Gravitational Wave Astronomy with CoCoA: a Data Analysis Technique for the Post-Detection Era

The joint-detection of GW170817 and GRB170817A by gravitational wave (GW) and electromagnetic observers marked a truly momentous occasion. This remarkable first step into the frontier of multi-messenger astronomy revealed answers to decades of questions: from the origin of heavy-elements in our universe, all the way to providing the “smoking gun” for neutron star mergers as the progenitor systems of at least some gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). But there remain many open questions, including what occurs after the initial emission of GWs and gamma-rays in a GRB. Under the correct circumstances, exotic neutron-star GRB remnants could produce GW transients on timescales up to tens of thousands of seconds after the initial prompt emission. Yet the GW signals produced by these remnants may lie beyond the reach of traditional GW analysis techniques. In this talk we discuss a novel application of a generalized cross-correlation analysis specifically optimized for the detection of these “intermediate duration” signals that will contribute to an entirely new class of next-generation GW searches designed with the post-detection era in mind.