Honors Theses

Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Physics and Astronomy

First Advisor

Marco Cavaglia

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate transient noise events in data from the initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and to test detector characterization software developed by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). Detector characterization is the process of identifying and removing noise that corrupts the data stream of the LIGO detectors. This is vital to improving the sensitivity of the LIGO interferometer and increasing the probability of detecting gravitational waves of astrophysical origin. The data analyzed in this thesis were collected in 2010 during the S6 (Enhanced LIGO) science run. Two software tools, PCAT and Omega Scans, were used to analyze the data. PCAT (Principal Component Analysis for Transients) uses a technique based on Principal Component Analysis to identify and classify instrumental transient noise events (glitches). The Omega Scans software was used in the follow-up study of individual glitches to investigate their spectral properties. Two 8.5-hour long and one 16.5-hour long data stretches of S6 data were analyzed. Analysis of these data showed that PCAT correctly classifies glitches with an efficiency of about 60%.

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