Degeneracies in sky localization determination from a spinning coalescing binary through gravitational wave observations: a Markov-chain Monte Carlo analysis for two detectors

Gravitational-wave signals from inspirals of binary compact objects (black holes and neutron stars) are primary targets of the ongoing searches by ground-based gravitational-wave interferometers (LIGO, Virgo and GEO-600). We present parameter-estimation simulations for inspirals of black-hole–neutron-star binaries using Markov-chain Monte Carlo methods. As a specific example of the power of these methods, we consider source localization in the sky and analyze the degeneracy in it when data from only two detectors are used. We focus on the effect that the black-hole spin has on the localization estimation. We also report on a comparative Markov-chain Monte Carlo analysis with two different waveform families, at 1.5 and 3.5 post-Newtonian orders.

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