LIGO and Traffic Patterns
How does car traffic and commute times affect LIGO data?
04/05/2017
Abstract
What was our study objective? Our study objectives for this project was to understand if there exist any correlations between local traffic data and LIGO data.
How the study was done? Our study was done by comparing LIGO data to traffic data from Google Maps by the Livingston LIGO detector in Louisiana and other traffic programs and we compared the time of heavy traffic to upticks in the LIGO detector.
What results were obtained? We obtained the results that point to a slight correlation between the more LIGO activity when car traffic density is higher.
What is the significance of the results? The significance of these results means that LIGO would be a more efficient laboratory for studying and detecting gravity waves if there is less traffic in the nearby area.
Introduction
Why was this study performed? We decided to complete this study because we wanted to find out what impact traffic noise had on LIGO data. The LIGO detector is a very sensitive instrument capable of detecting slight discrepancies in seismic activity, such as local traffic.
What knowledge already exists about this subject? LIGO’s primary focus was not on the detection of traffic patterns as it is considered background noise to the major events it seeks like Gravitational Waves. Studies have been done regarding noise and LIGO data where scientists have pinpointed the range of events like Earthquakes and Local Traffic.
What is the specific purpose of the study? Our hypothesis is that traffic density will increase noise in the LIGO data. Our experimental design includes looking at the quantitative LIGO values at specific times and comparing them with local traffic density indexes at these specific times.
Procedures
We did not use our own detector for this experiment as we did not need to; instead we used LIGO data published online. The data used in our project was published online at various times. Our data was accessed from a website called LIGO e-lab. We also got most of our traffic data from Google Maps. We analyzed our results by comparing quantitative LIGO data and traffic index numbers from Google maps and other traffic information.
Results
During times of greater traffic which was indicated by the differing coloration of the route from blue, we can clearly see an uptick from the LIGO data. We had times at around 6:00 am CST to have a standard for what the LIGO detector would be detect without any noise. For May 4, there were three major upticks at 6:50 am, 12:00 pm, and at 3:20 pm. For May 8, there were a lot of major upticks. There were three around 8:00 am and 5 other upticks between 12:00 pm and 8:00 pm. Each of the upticks went up from the flat line by 3000 Hertz or more. Also, the traffic at the each time had greater areas of congestion. This leads us to conclude there may be a correlation between the upticks and the traffic data.
Figures
Discussion and Conclusions
The data that we found shows that there is some correlation between Traffic densities and the LIGO data. There are spikes in the data around the times of day that traffic densities tend to be higher. Keep in mind that the times must be adjusted from GMT. This shows that traffic can be a major source of noise when detecting gravity waves. Sources of error could have come from faults in the LIGO data that we found, or falsehoods in the traffic data.
Answer to research question: LIGO data is affected by the density of traffic.
In order to further the study a researcher could look at correlations between other traffic implications (other roadways near LIGO, or types of vehicles, etc.)
Bibliography
"Different Frequency Bands In DMT | Quarknet". Quarknet.i2u2.org . N.p., 2016. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.
"Google Maps". Google Maps. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.
"LIGO E-Lab Data, March 2003 - June 2011". Ligo E-Lab. N.p., 2017. Web. 29 Mar. 2017.