Utilizing the null stream of the Einstein Telescope

Boris Goncharov, Alexander H. Nitz, Jan Harms

arXiv.org | PRD

Contribution of BBH to PSD in 60 seconds of dataThe Einstein Telescope (ET) is the third-generation gravitational wave detector expected to start observing in around 2034. Thanks to its remarkable sensitivity, ET will open pathways to new scientific discoveries. Unlike other current and future ground-based detectors that are L-shaped, ET will be composed of three low-frequency and high-frequency components forming an equilateral triangle with a side length of 10 kilometres. This will enable a special bonus feature for ET. A sum of strain output from three ET components will cancel all gravitational wave signals. This synthetic data channel of the ET is called the null stream. Whereas one can still construct a null stream from three arbitrary-located detectors, these null streams will depend on a signal sky position and only cancel one gravitational-wave signal at a given point in time.

In this work, we demonstrate the two data analysis problems that ET will face, as well as the solutions that ET null stream will provide:

Finally, we review other applications of null streams in gravitational-wave astronomy and discuss the limitations of null stream analyses.

The article is accepted in Physical Review D.

Recent Work