Probing the Distant Universe with Gravitational Waves

Probing the distant universe with gravitational waves

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

November 4^th – 5^th 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):

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

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

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: 13^th October 2005