Detectability of dynamical tidal effects and the detection of gravitational-wave transients with LIGO

Dynamical tidal effects impact the orbital motion of extended bodies, imprinting themselves in several measurable ways. This thesis explores the saturation of weakly nonlinear dynamical tidal interactions within two very different systems: hot Jupiters orbiting main-sequence hosts with radiative cores and compact stellar remnants inspiraling due to gravitational radiation. In addition, it discusses general aspects of detecting Gravitational Waves with ground-based laser interferometers. Data quality and noise reduction along with source parameter estimation, with particular emphasis on localization, are discussed in great detail. Conclusions drawn from statistical ensembles of simulated signals are applied to the first three confirmed detections of Gravitational Waves, all from the coalescence of binary black hole systems.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Essick, Reed Clasey

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Erotokritos Katsavounidis and Nevin N. Weinberg.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/115024

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/115024