Abstract
In this paper we present the results of a coherent narrow-band search for continuous gravitational-wave signals from the Crab and Vela pulsars conducted on Virgo VSR4 data. In order to take into account a possible small mismatch between the gravitational-wave frequency and two times the star rotation frequency, inferred from measurement of the electromagnetic pulse rate, a range of 0.02 Hz around two times the star rotational frequency has been searched for both the pulsars. No evidence for a signal has been found and 95% confidence level upper limits have been computed assuming both that polarization parameters are completely unknown and that they are known with some uncertainty, as derived from x-ray observations of the pulsar wind torii. For Vela the upper limits are comparable to the spin-down limit, computed assuming that all the observed spin-down is due to the emission of gravitational waves. For Crab the upper limits are about a factor of 2 below the spin-down limit, and represent a significant improvement with respect to past analysis. This is the first time the spin-down limit is significantly overcome in a narrow-band search.
Recommended Citation
J. Aasi et al., "Narrow-Band Search of Continuous Gravitational-Wave Signals from Crab and Vela Pulsars in Virgo VSR4 Data," Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology, vol. 91, no. 2, American Physical Society (APS), Jan 2015.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.022004
Department(s)
Physics
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
1550-7998
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2015 American Physical Society (APS), All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2015
