Probing the distant universe with gravitational waves

 

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

 

November 4th – 5th 2005



(Credit – http:// lisa.jpl.nasa.gov)

This two-day workshop is organized by East Tennessee State University and the University of Glasgow, UK – with generous support from the Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence, College of Arts and Sciences, ETSU.

 

The theme of the workshop is the interface between gravitational wave astronomy and cosmology, with particular focus on the opportunities that will arise from the LISA mission. It is anticipated that there will be around 25 – 30 participants.

 

Participation in the workshop is by invitation. The cost of (2 nights’) accommodation, registration and conference meals will be covered in full by ETSU for all invited participants.

 

Martin Hendry, Sep 2005 

(Credit – http:// lisa.jpl.nasa.gov)


Proposed workshop topics (with substantial overlap):

  1. The impact of cosmology and extragalactic astrophysics on the detection of LISA sources

1.      Estimates of cosmological parameters from the CMBR, SNIa, galaxy clustering

2.      Constraints on the galaxy merger rate as a function of redshift, from galaxy surveys

3.      Constraints on the halo mass distribution from cosmological N-body simulations

4.      The impact of gravitational lensing on LISA signals

  1. Cross-pollination of statistical methods between cosmological and gravitational wave data analysis

1.      Bayesian model selection as a tool for source identification

2.      Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods:  efficient sampling of many-dimensional likelihood functions

3.      Optimal filtering and compression of very large datasets

4.      Nonparametric inference and ‘unmodelled’ sources

  1. Optimal synthesis of electromagnetic and gravitational wave data

1.      Cosmological diffuse backgrounds

2.      Detected E-M counterparts

3.      Exploiting information on strong and weak gravitational lensing of signals

4.      ‘Standard siren’ gravitational wave sources as cosmological probes

 


List of Participants

 

 

Suketu Bhavsar

University of Kentucky

Neil Cornish *

Montana State University

Jeff Crowder *

Montana State University

Neal Dalal *

Institute for Advanced Study

Mario Diaz

University of Texas at Brownsville

Dave Dickey

North Carolina State University

Olivier Dore

CITA, Toronto

Sam Finn

Penn State University

Bob Gardner

East Tennessee State University

Chris Genovese *

Carnegie Mellon University

Marc Giroux

East Tennessee State University

Dave Goldberg

Drexel University, Philadelphia

Martin Hendry

University of Glasgow, UK

Rico Ignace

East Tennessee State University

Bhuvnesh Jain

University of Pennsylvania

Andrzej Krolak

AEI, Golm, Germany

Tom Prince

California Institute of Technology

Alessandro Rinaldo

Carnegie Mellon University

Chad Schafer

Carnegie Mellon University

Naoki Seto

California Institute of Technology

Peter Shawhan

California Institute of Technology

Ravi Sheth

University of Pennsylvania

Vimal Simha

Ohio State University

Beverly Smith

East Tennesee State University

Fiona Speirits

University of Glasgow, UK

Luis Teodoro

University of Glasgow, UK

Massimo Tinto

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena

Jennifer Toher

University of Glasgow, UK

Michele Vallisneri *

California Institute of Technology

Alberto Vecchio

University of Birmingham, UK

John Veitch

University of Glasgow, UK

John Whelan

Loyola University, New Orleans

 

 

*  =   participation to be confirmed

 

 


 

Workshop Programme

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 11/3

Afternoon/Evening:

 

Arrival of participants.

 

 

 

 

Informal gathering at Carnegie Hotel

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 11/4

8.30am

 

Welcoming remarks and overview of workshop goals.

