The effect of noise artefacts on gravitational-wave searches for neutron star post-merger remnants

Gravitational waves from binary neutron star post-merger remnants have the potential to uncover the physics of the hot nuclear equation of state. These gravitational-wave signals are high frequency (similar to kHz) and short-lived (O(10 ms)), which introduces potential problems for data analysis algorithms due to the presence of non-stationary and non-Gaussian noise artefacts in gravitational-wave observatories. We quantify the degree to which these noise features in LIGO data may affect our confidence in identifying post-merger gravitational-wave signals. We show that the combination of vetoing data with non-stationary glitches and the application of the Allen chi(2) veto (usually reserved for long-lived lower frequency gravitational-wave signals), allows one to confidently detect post-merger signals with signal-to-noise ratio. rho greater than or similar to 8. We discuss the need to incorporate the data quality checks and vetoes into realistic post-merger gravitational-wave searches, and describe their relevance to calculating realistic false-alarm and false-dismissal rates.

Automated summary

Detecting gravitational wave signals can reveal the physics of the hot nuclear equation of state. However, the presence of non-stationary and non-Gaussian noise structures in gravitational wave observatories can pose challenges for data analysis algorithms. We quantified the impact of these noise features in LIGO data on our confidence in identifying post-merger gravitational wave signals.