Results from the First All-Sky Search for Continuous Gravitational Waves from Small-Ellipticity Sources

Abstract

We present the results of an all-sky search for continuous gravitational-wave signals with frequencies in the 500-1700 Hz range targeting neutron stars with ellipticity of 10-8. The search is done on LIGO O2 data using the Falcon analysis pipeline. The results presented here double the sensitivity over any other result on the same data [B. P. Abbott (LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration), Phys. Rev. D 100, 024004 (2019)PRVDAQ2470-001010.1103/PhysRevD.100.024004, C. Palomba, Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 171101 (2019)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.123.171101]. The search is capable of detecting low-ellipticity sources up to 170 pc. We establish strict upper limits which hold for worst-case signal parameters. We list outliers uncovered by the search, including several which we cannot associate with any known instrumental cause.