolution. In our analysis, we considered three categories of compact binary systems, ordered by mass: (i) primordial black hole binaries with masses in the range 0.35M[sun]<m1, m2<1.0M[sun], (ii) binary neutron stars with masses in the range 1.0M[sun]<m1, m2<3.0M[sun], and (iii) binary black holes with masses in the range 3.0M[sun]<m1, m2<mmax with the additional constraint m1+m2<mmax, where mmax was set to 40.0M[sun] and 80.0M[sun] in the third and fourth science runs, respectively. Although the detectors could probe to distances as far as tens of Mpc, no gravitational-wave signals were identified in the 1364 hours of data we analyzed. Assuming a binary population with a Gaussian distribution around 0.75-0.75M[sun], 1.4-1.4M[sun], and 5.0-5.0M[sun], we derived 90%-confidence upper limit rates of 4.9 yr-1L10-1 for primordial black hole binaries, 1.2 yr-1L10-1 for binary neutron stars, and 0.5 yr-1L10-1 for stellar mass binary black holes, where L10 is 1010 times the blue-light luminosity of the Sun.

Gamma-ray, X-ray, optical and neutrino observations of cataclysmic cosmic events with plausible gravitational wave emission can be used in combination with searches for gravitational waves. Information on the progenitor, such as trigger time, direction and expected frequency range, shall enhance our ability to identify gravitational wave signatures with amplitude close to the noise floor of the detector. Even in the absence of detection, the association of the astrophysical trigger with a particular source distance allows to interpret upper limits on the observed flux of gravitational waves in terms of the energy emitted in the form of gravitational waves. After a brief summary of astrophysically triggered gravitational wave searches, I will discuss the results related to GRB 070201, a short hard gamma-ray burst with possible association with the Andromeda galaxy (M31). I will close by giving an outlook on the future.

We report on an all-sky search with the LIGO detectors for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency range 50-1000 Hz and with the frequency's time derivative in the range -1.0E-8 Hz/s to zero. Data from the fourth LIGO science run (S4) have been used in this search. Three different semi-coherent methods of transforming and summing strain power from Short Fourier Transforms (SFTs) of the calibrated data have been used. The first, known as "StackSlide", averages normalized power from each SFT. A "weighted Hough" scheme is also developed and used, and which also allows for a multi-interferometer search. The third method, known as "PowerFlux", is a variant of the StackSlide method in which the power is weighted before summing. In both the weighted Hough and PowerFlux methods, the weights are chosen according to the noise and detector antenna-pattern to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio. The respective advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed. Observing no evidence of periodic gravitational radiation, we report upper limits; we interpret these as limits on this radiation from isolated rotating neutron stars. The best population-based upper limit with 95% confidence on the gravitational-wave strain amplitude, found for simulated sources distributed isotropically across the sky and with isotropically distributed spin-axes, is 4.28E-24 (near 140 Hz). Strict upper limits are also obtained for small patches on the sky for best-case and worst-case inclinations of the spin axes.

We have begun a program, "Locating and Observing Optical Counterparts to Unmodeled Pulses in Gravitational Waves" (LOOC UP), to search promptly for optical counterparts to potential candidates for gravitational wave (GW) bursts. Several plausible GW sources are likely to also emit light, so the identification of a transient optical counterpart would confirm the GW signal and provide additional information about the progenitor. For example, it is expected that a merger of two neutron stars in a binary system close enough to be detectable in GWs may exhibit an optical counterpart as bright as R=13 magnitude initially, with a dimming of 1 magnitude per night. We carried out a pilot study in the summer of 2007 to develop methods and software tools for such a search. The first stage involves identifying potential GW burst candidates, or "triggers", by near real-time analysis of signals from the two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detector sites plus the Virgo GW detector in Europe, using very low thresholds on signal amplitude and requiring coincidence among the detectors. (At such low thresholds, typical noise fluctuations in the detectors produce a false trigger rate of one or more per hour.) Rough positions of putative sources are estimated from the GW data using the timing differences among detectors; this information is then used to select follow-up targets, giving preference to nearby galaxies and Milky Way globular clusters. A large number of nominal trigger times and targets were selected in this way for the pilot study. Using Las Campanas and MDM observatories, repeated optical observations of fields containing these targets were obtained starting a few hours after each trigger and continuing for several nights. We will present the methods we have developed for choosing targets for follow-ups and analyzing the optical image data for transients.

Gamma-ray, X-ray, optical or neutrino observations of cataclysmic cosmic events with plausible gravitational wave emission can be used to constrain searches for gravitational waves in LIGO (VIRGO) data. Information on the progenitor, such as trigger time, expected frequency range and direction, can enhance our ability to identify gravitational wave signatures with amplitude close to the noise floor of the detector with a low false alarm probability. Even in the absence of detection, the association of the astrophysical trigger with a particular source distance allows to interpret upper limits on the observed flux of gravitational waves in terms of the energy emitted in form of gravitational waves. After a brief summary of ongoing analyses, I will focus on the limits set by LIGO on gravitational waves coincident with GRB 070201, a short hard gamma-ray burst with possible association with the Andromeda galaxy (M31), and on their interpretation.

We have developed advanced seismic attenuation systems for Gravitational Wave (GW) detectors. The design consists of an Inverted Pendulum (IP) holding stages of Geometrical Anti-Spring Filters (GASF) and pendula, which isolate the test mass suspension from ground noise. The ultra-low-frequency IP suppresses the horizontal seismic noise, while the GASF suppresses the vertical ground vibrations. The three legs of the IP are supported by cylindrical maraging steel flexural joints. The IP can be tuned to very low frequencies by carefully adjusting its load. As a best result, we have achieved an ultra low, not, vert, similar12 mHz pendulum frequency for the system prototype made for Advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory). The measured quality factor, Q, of this IP, ranging from Qnot, vert, similar2500 (at 0.45 Hz) to Qnot, vert, similar2 (at 12 mHz), is compatible with structural damping, and is proportional to the square of the pendulum frequency. Tunable counterweights allow for precise center-of-percussion tuning to achieve the required attenuation up to the first leg internal resonance (not, vert, similar60 Hz for advanced LIGO prototype). All measurements are in good agreement with our analytical models. We therefore expect good attenuation in the low-frequency region, from not, vert, similar0.1to not, vert, similar50 Hz, covering the micro-seismic peak. The extremely soft IP requires minimal control force, which simplifies any needed actuation.

