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Matter and Electromagnetic Fields in Strong Gravity
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Matter and Electromagnetic Fields in Strong Gravity
CSIC Building (#406),
Seminar Room 4122.
Directions: home.cscamm.umd.edu/directions
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Darkness and light: Status of LIGO and Virgo searches for black hole
mergers and other signals
Peter Shawhan
University of Maryland
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Abstract:
The LIGO and Virgo gravitational-wave detectors are now collecting data
and searching it for signatures of black hole mergers and various other
signals. The data is being analyzed using matched filtering and also
using "burst search" methods which do not rely on knowledge of the
waveform; each of these is found to perform best over a certain range
of black hole masses. We are also preparing to seek electromagnetic
counterparts to gravitational-wave event candidates proactively,
through special arrangements with wide-field robotic telescopes on the
Earth and with the Swift satellite to capture prompt follow-up images
of the sky locations suggested by the gravitational-wave data. I will
discuss some of the challenges and the status of this project.
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