NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Coincidence probabilities for spacecraft gravitational wave experiments - Massive coalescing binariesMassive coalescing binary systems are candidate sources of gravitational radiation in the millihertz frequency band accessible to spacecraft Doppler tracking experiments. This paper discusses signal processing and detection probability for waves from coalescing binaries in the regime where the signal frequency increases linearly with time, i.e., 'chirp' signals. Using known noise statistics, thresholds with given false alarm probabilities are established for one- and two-spacecraft experiments. Given the threshold, the detection probability is calculated as a function of gravitational wave amplitude for both one- and two-spacecraft experiments, assuming random polarization states and under various assumptions about wave directions. This allows quantitative statements about the detection efficiency of these experiments and the utility of coincidence experiments. In particular, coincidence probabilities for two-spacecraft experiments are insensitive to the angle between the directions to the two spacecraft, indicating that near-optical experiments can be done without constraints on spacecraft trajectories.
Document ID
19910050419
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Tinto, Massimo
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Armstrong, J. W.
(JPL Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 15, 2013
Publication Date
May 10, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal, Part 1
Volume: 372
ISSN: 0004-637X
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
91A35042
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available