The fourth science run of the LIGO and GEO 600 gravitational-wave detectors, carried out in early 2005, collected data with significantly lower noise than previous science runs. We report on a search for short-duration gravitational-wave bursts with arbitrary waveform in the 64??"1600 Hz frequency range appearing in all three LIGO interferometers. Signal consistency tests, data quality cuts and auxiliary-channel vetoes are applied to reduce the rate of spurious triggers. No gravitational-wave signals are detected in 15.5 days of live observation time; we set a frequentist upper limit of 0.15 day-1 (at 90% confidence level) on the rate of bursts with large enough amplitudes to be detected reliably. The amplitude sensitivity of the search, characterized using Monte Carlo simulations, is several times better than that of previous searches. We also provide rough estimates of the distances at which representative supernova and binary black hole merger signals could be detected with 50% efficiency by this analysis.

We present a coincidence search method for astronomical events using gravitational wave detectors in conjunction with other astronomical observations. We illustrate our method for the specific case of LIGO gravitational wave detector and the IceCube neutrino detector. Event triggers which appear in both detectors within a certain time window are selected as time coincident events. Then the spatial overlap of reconstructed event directions is evaluated by an unbinned maximum likelihood method. Our method was tested by Monte Carlo simulations using simulated LIGO and IceCube events. We estimated a typical false alarm rate of the analysis to be 1 event per 435 years. This would allow us to relax the event trigger thresholds of the individual detectors and improve the detection capability.

We searched for an anisotropic background of gravitational waves using data from the LIGO S4 science run and a method that is optimized for point sources. This is appropriate if, for example, the gravitational wave background is dominated by a small number of distinct astrophysical sources. No signal was seen. Upper limit maps were produced assuming two different power laws for the source strain power spectrum. For an f-3 power law and using the 50 Hz to 1.8 kHz band the upper limits on the source strain power spectrum vary between 1.2?-10-48Hz-1 (100Hz/f)3 and 1.2?-10-47Hz-1 (100Hz/f)3, depending on the position in the sky. Similarly, in the case of constant strain power spectrum, the upper limits vary between 8.5?-10-49Hz-1 and 6.1?-10-48Hz-1. As a side product a limit on an isotropic background of gravitational waves was also obtained. All limits are at the 90% confidence level. Finally, as an application, we focused on the direction of Sco-X1, the brightest low-mass x-ray binary. We compare the upper limit on strain amplitude obtained by this method to expectations based on the x-ray flux from Sco-X1.

We carry out two searches for periodic gravitational waves using the most sensitive few hours of data from the second LIGO science run. Both searches exploit fully coherent matched filtering and cover wide areas of parameter space, an innovation over previous analyses which requires considerable algorithm development and computational power. The first search is targeted at isolated, previously unknown neutron stars, covers the entire sky in the frequency band 160??"728.8 Hz, and assumes a frequency derivative of less than 4?-10-10Hz/s. The second search targets the accreting neutron star in the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1 and covers the frequency bands 464??"484 Hz and 604??"624 Hz as well as the two relevant binary orbit parameters. Because of the high computational cost of these searches we limit the analyses to the most sensitive 10 hours and 6 hours of data, respectively. Given the limited sensitivity and duration of the analyzed data set, we do not attempt deep follow-up studies. Rather we concentrate on demonstrating the data analysis method on a real data set and present our results as upper limits over large volumes of the parameter space. In order to achieve this, we look for coincidences in parameter space between the Livingston and Hanford 4-km interferometers. For isolated neutron stars our 95% confidence level upper limits on the gravitational wave strain amplitude range from 6.6?-10-23 to 1?-10-21 across the frequency band; for Scorpius X-1 they range from 1.7?-10-22 to 1.3?-10-21 across the two 20-Hz frequency bands. The upper limits presented in this paper are the first broadband wide parameter space upper limits on periodic gravitational waves from coherent search techniques. The methods developed here lay the foundations for upcoming hierarchical searches of more sensitive data which may detect astrophysical signals.

The recent observation of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) in the x-ray light curve of soft gamma-ray repeaters, which fall within LIGO's sensitivity band, prompted us to search for gravitational waves associated with them. We describe the corresponding search algorithm that is based on the energy measurement in a single detector signal stream. We analytically derive the search sensitivity and compare it to the numerical sensitivity provided by the analysis pipeline with simulated detector noise. We found excellent agreement between the two approaches, reassuring us that the analysis method is well understood and implemented properly. The detector noise is approximated as white Gaussian with a strain equivalent spectral noise density of 10-22 strain Hz-1/2, similar to the noise floor of the H1 LIGO detector at the time of the SGR 1806 20 hyperflare event of 27 December 2004. As a trial model, we use a hypothetical 100 Hz QPO lasting for 50s. The corresponding energy sensitivity is found to be Esens = 3.63 ?- 10-43 strain2 Hz-1 which, in terms of amplitude, is hsensrss-det = 6.06 ?- 10-22 strain Hz-1/2. We show that, besides being simple and flexible, the algorithm is sensitive to a wide range of waveforms obeying the time and bandwidth requirements.

We describe a method for searching for transient gravitational waves associated with soft gamma-ray repeater (SGR) flares or other burst-like events using data collected by interferometric gravitational wave detectors. The method can be used to analyze data from either a single detector or from two detectors coherently. The excess power-type algorithm creates event sets from conditioned detector data which may be compared to signal simulations of known strength based on plausible waveform classes. Estimated search sensitivities obtained by performing two-detector searches on the simulated data are presented. In the case of 22 ms duration white noise bursts in the 100 200 Hz band injected into simulated noise, we find a characteristic strain sensitivity h90%rss = 3.0 ?- 10-22 Hz^-(1)/(2).

We present two general methods, the so-called Locust and the generalized Hough algorithm, to search for narrow-band signals of moderate frequency evolution and limited duration in datastreams of gravitational wave detectors. Some models of long gamma-ray bursts (e.g. van Putten et al 2004 Phys. Rev. D 69 044007) predict narrow-band gravitational wave burst signals of limited duration emitted during the gamma-ray burst event. These types of signals give rise to curling traces of local maxima in the time?frequency space that can be recovered via image processing methods (Locust and Hough). Tests of the algorithms in the context of the van Putten model were carried out using injected simulated signals into Gaussian white noise and also into LIGO-like data. The Locust algorithm has the relative advantage of having higher speed and better general sensitivity; however, the generalized Hough algorithm is more tolerant of trace discontinuities. A combination of the two algorithms increases search robustness and sensitivity at the price of execution speed.

Data from the LIGO Livingston interferometer and the ALLEGRO resonant-bar detector, taken during LIGO's fourth science run, were examined for cross correlations indicative of a stochastic gravitational-wave background in the frequency range 850-950 Hz, with most of the sensitivity arising between 905 and 925 Hz. ALLEGRO was operated in three different orientations during the experiment to modulate the relative sign of gravitational-wave and environmental correlations. No statistically significant correlations were seen in any of the orientations, and the results were used to set a Bayesian 90% confidence level upper limit of ??gw(f)???1.02, which corresponds to a gravitational-wave strain at 915 Hz of 1.5?-10-23Hz-1/2. In the traditional units of h1002??gw(f), this is a limit of 0.53, 2 orders of magnitude better than the previous direct limit at these frequencies. The method was also validated with successful extraction of simulated signals injected in hardware and software.

