Skip to main navigation Skip to search Skip to main content

Beating the spin-down limit on gravitational wave emission from the Vela pulsar

  • J. Abadie*
  • , B. P. Abbott
  • , R. Abbott
  • , M. Abernathy
  • , T. Accadia
  • , F. Acernese
  • , C. Adams
  • , R. Adhikari
  • , C. Affeldt
  • , B. Allen
  • , G. S. Allen
  • , E. Amador Ceron
  • , D. Amariutei
  • , R. S. Amin
  • , S. B. Anderson
  • , W. G. Anderson
  • , F. Antonucci
  • , K. Arai
  • , M. A. Arain
  • , M. C. Araya
  • S. M. Aston, P. Astone, D. Atkinson, P. Aufmuth, C. Aulbert, B. E. Aylott, S. Babak, P. Baker, G. Ballardin, S. Ballmer, D. Barker, S. Barnum, F. Barone, B. Barr, P. Barriga, L. Barsotti, M. Barsuglia, M. A. Barton, I. Bartos, R. Bassiri, M. Bastarrika, A. Basti, J. Bauchrowitz, Th S. Bauer, B. Behnke, M. Bejger, M. G. Beker, A. S. Bell, A. Belletoile, I. Belopolski, M. Benacquista, A. Bertolini, J. Betzwieser, N. Beveridge, P. T. Beyersdorf, I. A. Bilenko, G. Billingsley, J. Birch, S. Birindelli, R. Biswas, M. Bitossi, M. A. Bizouard, E. Black, J. K. Blackburn, L. Blackburn, D. Blair, B. Bland, M. Blom, O. Bock, T. P. Bodiya, C. Bogan, R. Bondarescu, F. Bondu, L. Bonelli, R. Bonnand, R. Bork, M. Born, V. Boschi, S. Bose, L. Bosi, B. Bouhou, M. Boyle, S. Braccini, C. Bradaschia, P. R. Brady, V. B. Braginsky, J. E. Brau, J. Breyer, D. O. Bridges, A. Brillet, M. Brinkmann, V. Brisson, M. Britzger, A. F. Brooks, D. A. Brown, A. Brummit, R. Budzyński, T. Bulik, H. J. Bulten, A. Buonanno, J. Burguet-Castell, O. Burmeister, D. Buskulic, C. Buy, R. L. Byer, L. Cadonati, G. Cagnoli, J. Cain, E. Calloni, J. B. Camp, E. Campagna, P. Campsie, J. Cannizzo, K. Cannon, B. Canuel, J. Cao, C. Capano, F. Carbognani, S. Caride, S. Caudill, M. Cavagli, F. Cavalier, R. Cavalieri, G. Cella, C. Cepeda, E. Cesarini, O. Chaibi, T. Chalermsongsak, E. Chalkley, P. Charlton, E. Chassande-Mottin, S. Chelkowski, Y. Chen, A. Chincarini, N. Christensen, S. S.Y. Chua, C. T.Y. Chung, S. Chung, F. Clara, D. Clark, J. Clark, J. H. Clayton, F. Cleva, E. Coccia, C. N. Colacino, J. Colas, A. Colla, M. Colombini, R. Conte, D. Cook, T. R. Corbitt, N. Cornish, A. Corsi, C. A. Costa, M. Coughlin, J. P. Coulon, D. M. Coward, D. C. Coyne, J. D.E. Creighton, T. D. Creighton, A. M. Cruise, R. M. Culter, A. Cumming, L. Cunningham, E. Cuoco, K. Dahl, S. L. Danilishin, R. Dannenberg, S. D'Antonio, K. Danzmann, K. Das, V. Dattilo, B. Daudert, H. Daveloza, M. Davier, G. Davies, E. J. Daw, R. Day, T. Dayanga, R. De Rosa, D. Debra, G. Debreczeni, J. Degallaix, M. Del Prete, T. Dent, V. Dergachev, R. Derosa, R. Desalvo, S. Dhurandhar, L. Di Fiore, A. Di Lieto, I. Di Palma, M. Di Paolo Emilio, A. Di Virgilio, M. Díaz, A. Dietz, F. Donovan, K. L. Dooley, S. Dorsher, E. S.D. Douglas, M. Drago, R. W.P. Drever, J. C. Driggers, J. C. Dumas, S. Dwyer, T. Eberle, M. Edgar, M. Edwards, A. Effler, P. Ehrens, R. Engel, T. Etzel, M. Evans, T. Evans, M. Factourovich, V. Fafone, S. Fairhurst, Y. Fan, B. F. Farr, D. Fazi, H. Fehrmann, D. Feldbaum, I. Ferrante, F. Fidecaro, L. S. Finn, I. Fiori, R. Flaminio, M. Flanigan, S. Foley, E. Forsi, L. A. Forte, N. Fotopoulos, J. D. Fournier, J. Franc, S. Frasca, F. Frasconi, M. Frede, M. Frei, Z. Frei, A. Freise, R. Frey, T. T. Fricke, D. Friedrich, P. Fritschel, V. V. Frolov, P. Fulda, M. Fyffe, M. Galimberti, L. Gammaitoni, J. Garcia, J. A. Garofoli, F. Garufi, M. E. Gáspár, G. Gemme, E. Genin, A. Gennai, S. Ghosh, J. A. Giaime, S. Giampanis, K. D. Giardina, A. Giazotto, C. Gill, E. Goetz, L. M. Goggin, G. González, M. L. Gorodetsky, S. Goßler, R. Gouaty, C. Graef, M. Granata, A. Grant, S. Gras