First upper limits from LIGO on gravitational wave bursts

Abstract

We report on a search for gravitational wave bursts using data from the first science run of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. Our search focuses on bursts with durations ranging from 4 to 100 ms, and with significant power in the LIGO sensitivity band of 150 to 3000 Hz. We bound the rate for such detected bursts at less than 1.6 events per day at a 90% confidence level. This result is interpreted in terms of the detection efficiency for ad hoc waveforms (Gaussians and sine Gaussians) as a function of their root-sum-square strain hrss; typical sensitivities lie in the range hrss∼10−19–10−17strain/√Hz, depending on the waveform. We discuss improvements in the search method that will be applied to future science data from LIGO and other gravitational wave detectors. © 2004 The American Physical Society.