The fourth science run of the LIGO and GEO 600 gravitational-wave detectors, carried out in early 2005, collected data with significantly lower noise than previous science runs. We report on a search for short-duration gravitational-wave bursts with arbitrary waveform in the 64-1600 Hz frequency range appearing in all three LIGO interferometers. Signal consistency tests, data quality cuts, and auxiliary-channel vetoes are applied to reduce the rate of spurious triggers. No gravitational-wave signals are detected in 15.5 days of live observation time; we set a frequentist upper limit of 0.15 per day (at 90% confidence level) on the rate of bursts with large enough amplitudes to be detected reliably. The amplitude sensitivity of the search, characterized using Monte Carlo simulations, is several times better than that of previous searches. We also provide rough estimates of the distances at which representative supernova and binary black hole merger signals could be detected with 50% efficiency by this analysis.

Current status of TAMA and CLIO detectors in Japan is reported in this article. These two interferometric gravitational-wave detectors are being developed for the large cryogenic gravitational wave telescope (LCGT) which is a future plan for detecting gravitational wave signals at least once per year. TAMA300 is being upgraded to improve the sensitivity in low frequency region after the last observation experiment in 2004. To reduce the seismic noises, we are installing new seismic isolation system, which is called TAMA Seismic Attenuation System, for the four test masses. We confirmed stable mass locks of a cavity and improvements of length and angular fluctuations by using two SASs. We are currently optimizing the performance of the third and fourth SASs. We continue TAMA300 operation and R&D studies for LCGT. Next data taking in the summer of 2007 is planned. CLIO is a 100-m baseline length prototype detector for LCGT to investigate interferometer performance in cryogenic condition. The key features of CLIO are that it locates Kamioka underground site for low seismic noise level, and adopts cryogenic Sapphire mirrors for low thermal noise level. The first operation of the cryogenic interferometer was successfully demonstrated in February of 2006. Current sensitivity at room temperature is close to the target sensitivity within a factor of 4. Several observation experiments at room temperature have been done. Once the displacement noise reaches at thermal noise level of room temperature, its improvement by cooling test mass mirrors should be demonstrated.

We searched for an anisotropic background of gravitational waves using data from the LIGO S4 science run and a method that is optimized for point sources. This is appropriate if, for example, the gravitational wave background is dominated by a small number of distinct astrophysical sources. No signal was seen. Upper limit maps were produced assuming two different power laws for the source strain power spectrum. For an f^-3 power law and using the 50 Hz to 1.8 kHz band the upper limits on the source strain power spectrum vary between 1.2e-48 Hz^-1 (100 Hz/f)^3 and 1.2e-47 Hz^-1 (100 Hz /f)^3, depending on the position in the sky. Similarly, in the case of constant strain power spectrum, the upper limits vary between 8.5e-49 Hz^-1 and 6.1e-48 Hz^-1. As a side product a limit on an isotropic background of gravitational waves was also obtained. All limits are at the 90% confidence level. Finally, as an application, we focused on the direction of Sco-X1, the closest low-mass X-ray binary. We compare the upper limit on strain amplitude obtained by this method to expectations based on the X-ray luminosity of Sco-X1.

We have searched for Gravitational Waves (GWs) associated with the SGR 1806-20 hyperflare of 27 December 2004. This event, originating from a Galactic neutron star, displayed exceptional energetics. Recent investigations of the X-ray light curve's pulsating tail revealed the presence of Quasi-Periodic Oscillations (QPOs) in the 30 - 2000 Hz frequency range, most of which coincides with the bandwidth of the LIGO detectors. These QPOs, with well-characterized frequencies, can plausibly be attributed to seismic modes of the neutron star which could emit GWs. Our search targeted potential quasi-monochromatic GWs lasting for tens of seconds and emitted at the QPO frequencies. We have observed no candidate signals above a pre-determined threshold and our lowest upper limit was set by the 92.5 Hz QPO observed in the interval from 150 s to 260 s after the start of the flare. This bound corresponds to a (90% confidence) root-sum-squared amplitude h_rssdet^90% = 4.5e-22 strain Hz^-1/2 on the GW waveform strength in the detectable polarization state reaching our Hanford (WA) 4 km detector. We illustrate the astrophysical significance of the result via an estimated characteristic energy in GW emission that we would expect to be able to detect. The above result corresponds to 7.7e46 erg (= 4.3e-8 M_sun c^2), which is of the same order as the total (isotropic) energy emitted in the electromagnetic spectrum. This result provides a means to probe the energy reservoir of the source with the best upper limit on the GW waveform strength published and represents the first broadband asteroseismology measurement using a GW detector.

We describe several results from a large program to locate, explore and characterize lunar volatiles using techniques from the Earth, orbit and in situ at the Moon.

We present upper limits on the gravitational wave emission from 78 radio pulsars based on data from the third and fourth science runs of the LIGO and GEO600 gravitational wave detectors. The data from both runs have been combined coherently to maximise sensitivity. For the first time pulsars within binary (or multiple) systems have been included in the search by taking into account the signal modulation due to their orbits. Our upper limits are therefore the first measured for 56 of these pulsars. For the remaining 22, our results improve on previous upper limits by up to a factor of 10. For example, our tightest upper limit on the gravitational strain is 2.6e-25 for PSRJ1603-7202, and the equatorial ellipticity of PSRJ2124-3358 is less than 10^-6. Furthermore, our strain upper limit for the Crab pulsar is only 2.2 times greater than the fiducial spin-down limit.

We present an approach to experimentally evaluate gravity gradient noise, a potentially limiting noise source in advanced interferometric gravitational wave (GW) detectors. In addition, the method can be used to provide sub-percent calibration in phase and amplitude of modern interferometric GW detectors. Knowledge of calibration to such certainties shall enhance the scientific output of the instruments in case of an eventual detection of GWs. The method relies on a rotating symmetrical two-body mass, a Dynamic gravity Field Generator (DFG). The placement of the DFG in the proximity of one of the interferometer's suspended test masses generates a change in the local gravitational field detectable with current interferometric GW detectors.

We analyze the data of the TAMA300 detector to search for gravitational waves from inspiraling compact star binaries with masses of the component stars in the range 1M?? 3M??. In this analysis, 2705 hours of data, taken during the years 2000 2004, are used for the event search. We combine the results of different observation runs, and obtain a single upper limit on the rate of the coalescence of compact binaries in our Galaxy of 20 per year at a 90% confidence level. In this upper limit, the effects of various systematic errors such as the uncertainty of the background estimation and the calibration of the detector???s sensitivity are included.

