Detecting gravitational wave emission from the known accreting neutron stars

By A. Watts, B. Krishnan, L. Bildsten, Bernard F. Schutz. 2008

141 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Detection of gravitational waves from accreting neutron stars (NSs) in our Galaxy, due to ellipticity or internal oscillation, would be a breakthrough in our understanding of compact objects and explain the absence of NSs rotating near the break-up limit. Direct detection, however, poses a formidable challenge. Using the current data available on the properties of the accreting NSs in low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs), we quantify the detectability for the known accreting NSs, considering various emission scenarios and taking into account the negative impact of parameter uncertainty on the data analysis process. Only a few of the persistently bright NSs accreting at rates near the Eddington limit are detectable by Advanced LIGO if they are emitting gravitational waves at a rate matching the torque from accretion. A larger fraction of the known population is detectable if the spin and orbital parameters are known in advance, especially with the narrow-band Advanced LIGO. We identify the most promising targets, and list specific actions that would lead to significant improvements in detection probability. These include astronomical observations (especially for unknown orbital periods), improvements in data analysis algorithms and capabilities, and further detector development.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/6a9d238b0d3d4c20777c729734dbdda0a63d0916

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

Citations in the corpus

Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology with Gravitational Waves (2009, background): “As further observations, particularly at X-ray wavelengths, become available, the usefulness of gravitational radiation as a tool for modelling astronomical systems should increase [385].”
Doing Science with eLISA: Astrophysics and Cosmology in the Millihertz Regime (2012, background): “…star angular momentum loss on top of the plasma physics interaction between the accretion and magnetic field of the spinning neutron stars (Chakrabarty et al., 2003) which could be due to strong gravitational wave emission (Bildsten (1998); but see Watts et al. (2008) and Patruno et al. (2011)).”
Gravitational Waves from Neutron Stars: A Review (2015, methodology): “Watts et al. (2008) utilised observations of Sco X-1 and other known accreting systems to determine their gravitational wave detectability with current and future interferometers showing that, even at torque balance, most systems will be very difficult to detect with aLIGO.”
Thermonuclear Burst Oscillations (2012, background): “…wave braking could also make accreting neutron stars promising continuous wave sources for future gravitational wave detectors, although this is one application where knowing the spin to a very high degree of precision (certainly better than a few hertz) would be important (Watts et al. 2008).”