Christopher Berry edited results.tex  almost 9 years ago

Commit id: d08b3e1eb7e4b5c28e34c7685428ab90f92796c7

deletions | additions      

       

\subsection{Mass Estimates} Estimates}\label{sec:mass}  For the sake of sampling efficiency, it is common to reparameterize the model to reduce the degeneracy between parameters, particularly those specifying the binary's masses. All analyses assume uniform priors in component masses between $0.6~\mathrm{M}_\odot$ and $5.0~\mathrm{M}_\odot$. GW detectors are most sensitive to the \emph{chirp mass} $\mathcal{M}_\mathrm{c} = (m_1 m_2)^{3/5} (m_1 + m_2)^{-1/5}$. We use the asymmetric mass ratio $q = m_2/m_1$, where $0 < q \leq 1$, as the second mass parameter. Detectors are much less sensitive to the mass ratio, and strong degeneracies with spin make constraints on $q$ even worse \citep{Cutler_1994}. It is primarily the uncertainty in $q$ that governs the uncertainty in component masses $m_1$ and $m_2$.