The rapid advance of gravitational wave (GW) detector facilities makes it very important to estimate the event rates of possible detection candidates. We consider an additional possibility of GW bursts produced during parabolic encounters (PEs) of stellar-mass compact objects in globular clusters (GCs). We estimate the rate of successful detections for specific detectors: the initial Laser Interferometric Gravitational-Wave Observatory (InLIGO), the French-Italian gravitational wave antenna VIRGO, the near-future Advanced-LIGO (AdLIGO), the space-based Laser Interferometric Space Antenna (LISA), and the Next Generation LISA (NGLISA). Simple GC models are constructed to account for the compact object mass function, mass segregation, number density distribution, and velocity distribution. We both calculate encounters classically and account for general relativistic corrections by extrapolating the results for infinite mass ratios. We also include the cosmological redshift of waveforms and event rates. We find that typical PEs with masses m1=m2=40 Msolar are detectable with matched filtering over a signal-to-noise ratio S/N=5 within a distance dL 200 Mpc for InLIGO and VIRGO, z=1 for AdLIGO, 0.4 Mpc for LISA, and 1 Gpc for NGLISA. We estimate single data stream detection rates of 5.5?-10-5 yr-1 for InLIGO, 7.2?-10-5 yr-1 for VIRGO, 0.063 yr-1 for AdLIGO, 2.9?-10-6 yr-1 for LISA, and 1.0 yr-1 for NGLISA, for reasonably conservative assumptions. These estimates are subject to uncertainties in the GC parameters, most importantly the total number and mass distribution of BHs in the cluster core. In reasonably optimistic cases, we get > 1 detection for AdLIGO per year. We expect that a coincident analysis using multiple detectors and accounting for GW recoil capture significantly increases the detection rates. The regular detection of GWs during PEs would provide a unique observational probe for constraining the stellar BH mass function of dense clusters.

Networks are becoming a key element in most current and all future, telescope and observatory projects. The ability to easily and efficiently pass observation data, alert data and instrumentation requests between distributed systems could enable science as never before. However, any effective large scale or meta-network of astronomical resources will require a common communication format or development resources will have to be continuously dedicated to creating interpreters. The necessary elements of any astronomy communication can be easily identified, efficiently described and rigidly formatted so that both robotic and human operations can use the same data. In this paper we will explore the current state of notification, what notification requirements are essential to create a successful standard and present a standard now under development by the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA), called the VOEvent.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has performed the fourth science run, S4, with significantly improved interferometer sensitivities with respect to previous runs. Using data acquired during this science run, we place a limit on the amplitude of a stochastic background of gravitational waves. For a frequency independent spectrum, the new limit is Ω_GW < 6.5 ×10^-5. This is currently the most sensitive result in the frequency range 51-150 Hz, with a factor of 13 improvement over the previous LIGO result. We discuss complementarity of the new result with other constraints on a stochastic background of gravitational waves, and we investigate implications of the new result for different models of this background.

The readout system of a new very low noise low-frequency, force-feedback accelerometer is presented. The horizontal accelerometer carrying this sensor has been designed to be integrated in an advanced seismic isolation system for interferometric gravitational wave detectors. To make it suitable for ultra-high-vacuum operation and to reduce the probability of failures of the in-vacuum components, the accelerometer is equipped with a high-resolution capacitance sensor fully driven by remote signal conditioning electronics. The instrument's performance is not compromised by cabling lengths of up to 15 m. The accelerometer, equipped with this readout scheme, should be able to detect the inertial displacement of a platform with a root-mean-square noise less than 1 nm, integrated over all the frequencies above 0.01 Hz. We plan to implement the same readout scheme in a companion vertical sensor now being designed.

We carry out two searches for periodic gravitational waves using the most sensitive few hours of data from the second LIGO science run. The first search is targeted at isolated, previously unknown neutron stars and covers the entire sky in the frequency band 160-728.8 Hz. The second search targets the accreting neutron star in the low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1, covers the frequency bands 464-484 Hz and 604-624 Hz, and two binary orbit parameters. Both searches look for coincidences between the Livingston and Hanford 4-km interferometers. For isolated neutron stars our 95% confidence upper limits on the gravitational wave strain amplitude range from 6.6E-23 to 1E-21 across the frequency band; For Scorpius X-1 they range from 1.7E-22 to 1.3E-21 across the two 20-Hz frequency bands. The upper limits presented in this paper are the first broad-band wide parameter space upper limits on periodic gravitational waves using coherent search techniques. The methods developed here lay the foundations for upcoming hierarchical searches of more sensitive data which may detect astrophysical signals.

Coincident observation of gamma-ray bursts and gravitational waves will help us to dramatically improve our understanding of energetic processes in the universe while opening a new window on compact, and often difficult to study, astronomical objects. One of the major goals of interferometric gravitational wave detectors is to develop and exploit gravitational wave detection in conjunction with astrophysical observations. The collaboration among gravitational wave detectors and gamma-ray burst observatories is ongoing and flourishing. The present status of the collaborative research and the future plans are summarized and illustrated through practical experience with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors.

We search for coincident gravitational wave signals from inspiralling neutron star binaries using LIGO and TAMA300 data taken during early 2003. Using a simple trigger exchange method, we perform an intercollaboration coincidence search during times when TAMA300 and only one of the LIGO sites were operational. We find no evidence of any gravitational wave signals. We place an observational upper limit on the rate of binary neutron star coalescence with component masses between 1 and 3M?? of 49 per year per Milky Way equivalent galaxy at a 90% confidence level. The methods developed during this search will find application in future network inspiral analyses.

Both present LIGO and advanced LIGO (Ad-LIGO) will need an output mode cleaner (OMC) to reach the desired sensitivity. We designed a suitable OMC seismically attenuated optical table fitting to the existing vacuum chambers (horizontal access module, HAM chambers). The most straightforward and cost-effective solution satisfying the Ad-LIGO seismic attenuation specifications was to implement a single passive seismic attenuation stage, derived from the 'seismic attenuation system' (SAS) concept. We built and tested prototypes of all critical components. On the basis of these tests and past experience, we expect that the passive attenuation performance of this new design, called HAM-SAS, will match all requirements for the LIGO OMC, and all Ad-LIGO optical tables. Its performance can be improved, if necessary, by implementation of a simple active attenuation loop at marginal additional cost. The design can be easily modified to equip the LIGO basic symmetric chamber (BSC) chambers and leaves space for extensive performance upgrades for future evolutions of Ad-LIGO. Design parameters and prototype test results are presented.

