Detecting an association between gamma ray and gravitational wave bursts -art. no. 121101

If gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are accompanied by gravitational wave bursts (GW Bs) the correlated output of two gravitational wave detectors evaluated in the moments just prior to a GRB will differ from that evaluated at other ti mes. We can test for this difference without prior knowledge of either the GWB wave form or the detector noise spectrum. With a model for the GRB sour ce population and GWB spectrum we can put a limit on the in-band rms GWB si gnal amplitude, Laser-Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory I detec tor observations coincident with 1000 GRB observations could lead us to exc lude with 95% confidence associated GWBs with h(RMS) greater than or simila r to 1.7 x 10(-22). [S0556-2821(99)50222-1].