, C. Gray, R. J.S. Greenhalgh, A. M. Gretarsson, C. Greverie, R. Grosso, H. Grote, S. Grunewald, G. M. Guidi, C. Guido, R. Gupta, E. K. Gustafson, R. Gustafson, B. Hage, J. M. Hallam, D. Hammer, G. Hammond, J. Hanks, C. Hanna, J. Hanson, J. Harms, G. M. Harry, I. W. Harry, E. D. Harstad, M. T. Hartman, K. Haughian, K. Hayama, J. F. Hayau, T. Hayler, J. Heefner, H. Heitmann, P. Hello, M. A. Hendry, I. S. Heng, A. W. Heptonstall, V. Herrera, M. Hewitson, S. Hild, D. Hoak, K. A. Hodge, K. Holt, T. Hong, S. Hooper, D. J. Hosken, J. Hough, E. J. Howell, D. Huet, B. Hughey, S. Husa, S. H. Huttner, D. R. Ingram, R. Inta, T. Isogai, A. Ivanov, P. Jaranowski, W. W. Johnson, D. I. Jones, G. Jones, R. Jones, L. Ju, P. Kalmus, V. Kalogera, S. Kandhasamy, J. B. Kanner, E. Katsavounidis, W. Katzman, K. Kawabe, S. Kawamura, F. Kawazoe, W. Kells, M. Kelner, D. G. Keppel, A. Khalaidovski, F. Y. Khalili, E. A. Khazanov, H. Kim, N. Kim, P. J. King, D. L. Kinzel, J. S. Kissel, S. Klimenko, V. Kondrashov, R. Kopparapu, S. Koranda, W. Z. Korth, I. Kowalska, D. Kozak, V. Kringel, S. Krishnamurthy, B. Krishnan, A. Królak, G. Kuehn, R. Kumar, P. Kwee, M. Landry, B. Lantz, N. Lastzka, A. Lazzarini, P. Leaci, J. Leong, I. Leonor, N. Leroy, N. Letendre, J. Li, T. G.F. Li, N. Liguori, P. E. Lindquist, N. A. Lockerbie, D. Lodhia, M. Lorenzini, V. Loriette, M. Lormand, G. Losurdo, P. Lu, J. Luan, M. Lubinski, H. Lück, A. P. Lundgren, E. MacDonald, B. MacHenschalk, M. MacInnis, M. Mageswaran, K. Mailand, E. Majorana, I. Maksimovic, N. Man, I. Mandel, V. Mandic, M. Mantovani, A. Marandi, F. Marchesoni, F. Marion, S. Márka, Z. Márka, E. Maros, J. Marque, F. Martelli, I. W. Martin, R. M. Martin, J. N. Marx, K. Mason, A. Masserot, F. Matichard, L. Matone, R. A. Matzner, N. Mavalvala, R. McCarthy, D. E. McClelland, S. C. McGuire, G. McIntyre, D. J.A. McKechan, G. Meadors, M. Mehmet, T. Meier, A. Melatos, A. C. Melissinos, G. Mendell, R. A. Mercer, L. Merill, S. Meshkov, C. Messenger, M. S. Meyer, H. Miao, C. Michel, L. Milano, J. Miller, Y. Minenkov, Y. Mino, V. P. Mitrofanov, G. Mitselmakher, R. Mittleman, O. Miyakawa, B. Moe, P. Moesta, M. Mohan, S. D. Mohanty, S. R.P. Mohapatra, D. Moraru, G. Moreno, N. Morgado, A. Morgia, S. Mosca, V. Moscatelli, K. Mossavi, B. Mours, C. M. Mow-Lowry, G. Mueller, S. Mukherjee, A. Mullavey, H. Müller-Ebhardt, J. Munch, P. G. Murray, T. Nash, R. Nawrodt, J. Nelson, I. Neri, G. Newton, E. Nishida, A. Nishizawa, F. Nocera, D. Nolting, E. Ochsner, J. O'Dell, G. H. Ogin, R. G. Oldenburg, B. O'Reilly, R. O'Shaughnessy, C. Osthelder, C. D. Ott, D. J. Ottaway, R. S. Ottens, H. Overmier, B. J. Owen, A. Page, G. Pagliaroli, L. Palladino, C. Palomba, Y. Pan, C. Pankow, F. Paoletti, M. A. Papa, A. Parameswaran, S. Pardi, M. Parisi, A. Pasqualetti, R. Passaquieti, D. Passuello, P. Patel, D. Pathak, M. Pedraza, L. Pekowsky, S. Penn, C. Peralta, A. Perreca, G. Persichetti, M. Phelps, M. Pichot, M. Pickenpack, F. Piergiovanni, M. Pietka, L. Pinard, I. M. Pinto, M. Pitkin, H. J. Pletsch, M. V. Plissi, J. Podkaminer, R. Poggiani, J. Pöld, F. Postiglione, M. Prato, V. Predoi, L. R. Price, M. Prijatelj, M. Principe, S. Privitera, R. Prix, G. A. Prodi, L. Prokhorov, O. Puncken, M. Punturo, P. Puppo, V. Quetschke, F. J. Raab, D. S. Rabeling, I. Rácz, H. Radkins, P. Raffai, M. Rakhmanov, C. R. Ramet, B. Rankins, P. Rapagnani, V. Raymond, V. Re, K. Redwine, C. M. Reed, T. Reed, T. Regimbau, S. Reid, D. H. Reitze, F. Ricci, R. Riesen, K. Riles, P. Roberts, N. A. Robertson, F. Robinet, C. Robinson, E. L. Robinson, A. Rocchi, S. Roddy, L. Rolland, J. Rollins, J. D. Romano, R. Romano, J. H. Romie, D. Rosińska, C. Röver, S. Rowan, A. Rüdiger, P. Ruggi, K. Ryan, S. Sakata, M. Sakosky, F. Salemi, M. Salit, L. Sammut, L. Sancho