The Mock LISA Data Challenges (MLDCs) are a program to demonstrate LISA data-analysis capabilities and to encourage their development. Each round of challenges consists of several data sets containing simulated instrument noise and signals from gravitational-wave sources of undisclosed parameters. Participants are asked to analyze the data sets and report the maximum information about source parameters.
The challenges are being released in rounds of increasing complexity and realism, and they have already demonstrated the recovery of model signals from supermassive black-hole binaries of SNRs between 10 and 200, from ~ 20,000 overlapping Galactic white-dwarf binaries (among a realistically distributed population of 26 million), and from the extreme--mass-ratio inspirals of compact objects into central galactic black holes with SNRs ~ 100.
I am co-chair of the MLDC taskforce that has been formulating the challenge problems, producing the data sets, administering the challenge rounds, collecting and evaluating results. In collaboration with Curt Cutler and others, I am also participating in the challenges as a contestant, concentrating especially on the searches for supermassive--black-hole binary inspirals.
The fourth Mock LISA Data Challenge was released on Nov 23, 2009. While the third round of the MLDCs was focused on increasing the complexity and variety of GW sources, we are devoting the next iteration to the global-fit problem of detecting and analyzing sources of different types superposed in the LISA data. Thus, MDLC 4 consists of a single, whole enchilada challenge that includes all the sources of MLDCs 3.1-3.5 in the same dataset, albeit with larger source numbers (for EMRIs and cosmic-string bursts) and parameter ranges (for MBH binaries and EMRIs).
Here's a graphic representation of a typical dataset (also in PDF); this particular realization includes 60+ million chirping Galactic binaries, 4 MBH binaries, 9 EMRIs, 15 cosmic-string bursts, an isotropic stochastic background, and of course instrument noise (this realization is from a previous test run, and is not available for download).
(Displayed with Seadragon; use mouse to zoom and pan, rightmost button to go fullscreen.)
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