Beating the Spin-Down Limit on Gravitational Wave Emission from the Crab Pulsar

Journal Article · Sun Aug 10 00:00:00 EDT 2008 · Astrophysical Journal (Online)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/591526; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21313635

Abbott, B; Babak, S ^[1]; Abbott, R; Adhikari, R; Anderson, S B; Araya, M; Armandula, H; Ballmer, S ^[2]; Ajith, P; Allen, B; Aulbert, C ^[3]; Allen, G ^[4]; Amin, R ^[5]; Anderson, W G; Armor, P ^[6]; Arain, M A ^[7]; Aso, Y ^[8]; Aston, S ^[9]; Aufmuth, P ^[10]; Bantilan, H ^[11]

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1. Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, D-14476 Golm (Germany)
2. LIGO-California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
3. Albert-Einstein-Institut, Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, D-30167 Hannover (Germany)
4. Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)
5. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (United States)
6. University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53201 (United States)
7. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 (United States)
8. Columbia University, New York, NY 10027 (United States)
9. University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT (United Kingdom)
10. Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, D-30167 Hannover (Germany)
11. Carleton College, Northfield, MN 55057 (United States)

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.

• OSTI ID: 21313635
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal (Online), Vol. 683, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1086/591526; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1538-4357
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
EMISSION
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
INTERFEROMETERS
NEBULAE
PULSARS