Estimation of parameters of gravitational waves from coalescing binaries

R. Balasubramanian, B. S. Sathyaprakash, S. V. Dhurandhar

Published 1995-08-09Version 1

In this paper we deal with the measurement of the parameters of the gravitational wave signal emitted by a coalescing binary signal. We present the results of Monte Carlo simulations carried out for the case of the initial LIGO, incorporating the first post-Newtonian corrections into the waveform. Using the parameters so determined, we estimate the direction to the source. We stress the use of the time-of-coalescence rather than the time-of-arrival of the signal to determine the direction of the source. We show that this can considerably reduce the errors in the determination of the direction of the source.