All Physics Faculty Publications
The Resolving Power of LISA: Comparing Techniques for Binary Analysis
Document Type
Conference Paper
Journal/Book Title/Conference
AIP Conference Proceedings
Volume
843
Publication Date
2006
First Page
415
Last Page
415
Abstract
Millions of short period binaries in the Milky Way will radiate gravitational waves in the low‐frequency band with enough power to be detectable by LISA, making the foreground of galactic binaries the most prolific source in the band. Characterizing the resolving power of LISA is important for understanding what science will be possible with LISA observations of these binaries (e.g., mass transfer rates in accreting binaries, the structure of the galaxy, etc.) and understanding how well other sources can be resolved amidst the myriad of resolvable LISA sources. This paper reports on a work in‐progress to understand how well different analysis methods can resolve pairs of binary star systems on the sky and in frequency. Preliminary quantitative results described here focus on two methods — gCLEAN and MaxEnt — and their ability to resolve sources of identical frequency as a function of angular separation.
Recommended Citation
The resolving power of LISA: comparing techniques for binary analysis. Shane L. Larson and Lee Samuel Finn. Proceedings of the Sixth International LISA Symposium, AIP Conf. Proc. 873, 415 (2006)