Workshop III: Source Inference and Parameter Estimation in Gravitational Wave Astronomy

Gravitational-wave (GW) observations offer a unique opportunity to study astrophysical and cosmological sources that are difficult to access through electromagnetic observations. Inferring the sources’ properties from their GW signal is one of the key objectives of GW data analysis. The planned improvements in the sensitivity of the ground-based detectors and future space-based observatories, however, bring unique computational and mathematical challenges to the inference problem including long-duration signals, high signal-to-noise ratios, increased parameter dimensionality and overlapping signals. These challenges must be overcome to fully exploit the scientific potential of GW observations. The goal of this workshop is to connect statisticians, computer scientists and GW astrophysicists to discuss the current state-of-the-art approaches to parameter estimation in GW astrophysics, and to identify the open issues to enable fast and reliable inference for different GW sources, including modelled and un-modelled signals, for the current and planned GW observatories.

Topics: Part of the Long Program Mathematical and Computational Challenges in the Era of Gravitational Wave Astronomy