# Search for Gravitational Wave Bursts from Six Magnetars

2 APC - Cosmologie
APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie
8 APC-Gravitation - APC - Gravitation
APC (UMR_7164) - AstroParticule et Cosmologie, AEI - Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik ( Albert-Einstein-Institut )
Abstract : Soft gamma repeaters (SGRs) and anomalous X-ray pulsars (AXPs) are thought to be magnetars: neutron stars powered by extreme magnetic fields. These rare objects are characterized by repeated and sometimes spectacular gamma-ray bursts. The burst mechanism might involve crustal fractures and excitation of non-radial modes which would emit gravitational waves (GWs). We present the results of a search for GW bursts from six galactic magnetars that is sensitive to neutron star f-modes, thought to be the most efficient GW emitting oscillatory modes in compact stars. One of them, SGR 0501+4516, is likely ~1 kpc from Earth, an order of magnitude closer than magnetars targeted in previous GW searches. A second, AXP 1E 1547.0-5408, gave a burst with an estimated isotropic energy >1044 erg which is comparable to the giant flares. We find no evidence of GWs associated with a sample of 1279 electromagnetic triggers from six magnetars occurring between 2006 November and 2009 June, in GW data from the LIGO, Virgo, and GEO600 detectors. Our lowest model-dependent GW emission energy upper limits for band- and time-limited white noise bursts in the detector sensitive band, and for f-mode ringdowns (at 1090 Hz), are 3.0 × 1044 d 2 1 erg and 1.4 × 1047 d 2 1 erg, respectively, where $d_\mathrm{1} = \frac{d_{\mathrm{0501}}}{1\,\mathrm{kpc}}$ and d 0501 is the distance to SGR 0501+4516. These limits on GW emission from f-modes are an order of magnitude lower than any previous, and approach the range of electromagnetic energies seen in SGR giant flares for the first time.
Document type :
Journal articles

http://hal.in2p3.fr/in2p3-00608259
Contributor : Claudine Bombar <>
Submitted on : Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - 3:52:47 PM
Last modification on : Wednesday, January 13, 2021 - 9:41:21 AM

### Citation

J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, M. Abernathy, T. Accadia, et al.. Search for Gravitational Wave Bursts from Six Magnetars. The Astrophysical journal letters, Bristol : IOP Publishing, 2011, 734, pp.L35. ⟨10.1088/2041-8205/734/2/L35⟩. ⟨in2p3-00608259⟩

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