Paper discusses the expected uncertainty of orbital parameters of binary stars as measured by the space-based gravitational wave observatory LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) and how the inclusion of spin in the model of the binary stars affects the uncertainty. The uncertainties are found by calculating the received gravitational wave from a binary pair and then performing a linear least-squares parameter estimation. The case of a 1500 solar mass black hole that is 20 years from coalescing with a 1000 solar mass black hole--both of which are 50 x 10^6 light years away--is analyzed, and the results show that the inclusion of spin has a negligible effect upon the angular resolution of LISA but can increase the accuracy in mass and distance measurements by factors of 15 and 65, respectively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CLAREMONT/oai:ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu:stc/20 |
| Date | 27 April 2007 |
| Creators | Wainwright, C.L. |
| Publisher | Pomona College |
| Source Sets | Claremont Colleges |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | |
| Rights | Pomona College has non-exclusive publication rights. Permission is granted to quote from the thesis with the customary acknowledgment of the source. Copyright for each article is retained by the author. Republication in any form requires permission from the author of the thesis. |
| Relation | Senior Theses from The Claremont Colleges - http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/col/stc/ |
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