We report on a search for gravitational-wave bursts in data from the three LIGO interferometric detectors during their third science run. The search targets sub-second bursts in the frequency range 100 1100 Hz for which no waveform model is assumed and has a sensitivity in terms of the root-sum-square (rss) strain amplitude of hrss   10-20 Hz-1/2. No gravitational-wave signals were detected in the eight days of analysed data.

DECi-hertz Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (DECIGO) is the future Japanese space gravitational wave antenna. It aims at detecting various kinds of gravitational waves between 1 mHz and 100 Hz frequently enough to open a new window of observation for gravitational wave astronomy. The pre-conceptual design of DECIGO consists of three drag-free satellites, 1000 km apart from each other, whose relative displacements are measured by a Fabry Perot Michelson interferometer. We plan to launch DECIGO in 2024 after a long and intense development phase, including two pathfinder missions for verification of required technologies.

Techniques of evolutionary computing have proven useful for a diverse array of fields in science and engineering. Because of the expected low signal to noise ratio of LIGO data and incomplete knowledge of gravitational waveforms, evolutionary computing is an excellent candidate for LIGO data analysis studies. Using the evolutionary computing methods of genetic algorithms and genetic programming, we have developed, as a proof of principle, search algorithms that are effective at finding sine-gaussian signals hidden in noise while maintaining a small false alarm rate. Because we used realistic LIGO noise as a training ground, the algorithms we have evolved should be well suited to detecting signals in actual LIGO data, as well as in simulated noise. These algorithms have continuously improved during the five days of their evolution and are expected to improve further the more they are evolved. The top performing algorithms from generation 100 and 199 were benchmarked using gaussian white noise to illustrate their performance and the improvement over 100 generations.

A suspension point interferometer (SPI) is a high-performance active vibrationisolation scheme for laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors. By making use of auxiliary interferometers installed at the suspension points of the interferometer's mirrors, this technique helps to reduce the seismic noise and to improve the stability of the interferometer. We are now constructing a Fabry-Perot interferometer equipped with an SPI to test the effectiveness of the SPI. We report on the current status of the experiment and preliminary results that demonstrate about 20 dB of vibration attenuation by the SPI below 2 Hz.

We report on a search for gravitational waves from binary black hole inspirals in the data from the second science run of the LIGO interferometers. The search focused on binary systems with component masses between 3 and 20M??. Optimally oriented binaries with distances up to 1 Mpc could be detected with efficiency of at least 90%. We found no events that could be identified as gravitational waves in the 385.6 hours of data that we searched.

The design and mechanics for a new very-low noise low frequency horizontal accelerometer is presented. The sensor has been designed to be integrated in an advanced seismic isolation system for interferometric gravitational wave detectors. The motion of a small monolithic folded-pendulum (FP) is monitored by a high resolution capacitance displacement sensor; a feedback force actuator keeps the mass at the equilibrium position. The feedback signal is proportional to the ground acceleration in the frequency range 0??"150 Hz. The very high mechanical quality factor, Qsimilar, equals3000 at a resonant frequency of 0.5 Hz, reduces the Brownian motion of the proof mass of the accelerometer below the resolution of the displacement sensor. This scheme enables the accelerometer to detect the inertial displacement of a platform with a root-mean-square noise less than 1 nm, integrated over the frequency band from 0.01 to 150 Hz. The FP geometry, combined with the monolithic design, allows the accelerometer to be extremely directional. A vertical??"horizontal coupling ranging better than 10-3 has been achieved. A detailed account of the design and construction of the accelerometer is reported here. The instrument is fully ultra-high vacuum compatible and has been tested and approved for integration in seismic attenuation system of japanese TAMA 300 gravitational wave detector. The monolithic design also makes the accelerometer suitable for cryogenic operation.

We present the results of observations with the TAMA300 gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse events. We used an excess-power filter to extract gravitational-wave candidates, and developed two methods to reduce fake events caused by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis methods were applied to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. We compared the data-processed results with those of a Monte Carlo simulation with an assumed galactic-event distribution model and with burst waveforms expected from numerical simulations of stellar-core collapses, in order to interpret the event candidates from an astronomical viewpoint. We set an upper limit of 5.0 ?- 103 events s-1 on the burst gravitational-wave event rate in our galaxy with a confidence level of 90%.

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) has performed a third science run with much improved sensitivities of all three interferometers. We present an analysis of approximately 200 hours of data acquired during this run, used to search for a stochastic background of gravitational radiation. We place upper bounds on the energy density stored as gravitational radiation for three different spectral power laws. For the flat spectrum, our limit of Omega_0<8.4e-4 in the 69-156 Hz band is  10^5 times lower than the previous result in this frequency range.

We report on the first joint search for gravitational waves by the TAMA and LIGO collaborations. We looked for millisecond-duration unmodelled gravitational-wave bursts in 473 hr of coincident data collected during early 2003. No candidate signals were found. We set an upper limit of 0.12 events per day on the rate of detectable gravitational-wave bursts, at 90% confidence level. From simulations, we estimate that our detector network was sensitive to bursts with root-sum-square strain amplitude above approximately 1-3x10^-19 Hz^-1/2 in the frequency band 700-2000 Hz. We describe the details of this collaborative search, with particular emphasis on its advantages and disadvantages compared to searches by LIGO and TAMA separately using the same data. Benefits include a lower background and longer observation time, at some cost in sensitivity and bandwidth. We also demonstrate techniques for performing coincidence searches with a heterogeneous network of detectors with different noise spectra and orientations. These techniques include using coordinated signal injections to estimate the network sensitivity, and tuning the analysis to maximize the sensitivity and the livetime, subject to constraints on the background.

We perform a search for gravitational wave bursts using data from the second science run of the LIGO detectors, using a method based on a wavelet time-frequency decomposition. This search is sensitive to bursts of duration much less than a second and with frequency content in the 100-1100Hz range. It features significant improvements in the instrument sensitivity and in the analysis pipeline with respect to the burst search previously reported by LIGO. Improvements in the search method allow exploring weaker signals, relative to the detector noise floor, while maintaining a low false alarm rate, O(0.1) microHz. The sensitivity in terms of the root-sum-square (rss) strain amplitude lies in the range of hrss 10^-20 - 10^-19/sqrt(Hz) No gravitational wave signals were detected in 9.98 days of analyzed data. We interpret the search result in terms of a frequentist upper limit on the rate of detectable gravitational wave bursts at the level of 0.26 events per day at 90% confidence level. We combine this limit with measurements of the detection efficiency for given waveform morphologies in order to yield rate versus strength exclusion curves as well as to establish order-of-magnitude distance sensitivity to certain modeled astrophysical sources. Both the rate upper limit and its applicability to signal strengths improve our previously reported limits and reflect the most sensitive broad-band search for untriggered and unmodeled gravitational wave bursts to date.