De La Jordana, V. Sandberg, V. Sannibale, L. Santamaría, I. Santiago-Prieto, G. Santostasi, S. Saraf, B. Sassolas, B. S. Sathyaprakash, S. Sato, M. Satterthwaite, P. R. Saulson, R. Savage, R. Schilling, S. Schlamminger, R. Schnabel, R. M.S. Schofield, B. Schulz, B. F. Schutz, P. Schwinberg, J. Scott, S. M. Scott, A. C. Searle, F. Seifert, D. Sellers, A. S. Sengupta, D. Sentenac, A. Sergeev, D. A. Shaddock, M. Shaltev, B. Shapiro, P. Shawhan, T. Shihan Weerathunga, D. H. Shoemaker, A. Sibley, X. Siemens, D. Sigg, A. Singer, L. Singer, A. M. Sintes, G. Skelton, B. J.J. Slagmolen, J. Slutsky, J. R. Smith, M. R. Smith, N. D. Smith, R. Smith, K. Somiya, B. Sorazu, J. Soto, F. C. Speirits, L. Sperandio, M. Stefszky, A. J. Stein, J. Steinlechner, S. Steinlechner, S. Steplewski, A. Stochino, R. Stone, K. A. Strain, S. Strigin, A. S. Stroeer, R. Sturani, A. L. Stuver, T. Z. Summerscales, M. Sung, S. Susmithan, P. J. Sutton, B. Swinkels, G. P. Szokoly, M. Tacca, D. Talukder, D. B. Tanner, S. P. Tarabrin, J. R. Taylor, R. Taylor, P. Thomas, K. A. Thorne, K. S. Thorne, E. Thrane, A. Thüring, C. Titsler, K. V. Tokmakov, A. Toncelli, M. Tonelli, O. Torre, C. Torres, C. I. Torrie, E. Tournefier, F. Travasso, G. Traylor, M. Trias, K. Tseng, L. Turner, D. Ugolini, K. Urbanek, H. Vahlbruch, B. Vaishnav, G. Vajente, M. Vallisneri, J. F.J. Van Den Brand, C. Van Den Broeck, S. Van Der Putten, M. V. Van Der Sluys, A. A. Vanveggel, S. Vass, M. Vasuth, R. Vaulin, M. Vavoulidis, A. Vecchio, G. Vedovato, J. Veitch, P. J. Veitch, C. Veltkamp, D. Verkindt, F. Vetrano, A. Viceré, A. E. Villar, J. Y. Vinet, H. Vocca, C. Vorvick, S. P. Vyachanin, S. J. Waldman, L. Wallace, A. Wanner, R. L. Ward, M. Was, P. Wei, M. Weinert, A. J. Weinstein, R. Weiss, L. Wen, S. Wen, P. Wessels, M. West, T. Westphal, K. Wette, J. T. Whelan, S. E. Whitcomb, D. White, B. F. Whiting, C. Wilkinson, P. A. Willems, H. R. Williams, L. Williams, B. Willke, L. Winkelmann, W. Winkler, C. C. Wipf, A. G. Wiseman, G. Woan, R. Wooley, J. Worden, J. Yablon, I. Yakushin, H. Yamamoto, K. Yamamoto, H. Yang, D. Yeaton-Massey, S. Yoshida, P. Yu, M. Yvert, M. Zanolin, L. Zhang, Z. Zhang, C. Zhao, N. Zotov, M. E. Zucker, J. Zweizig, S. Buchner, A. Hotan, J. Palfreyman
*Corresponding author for this work
  • California Institute of Technology
  • University of Glasgow
  • Université Savoie Mont Blanc
  • University of Naples Federico II
  • University of Salerno
  • National Science Foundation
  • Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)
  • Leibniz University Hannover
  • University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  • Stanford University
  • University of Florida
  • Louisiana State University
  • National Institute for Nuclear Physics
  • University of Birmingham
  • Montana State University
  • European Gravitational Observatory
  • Carleton College
  • University of Western Australia
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Université Paris Diderot
  • Columbia University
  • University of Pisa
  • National Institute for Subatomic Physics
  • Centrum Astronomiczne im. M. Kopernika PAN
  • University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College
  • San Jose State University
  • Lomonosov Moscow State University
  • Université Côte d'Azur
  • Université Paris-Sud
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Institut de Physique de Rennes
  • IN2P3/CNRS
  • Washington State University Pullman
  • University of Oregon
  • Syracuse University
  • Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
  • University of Warsaw
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • University of Maryland, College Park
  • University of Massachusetts
  • University of Mississippi
  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • University of Urbino
  • Tsinghua University
  • University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • Charles Sturt University
  • Australian National University
  • University of Melbourne
  • Cardiff University
  • University of Rome Tor Vergata
  • University of Rome La Sapienza
  • University of Sheffield
  • Wigner Research Centre for Physics
  • University of Siena
  • Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics India
  • University of L'Aquila
  • University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  • University of Padua
  • Northwestern University
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • Eötvös Loránd University
  • University of Perugia
  • Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
  • National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
  • Adelaide University
  • University of the Balearic Islands
  • University of Białystok
  • University of Southampton
  • Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences
  • Polish Academy of Sciences
  • Andrzej Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies
  • University of Trento
  • University of Strathclyde
  • CNRS
  • Southern University and A&M College
  • University of Rochester
  • Hobart and William Smith Colleges
  • University of Sannio
  • Louisiana Tech University
  • Andrews University
  • University of Zielona Gora
  • McNeese State University
  • Sonoma State University
  • California State University Fullerton
  • Trinity University
  • Rochester Institute of Technology
  • Southeastern Louisiana University
  • National Research Foundation
  • University of the Witwatersrand
  • CSIRO
  • University of Tasmania

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract (may include machine translation)

We present direct upper limits on continuous gravitational wave emission from the Vela pulsar using data from the Virgo detector's second science run. These upper limits have been obtained using three independent methods that assume the gravitational wave emission follows the radio timing. Two of the methods produce frequentist upper limits for an assumed known orientation of the star's spin axis and value of the wave polarization angle of, respectively, 1.9 × 10-24 and 2.2 × 10-24, with 95% confidence. The third method, under the same hypothesis, produces a Bayesian upper limit of 2.1 × 10-24, with 95% degree of belief. These limits are below the indirect spin-down limit of 3.3 × 10-24 for the Vela pulsar, defined by the energy loss rate inferred from observed decrease in Vela's spin frequency, and correspond to a limit on the star ellipticity of ∼10-3. Slightly less stringent results, but still well below the spin-down limit, are obtained assuming the star's spin axis inclination and the wave polarization angles are unknown.

Original languageEnglish
Article number93
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume737
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 20 Aug 2011
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • gravitational waves
  • pulsars: individual (PSR J0835-4510)
  • stars: neutron

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Beating the spin-down limit on gravitational wave emission from the Vela pulsar'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this