BILBY:A User-friendly Bayesian Inference Library for Gravitational-wave Astronomy

Ashton, Gregory and Hübner, Moritz and Lasky, Paul D. and Talbot, Colm and Ackley, Kendall and Biscoveanu, Sylvia and Chu, Qi and Divakarla, Atul and Easter, Paul J. and Goncharov, Boris and Hernandez Vivanco, Francisco and Harms, Jan and Lower, Marcus E. and Meadors, Grant D. and Melchor, Denyz and Payne, Ethan and Pitkin, Matthew D. and Powell, Jade and Sarin, Nikhil and Smith, Rory J.~E. and Thrane, Eric (2019) BILBY:A User-friendly Bayesian Inference Library for Gravitational-wave Astronomy. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 241 (2). ISSN 0067-0049

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Abstract

Bayesian parameter estimation is fast becoming the language of gravitational-wave astronomy. It is the method by which gravitational-wave data is used to infer the sources' astrophysical properties. We introduce a user-friendly Bayesian inference library for gravitational-wave astronomy, Bilby. This Python code provides expert-level parameter estimation infrastructure with straightforward syntax and tools that facilitate use by beginners. It allows users to perform accurate and reliable gravitational-wave parameter estimation on both real, freely available data from LIGO/Virgo and simulated data. We provide a suite of examples for the analysis of compact binary mergers and other types of signal models, including supernovae and the remnants of binary neutron star mergers. These examples illustrate how to change the signal model, implement new likelihood functions, and add new detectors. Bilby has additional functionality to do population studies using hierarchical Bayesian modeling. We provide an example in which we infer the shape of the black hole mass distribution from an ensemble of observations of binary black hole mergers.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Additional Information:
Author was employed at another UK HEI at the time of submission and was deposited at Imperial College London Repository, see link https://spiral.imperial.ac.uk/handle/10044/1/46087
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1900/1912
Subjects:
?? GRAVITATIONAL WAVESMETHODS: DATA ANALYSISMETHODS: STATISTICALSTARS: BLACK HOLESSTARS: NEUTRONASTROPHYSICS - INSTRUMENTATION AND METHODS FOR ASTROPHYSICSASTROPHYSICS - HIGH ENERGY ASTROPHYSICAL PHENOMENAGENERAL RELATIVITY AND QUANTUM COSMOLOGYASTRONOMY AND ??
ID Code:
135697
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
23 Jul 2019 12:45
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
23 Sep 2023 23:59