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  • Perspective
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A roadmap of gravitational wave data analysis

Nature Astronomy volume 6, pages 1356–1363 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

As gravitational wave detectors improve, the rate at which sources are observed is steadily increasing. Scientific exploitation of these sources relies on careful analysis of the data, and so gravitational wave data analysis is also a rapidly growing and evolving field. In this Perspective, we provide an introduction to the basic concepts of gravitational wave data analysis with reference to current pipelines. We describe some of the computational advancements and machine learning techniques that have recently been introduced to reduce the computational burden of the analysis. We conclude by discussing some of the challenges that will be encountered in the analysis of data from future detectors.

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Fig. 1: Differential merger rate as a function of primary mass m1 for the Gravitational Wave Transient Catalogs (GWTCs) 2 and 3.
Fig. 2: Global fit of LISA sources.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Lorenzo Speri, Nikolaos Karnesis, Arianna I. Renzini, Jonathan R. Gair.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Potsdam, Germany

    Lorenzo Speri & Jonathan R. Gair

  2. Department of Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Nikolaos Karnesis

  3. LIGO Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Arianna I. Renzini

  4. Department of Physics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

    Arianna I. Renzini

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  1. Lorenzo Speri
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  4. Jonathan R. Gair
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Correspondence to Lorenzo Speri, Nikolaos Karnesis, Arianna I. Renzini or Jonathan R. Gair.

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Speri, L., Karnesis, N., Renzini, A.I. et al. A roadmap of gravitational wave data analysis. Nat Astron 6, 1356–1363 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01849-y

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