 

8.45am

 

Tom Prince

Overview of the LISA mission

 

9.30am

 

Sam Finn

Introduction to Bayesian Inference

 

10.00am

 

Martin Hendry

Bayesian model selection

 

10.25am

 

Coffee break

 

 

10.45am

 

Peter Shawhan

Ground-based gravitational wave detectors: data analysis techniques

 

11.30am

 

Chad Schafer

Cosmological parameter estimation

 

11.55am

 

Olivier Dore

Gravitational waves from the CMBR:  principles and prospects

 

12.25pm

 

Lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.45pm

 

John Whelan

Ground-based constraints on the stochastic gravitational wave background

 

2.10pm

 

Luis Teodoro

Precision determination of the mass function of dark matter halos

 

2.35pm

 

Ravi Sheth

The formation time and masses of dark matter halos

 

3.00pm

 

Beverly Smith

Galaxy mergers in the local universe

 

3.20pm

 

Coffee break

 

 

3.40pm

 

Bhuvnesh Jain

Weak gravitational lensing

 

4.10pm

 

Dave Goldberg

Weak lensing and flexion

 

4.35pm

 

Neal Dalal

Corrective lenses for high-redshift supernovae

 

4.55pm

 

Naoki Seto

Strong gravitational lensing and localization of merging massive black holes with LISA

 

5.20pm

 

Open discussion:  effective cross-pollination of statistical methods

 

 

 

 

 

 

Approx. 7.00pm

 

Informal gathering for dinner,  live ‘bluegrass’ music in Johnson City

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday 11/5

8.30am

 

Chris Genovese

A non-parametric approach to cosmological parameter estimation

 

8.55am

 

Dave Dickey

A test for stationarity in time-series data

 

9.15am

 

Alessandro Rinaldo

Extended MLE as a tool for model selection

 

9.35am

 

Suketu Bhavsar

SHUFFLE: a new statistical bootstrap method

 

10.00am

 

Andrzej Krolak

Optimal searches of data for weak signals in large parameter spaces

 

10.25am

 

Coffee break

 

 

10.45am

 

Massimo Tinto

Simulating the WD-WD galactic binary background in LISA data

 

11.10am

 

Jeff Crowder

LISA data analysis using MCMC methods

 

11.35am

 

John Veitch

Bayesian modeling of source confusion in LISA data

 

12.00pm

 

Open discussion:  optimal synthesis of gravitational wave and cosmological data

 

12.45pm

 

Lunch

 

 

2.00pm

 

End of workshop

 

 

 

 

Optional excursion to Roan Mountain State Park

 

 


Practical information

 

Millennium Park Conference Center

The workshop will be held in the Conference Center at Millennium Park, Johnson City, neighboring the campus of ETSU.   Participants will be accommodated in the Carnegie Hotel – immediately adjacent to the Conference Center, and opposite the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geology at ETSU.

 

The cost of participants’ accommodation will be met by ETSU for Thu 11/3 and Fri 11/4.  A number of rooms are also available for the night of Sat 11/5, should participants wish to leave the following day.  

Carnegie Hotel, Johnson City

 

Location

 

Johnson City is a community of nearly 60,000 residents located in the northeast corner of Tennessee, in the heart of the Southern Appalachians.  It nestles in the ridge and valleys near to the incomparable Roan Mountain, the Great Smoky Mountains and the forests of western North Carolina.  It is the southernmost of the three centers (Johnson City, Bristol and Kingsport) that together comprise the Tri-Cities metropolitan area, with a combined population of around half a million.   A map of the Tri-Cities area can be found here.  

 

The region has a rich cultural heritage.  It is recognized as the Birthplace of Country Music, and is the wellspring of traditional mountain music and its branches in bluegrass and gospel.  Nearby Jonesborough is the home of the National Storytelling Festival, and ETSU hosts the Center for Appalachian Studies and the Archives of Appalachia.

 

Johnson City is served by the Tri-Cities Regional Airport, located about 16 miles from ETSU.   US Air, Northwest and Delta operate direct connections from the Tri-Cities airport to a number of east coast hubs, including Charlotte, Atlanta, Memphis, Cincinatti and Detroit.    (Note:  we will arrange ground transportation for all workshop participants to and from the airport).

 

 

Johnson City, from the top of nearby Buffalo Mountain

 

 


This site is maintained by Martin Hendry
Last updated: 13th October 2005