Christopher P L Berry Edit highlight  about 8 years ago

Commit id: 5e282fe2ac3f881ce5d88d2316a8ea652424d37a

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The sky-location accuracy, which is central to performing EM follow-up, is not affected by including spin in the analysis of low-spin systems; this may not be the case when spin is higher, i.e.\ in binaries containing a BH. For our population of BNSs, sky localization is unchanged by the inclusion (or exclusion) of spin in parameter estimation. The median $\mathrm{CR}_{0.9}$ ($\mathrm{CR}_{0.5}$) is $\sim 500~\mathrm{deg^2}$ ($\sim 130~\mathrm{deg^2}$). The luminosity distance is similarly unaffected for this population of slowly spinning NSs; the median fractional uncertainty $\sigma_D/\langle D \rangle$ is $\sim 25\%$. However, an analysis that includes spins requires the use of more computationally expensive waveforms (that include more physics), increasing latency by an order of magnitude. Therefore, if the population matches our current expectation of being slowly spinning, the low-latency results that could be supplied in time for EM observatories to search for a counter-part are as good as the high-latency results in this respect, and there is no benefit in waiting.  Following \textbf{Following  the submission of this article, aLIGO made its first detection \citep{Abbott:2016blz}. This was of a binary BH system \citep{TheLIGOScientific:2016wfe} rather than a BNS, but much of our understanding of the abilities of the parameter-estimation analysis, such as the effects of mass--spin degeneracy, translates between sources. The era of GW astronomy has begun, and parameter estimation will play a central role in the science to come. come.}