We use 373 hours (˜ 15 days) of data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors to search for signals from binary neutron star coalescences within a maximum distance of about 1.5 Mpc, a volume of space which includes the Andromeda Galaxy and other galaxies of the Local Group of galaxies. This analysis requires a signal to be found in data from detectors at the two LIGO sites, according to a set of coincidence criteria. The background (accidental coincidence rate) is determined from the data and is used to judge the significance of event candidates. No inspiral gravitational wave events were identified in our search. Using a population model which includes the Local Group, we establish an upper limit of less than 47 inspiral events per year per Milky Way equivalent galaxy with 90% confidence for non-spinning binary neutron star systems with component masses between 1 and 3 M_o.

We use data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors to search for the gravitational waves from primordial black hole (PBH) binary coalescence with component masses in the range 0.2-1.0 M_o. The analysis requires a signal to be found in the data from both LIGO observatories, according to a set of coincidence criteria. No inspiral signals were found. Assuming a spherical halo with core radius 5 kpc extending to 50 kpc containing non-spinning black holes with masses in the range 0.2-1.0 M_o, we place an observational upper limit on the rate of PBH coalescence of 63 per year per Milky Way halo (MWH) with 90% confidence.

We have performed a search for bursts of gravitational waves associated with the very bright Gamma Ray Burst GRB030329, using the two detectors at the LIGO Hanford Observatory. Our search covered the most sensitive frequency range of the LIGO detectors (approximately 80-2048 Hz), and we specifically targeted signals shorter than 150 ms. Our search algorithm looks for excess correlated power between the two interferometers and thus makes minimal assumptions about the gravitational waveform. We observed no candidates with gravitational wave signal strength larger than a pre-determined threshold. We report frequency dependent upper limits on the strength of the gravitational waves associated with GRB030329. Near the most sensitive frequency region, around 250 Hz, our root-sum-square (RSS) gravitational wave strain sensitivity for optimally polarized bursts was better than h_RSS = 6E-21 Hz^-1/2. Our result is comparable to the best published results searching for association between gravitational waves and GRBs.

One of the major goals of interferometric gravity wave detectors is to develop and exploit gravitational wave detection in conjunction with other observations, which are capable of viewing the same astrophysical phenomena via a different channel. Among the promising candidates for close collaboration are the gamma-ray burst (GRB), the large neutrino telescopes and the optical searches for supernovae. Coincident observation of astronomical events will revolutionize the way we understand energetic processes and provide new windows on compact and difficult to study astronomical objects, such as stellar cores. The collaboration among gravitational wave detectors and optical, GRB and neutrino networks is summarized, with a special emphasis on the practical experience with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors.

Seismic isolation systems, consistent of passive attenuators, based on mechanical harmonic oscillators with resonant frequencies below the frequency region of interest, are being used by multiple Gravitational wave (GW) detectors. We conduct a study of the fundamental limitations present due to the properties of the material such as Maraging steel, used in some of the seismic attenuation systems for GW detectors. We tentatively interpret the main effects observed in our system, such as the anomalous damping and the hysteresis, in terms of movement of dislocations trapped between Maraging steel intermetallic precipitates. In light of our understanding, we further discuss and propose ideas to overcome these limitations and improve the performance of these systems, which may allow for passive attenuation at even lower-frequency regimes than achieved so far. These advanced performances would help further reduce the requirements on the mirror suspension control actuators and could reduce their associated noise in the present Gravitational Wave Interferometric Detectors (GWID). This advancement can lead to more suitable seismic attenuation systems for the future instruments with lower frequency sensitivity requirements.

We place direct upper limits on the amplitude of gravitational waves from 28 isolated radio pulsars by a coherent multi-detector analysis of the data collected during the second science run of the LIGO interferometric detectors. These are the first direct upper limits for 26 of the 28 pulsars. We use coordinated radio observations for the first time to build radio-guided phase templates for the expected gravitational wave signals. The unprecedented sensitivity of the detectors allow us to set strain upper limits as low as a few times 10^-24. These strain limits translate into limits on the equatorial ellipticities of the pulsars, which are smaller than 10^-5 for the four closest pulsars.

In this article we investigate the principle and properties of a vertical passive seismic noise attenuator conceived for ground based gravitational wave interferometers. This mechanical attenuator based on a particular geometry of cantilever blades called monolithic geometric anti springs (MGAS) permits the design of mechanical harmonic oscillators with very low resonant frequency (below 100mHz). Here we address the theoretical description of the mechanical device, focusing on the most important quantities for the low frequency regime, on the distribution of internal stresses, and on the thermal stability. In order to obtain physical insight of the attenuator peculiarities, we devise some simplified models, rather than use the brute force of finite element analysis. Those models have been used to optimize the design of a seismic attenuation system prototype for LIGO advanced configurations and for the next generation of the TAMA interferometer.

We present data-analysis schemes and results of observations with the TAMA300 gravitational-wave detector, targeting burst signals from stellar-core collapse events. In analyses for burst gravitational waves, the detection and fake-reduction schemes are different from well-investigated ones for a chirp-wave analysis, because precise waveform templates are not available. We used an excess-power filter for the extraction of gravitational-wave candidates, and developed two methods for the reduction of fake events caused by non-stationary noises of the detector. These analysis schemes were applied to real data from the TAMA300 interferometric gravitational wave detector. As a result, fake events were reduced by a factor of about 1000 in the best cases. The resultant event candidates were interpreted from an astronomical viewpoint. We set an upper limit of 2.2x10^3 events/sec on the burst gravitational-wave event rate in our Galaxy with a confidence level of 90%. This work sets a milestone and prospects on the search for burst gravitational waves, by establishing an analysis scheme for the observation data from an interferometric gravitational wave detector.

We present observations of the 3P1-3P0 fine structure transition of atomic carbon [CI], the J=3-2 transition of CO, as well as of the J=1-0 transitions of 13CO and C18O toward DR15, an HII region associated with two mid-infrared dark clouds (IRDCs). The 13CO and C18O J=1-0 emissions closely follow the dark patches seen in optical wavelength, showing two self-gravitating molecular cores with masses of 2000 Msun and 900 Msun, respectively, at the positions of the catalogued IRDCs. Our data show a rough spatial correlation between [CI] and 13CO J=1-0. Bright [CI] emission occurs in relatively cold gas behind the molecular cores, neither in highly excited gas traced by CO J=3-2 emission nor in HII region/molecular cloud interface. These results are inconsistent with those predicted by standard photodissociation region (PDR) models, suggesting an origin for interstellar atomic carbon unrelated to photodissociation processes.

