Reconstruction of the gravitational wave signal h(t) during the Virgo science runs and independent validation with a photon calibrator

T. Accadia (1) , F. Acernese , M. Agathos , A. Allocca , P. Astone , G. Ballardin , F. Barone , M. Barsuglia (2, 3) , A. Basti , Th. S. Bauer , M. Bejger , M . G. Beker , C. Belczynski , D. Bersanetti , A. Bertolini , M. Bitossi , M. A. Bizouard (4) , M. Blom , M. Boer (5) , François Bondu (6) , L. Bonelli , R. Bonnand (7) , V. Boschi , L. Bosi , C. Bradaschia , M. Branchesi , T. Briant , A. Brillet (5) , V. Brisson (4) , T. Bulik , H. J. Bulten , D. Buskulic (1) , Christelle Lesvigne-Buy (3) , G. Cagnoli (7) , E. Calloni , B. Canuel , F. Carbognani , F. Cavalier (4) , R. Cavalieri , G. Cella , E. Cesarini , E. Chassande-Mottin (8, 3) , A. Chincarini , A. Chiummo , F. Cleva (5) , E. Coccia , P. -F. Cohadon , A. Colla , M. Colombini , A. Conte , J. -P. Coulon (5) , E. Cuoco , S. d'Antonio , V. Dattilo , M. Davier (4) , R. Day , G. Debreczeni , J. Degallaix (7) , S. Deléglise , W. del Pozzo , H. Dereli (5) , R. de Rosa , L. Di Fiore , A. Di Lieto , A. Di Virgilio , M. Drago , G. Endrőczi , V. Fafone , S. Farinon , I. Ferrante , F. Ferrini , F. Fidecaro , I. Fiori , R. Flaminio (7) , J. -D. Fournier (5) , S. Franco (4) , S. Frasca , F. Frasconi , L. Gammaitoni , F. Garufi , G. Gemme , E. Genin , A. Gennai , A. Giazotto , R. Gouaty (1) , M. Granata (7) , P. Groot , G. M. Guidi , A. Heidmann , H. Heitmann (5) , P. Hello (4) , G. Hemming , P. Jaranowski , R. J. G. Jonker , M. Kasprzack (4) , F. Kéfélian (3) , I. Kowalska , A. Królak , A. Kutynia , C. Lazzaro , M. Leonardi , N. Leroy (4) , N. Letendre (1) , T. G. F. Li , M. Lorenzini , V. Loriette (9) , G. Losurdo , E. Majorana , I. Maksimovic (9) , V. Malvezzi , N. Man (5) , V. Mangano , M. Mantovani , F. Marchesoni , F. Marion (1) , J. Marque , F. Martelli , L. Martinelli (5) , A. Masserot (1) , D. Meacher (5) , J. Meidam , Christine Michel (7) , L. Milano , Y. Minenkov , M. Mohan , N. Morgado (7) , B. Mours (1) , M. F. Nagy , I. Nardecchia , L. Naticchioni , G. Nelemans , I. Neri , M. Neri , F. Nocera , C. Palomba , F. Paoletti , R. Paoletti , A. Pasqualetti , R. Passaquieti , D. Passuello , M. Pichot (5) , F. Piergiovanni , L. Pinard (7) , R. Poggiani , M. Prijatelj , G. A. Prodi , M. Punturo , P. Puppo , D. S. Rabeling , I. Rácz , P. Rapagnani , V. Re , T. Regimbau (5) , F. Ricci , F. Robinet (4) , A. Rocchi , L. Rolland (1) , R. Romano , D. Rosińska , P. Ruggi , E. Saracco (7) , B. Sassolas (7) , D. Sentenac , V. Sequino , S. Shah , K. Siellez , L. Sperandio , N. Straniero (7) , R. Sturani , B. Swinkels , M. Tacca (3) , A. P. M. ter Braack , A. Toncelli , M. Tonelli , O. Torre , F. Travasso , G. Vajente , J. F. J. van Den Brand , C. van Den Broeck , S. van Der Putten , M. V. van Der Sluys , J. van Heijningen , M. Vasúth , G. Vedovato , J. Veitch , D. Verkindt (1) , F. Vetrano , A. Viceré , J. -Y. Vinet (5) , S. Vitale , H. Vocca , L. -W. Wei (5) , M. Yvert (1) , A. Zadrożny , J. -P. Zendri

1 LAPP - Laboratoire d'Annecy de Physique des Particules
2 APC - Cosmologie
3 APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
4 LAL - Laboratoire de l'Accélérateur Linéaire
5 ARTEMIS - Astrophysique Relativiste Théories Expériences Métrologie Instrumentation Signaux
6 IPR - Institut de Physique de Rennes
7 LMA - Laboratoire des matériaux avancés
8 APC-Gravitation - APC - Gravitation
9 ESPCI Paris - Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris

The Virgo detector is a kilometer-scale interferometer for gravitational wave detection located near Pisa (Italy). About 13 months of data were accumulated during four science runs (VSR1, VSR2, VSR3 and VSR4) between May 2007 and September 2011, with increasing sensitivity. In this paper, the method used to reconstruct, in the range 10 Hz-10 kHz, the gravitational wave strain time series $h(t)$ from the detector signals is described. The standard consistency checks of the reconstruction are discussed and used to estimate the systematic uncertainties of the $h(t)$ signal as a function of frequency. Finally, an independent setup, the photon calibrator, is described and used to validate the reconstructed $h(t)$ signal and the associated uncertainties. The uncertainties of the $h(t)$ time series are estimated to be 7.5% in amplitude. The uncertainty of the phase of $h(t)$ is 50 mrad at 10 Hz with a frequency dependence following a delay of 8 $\mu$s at high frequency.

Domaines: Relativité Générale et Cosmologie Quantique [gr-qc]; Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

T. Accadia, F. Acernese, M. Agathos, A. Allocca, P. Astone, et al.. Reconstruction of the gravitational wave signal h(t) during the Virgo science runs and independent validation with a photon calibrator. Classical and Quantum Gravity, 2014, 31, pp.165013. ⟨10.1088/0264-9381/31/16/165013⟩. ⟨in2p3-00935791⟩