We describe the plans for a joint search for unmodelled gravitational wave bursts being carried out by the LIGO and TAMA collaborations using data collected during February-April 2003. We take a conservative approach to detection, requiring candidate gravitational wave bursts to be seen in coincidence by all four interferometers. We focus on some of the complications of performing this coincidence analysis, in particular the effects of the different alignments and noise spectra of the interferometers.

The large-scale cryogenic gravitational wave telescope (LCGT) is the future project of the Japanese gravitational wave group. Two sets of 3 km arm length laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors will be built in a tunnel of Kamioka mine in Japan. LCGT will detect chirp waves from binary neutron star coalescence at 240 Mpc away with a S/N of 10. The expected number of detectable events in a year is two or three. To achieve the required sensitivity, several advanced techniques will be employed such as a low-frequency vibration-isolation system, a suspension point interferometer, cryogenic mirrors, a resonant side band extraction method, a high-power laser system and so on. We hope that the beginning of the project will be in 2005 and the observations will start in 2009.

One of the brightest gamma ray bursts ever recorded, GRB030329, occurred during the second science run of the LIGO detectors. At that time, both interferometers at the Hanford, WA LIGO site were in lock and were acquiring data. The data collected from the two Hanford detectors were analysed for the presence of a gravitational wave signal associated with this GRB. This paper presents a detailed description of the search algorithm implemented in the current analysis

We report on a search for gravitational wave bursts using data from the first science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. Our search focuses on bursts with durations ranging from 4 to 100 ms, and with significant power in the LIGO sensitivity band of 150 to 3000 Hz. We bound the rate for such detected bursts at less than 1.6 events per day at a 90% confidence level. This result is interpreted in terms of the detection efficiency for ad hoc waveforms (Gaussians and sine Gaussians) as a function of their root-sum-square strain hrss; typical sensitivities lie in the range hrss??10-19 10-17 strain/???(Hz), depending on the waveform. We discuss improvements in the search method that will be applied to future science data from LIGO and other gravitational wave detectors.

We describe a complete analysis pipeline for detecting and estimating gravitational wave signals in conjunction with observations of astrophysical phenomena with an electromagnetic or particle signature, examples of such phenomena being gamma ray bursts (GRB) and supernovae neutrino bursts. Our data analysis methods explicitly account for non-Gaussian and non-stationary features in real interferometric data. This pipeline is meant for signal searches in conjunction with individual GRB triggers and is being used for the analysis of data from the LIGO science runs (S1 and S2). However, many aspects of the pipeline are quite general and can also be used for other broadband interferometric detectors.

We describe the plans for a joint search for unmodelled gravitational wave bursts being carried out by the LIGO and TAMA Collaborations using data collected during February??"April 2003. We take a conservative approach to detection, requiring candidate gravitational wave bursts to be seen in coincidence by all four interferometers. We focus on some of the complications of performing this coincidence analysis, in particular the effects of the different alignments and noise spectra of the interferometers.

A suspension-point interferometer (SPI) is an auxiliary interferometer for active vibration isolation, implemented at the suspension points of the mirrors of an interferometric gravitational wave detector. We constructed a prototype Fabry-Perot interferometer equipped with an SPI and observed vibration isolation in both the spectrum and transfer function. The noise spectrum of the main interferometer was reduced by 40 dB below 1 Hz. Transfer function measurements showed that the SPI also produced good vibration suppression above 1 Hz. These results indicate that SPI can improve both the sensitivity and the stability of the interferometer.

Japanese laser interferometric gravitational wave detectors, TAMA300 and LISM, performed a coincident observation during 2001. We perform a coincidence analysis to search for inspiraling compact binaries. The length of data used for the coincidence analysis is 275 hours when both TAMA300 and LISM detectors are operated simultaneously. TAMA300 and LISM data are analyzed by matched filtering, and candidates for gravitational wave events are obtained. If there is a true gravitational wave signal, it should appear in both data of detectors with consistent waveforms characterized by masses of stars, amplitude of the signal, the coalescence time and so on. We introduce a set of coincidence conditions of the parameters, and search for coincident events. This procedure reduces the number of fake events considerably, by a factor ~10^-4 compared with the number of fake events in single detector analysis. We find that the number of events after imposing the coincidence conditions is consistent with the number of accidental coincidences produced purely by noise. We thus find no evidence of gravitational wave signals. We obtain an upper limit of 0.046 /hours (CL = 90 %) to the Galactic event rate within 1kpc from the Earth. The method used in this paper can be applied straightforwardly to the case of coincidence observations with more than two detectors with arbitrary arm directions.

We present the analysis of between 50 and 100 hrs of coincident interferometric strain data used to search for and establish an upper limit on a stochastic background of gravitational radiation. These data come from the first LIGO science run, during which all three LIGO interferometers were operated over a 2-week period spanning August and September of 2002. The method of cross-correlating the outputs of two interferometers is used for analysis. We describe in detail practical signal processing issues that arise when working with real data, and we establish an observational upper limit on a f^-3 power spectrum of gravitational waves. Our 90% confidence limit is Omega_0 h_100^2 < 23 in the frequency band 40 to 314 Hz, where h_100 is the Hubble constant in units of 100 km/sec/Mpc and Omega_0 is the gravitational wave energy density per logarithmic frequency interval in units of the closure density. This limit is approximately 10^4 times better than the previous, broadband direct limit using interferometric detectors, and nearly 3 times better than the best narrow-band bar detector limit. As LIGO and other worldwide detectors improve in sensitivity and attain their design goals, the analysis procedures described here should lead to stochastic background sensitivity levels of astrophysical interest.

The first science run of the LIGO and GEO gravitational wave detectors presented the opportunity to test methods of searching for gravitational waves from known pulsars. Here we present new direct upper limits on the strength of waves from the pulsar PSR J1939+2134 using two independent analysis methods, one in the frequency domain using frequentist statistics and one in the time domain using Bayesian inference. Both methods show that the strain amplitude at Earth from this pulsar is less than a few times 10^-22.

For 17 days in August and September 2002, the LIGO and GEO interferometer gravitational wave detectors were operated in coincidence to produce their first data for scientific analysis. Although the detectors were still far from their design sensitivity levels, the data can be used to place better upper limits on the flux of gravitational waves incident on the earth than previous direct measurements. This paper describes the instruments and the data in some detail, as a companion to analysis papers based on the first data.

Data collected by the GEO600 and LIGO interferometric gravitational wave detectors during their first observational science run were searched for continuous gravitational waves from the pulsar J1939+2134 at twice its rotation frequency. Two independent analysis methods were used and are demonstrated in this paper: a frequency domain method and a time domain method. Both achieve consistent null results, placing new upper limits on the strength of the pulsar's gravitational wave emission. A model emission mechanism is used to interpret the limits as a constraint on the pulsar's equatorial ellipticity.

We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binary systems in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. The analysis uses data taken by two of the three LIGO interferometers during the first LIGO science run and illustrates a method of setting upper limits on inspiral event rates using interferometer data. The analysis pipeline is described with particular attention to data selection and coincidence between the two interferometers. We establish an observational upper limit of R < 1.7 x 10^2 per year per Milky Way Equivalent Galaxy (MWEG), with 90% confidence, on the coalescence rate of binary systems in which each component has a mass in the range 1-3 M_o.

We present a data characterization method for the main output signal of the interferometric gravitational-wave detector, in particular targetting at effective detection of burst gravitational waves from stellar core collapse. The time scale of non-Gaussian events is evaluated in this method, and events with longer time scale than real signals are rejected as non-Gaussian noises. As a result of data analysis using 1000 h of real data with the interferometric gravitational-wave detector TAMA300, the false-alarm rate was improved 103 times with this non-Gaussian noise evaluation and rejection method.

Burst gravitational waves from stellar-core collapses are one of the promising targets for ground-based interferometric detectors. However, search for their signals in detector output is not easy because their waveforms are not predicted precisely, and thus signals are largely affected by non-Gaussian noises of the detector. Thus, we developed a robust and effective scheme to reject non-Gaussian noises and to extract burst signals. In this method, non-Gaussian noises are distinguished from real gravitational-wave signals by time scales, and are rejected with small false dismissal rate for real signals. We will present this data analysis method and the analysis results using over 2000 hours of data obtained with TAMA300 gravitational wave detector; false alarm rate was improved by 103 times with this non-Gaussian noise evaluation and rejection method.

The large-scale cryogenic gravitational wave telescope (LCGT) project was originally planned in 1998 and was revised in 2002. The design concept of the LCGT was to raise the baseline of TAMA by one order and to decrease the thermal noise of the mirrors by one order by using cryogenics and by locating LCGT at an underground site in Kamioka mine. Two sets of interferometers will be constructed in the same tunnel in order to reject possible fake events.

We describe the utility of simulated-signal injection studies on earth-based gravitational-wave (GW) interferometric data toward obtaining bounds on the strength of a stochastic GW background. The existence of such a background today is predicted by several cosmological models, but with varying strengths and power spectra. Earth-based detectors, such as LIGO, will eventually achieve enough sensitivity to start constraining some of these models through these bounds. A significant part of the effort to use LIGO data to place such bounds is to estimate the efficiency of the data analysis pipeline in detecting the variety of predicted backgrounds. We took the data taking opportunity offered by the first science run at LIGO to inject simulated signals of varying strengths both in hardware as well as software. We describe here the results obtained in searching for these injection backgrounds. We discuss especially those results that either varied from the expected ones or are crucial to the search for a stochastic GW background. The reasons behind the variations are also explained.

The TAMA SAS seismic attenuation system was developed to provide the extremely high level of seismic isolation required by the next generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors to achieve the desired sensitivity at low frequencies. Our aim was to provide good performance at frequencies above  10 Hz, while utilizing only passive subsystems in the sensitive frequency band of the TAMA interferometric gravitational wave detectors. The only active feedback is relegated below 6 Hz and it is used to damp the rigid body resonances of the attenuation chain. Simulations, based on subsystem performance characterizations, indicate that the system can achieve rms mirror residual motion measured in a few tens of nanometres. We will give a brief overview of the subsystems and point out some of the characterization results, supporting our claims of achieved performance. SAS is a passive, UHV compatible and low cost system. It is likely that extremely sensitive experiments in other fields will also profit from our study.

The baseline design concept for a seismic isolation component of the proposed 'Advanced LIGO' detector upgrade has been developed with proof-of-principle experiments and computer models. It consists of a two-stage in-vacuum active isolation platform that is supported by an external hydraulic actuation stage. Construction is underway for prototype testing of a full-scale preliminary design.

We have developed a simple and robust system based on standard UNIX tools and frame library code to transfer and merge data from multiple gravitational wave detectors distributed worldwide. The transfer and merger take place with less than 20 minute delay and the output frames are available for all participants. Presently VIRGO and LIGO participate in the exchange and only environmental data are shared. The system is modular to allow future improvements and the use of new tools like Grid

Several R&D programmes are ongoing to develop the next generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors providing the superior sensitivity desired for refined astronomical observations. In order to obtain a wide observation band at low frequencies, the optics need to be isolated from the seismic noise. The TAMA SAS (seismic attenuation system) has been developed within an international collaboration between TAMA, LIGO, and some European institutes, with the main objective of achieving sufficient low-frequency seismic attenuation (-180 dB at 10 HZ). The system suppresses seismic noise well below the other noise levels starting at very low frequencies above 10 Hz. It also includes an active inertial damping system to decrease the residual motion of the optics enough to allow a stable operation of the interferometer. The TAMA SAS also comprises a sophisticated mirror suspension subsystem (SUS). The SUS provides support for the optics and vibration isolation complementing the SAS performance. The SUS is equipped with a totally passive magnetic damper to suppress internal resonances without degrading the thermal noise performance. In this paper we discuss the SUS details and present prototype results.

TAMA300, an interferometric gravitational-wave detector with 300-m baseline length, has been developed and operated with sufficient sensitivity to detect gravitational-wave events within our galaxy and sufficient stability for observations; the interferometer was operated for over 10 hours stably and continuously. With a strain-equivalent noise level of h~5 ×10^-21 /sqrt(Hz), a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 30 is expected for gravitational waves generated by a coalescence of 1.4 M_o-1.4 M_o binary neutron stars at 10 kpc distance. %In addition, almost all noise sources which limit the sensitivity and which %disturb the stable operation have been identified. We evaluated the stability of the detector sensitivity with a 2-week data-taking run, collecting 160 hours of data to be analyzed in the search for gravitational waves.

Large scale mapping observations of the 3P1-3P0 fine structure transition of atomic carbon (CI, 492 GHz) and the J=3-2 transition of CO (346 GHz) toward the Orion A molecular cloud have been carried out with the Mt. Fuji submillimeter-wave telescope. The observations cover 9 square degrees, and include the Orion nebula M42 and the L1641 dark cloud complex. The CI emission extends over almost the entire region of the Orion A cloud and is surprisingly similar to that of 13CO(J=1-0).The CO(J=3-2) emission shows a more featureless and extended distribution than CI.The CI/CO(J=3-2) integrated intensity ratio shows a spatial gradient running from the north (0.10) to the south (1.2) of the Orion A cloud, which we interpret as a consequence of the temperature gradient. On the other hand, the CI/13CO(J=1-0) intensity ratio shows no systematic gradient. We have found a good correlation between the CI and 13CO(J=1-0) intensities over the Orion A cloud. This result is discussed on the basis of photodissociation region models.