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We describe directed searches for continuous gravitational waves in data from the sixth LIGO science data run. The targets were nine young supernova remnants not associated with pulsars; eight of the remnants are associated with non-pulsing suspected neutron stars. One targets parameters are uncertain enough to warrant two searches, for a total of ten. Each search covered a broad band of frequencies and first and second frequency derivatives for a fixed sky direction. The searches coherently integrated data from the two LIGO interferometers over time spans from 5.3-25.3 days using the matched-filtering F-statistic. We found no credible gravitational-wave signals. We set 95% confidence upper limits as strong (low) as $4times10^{-25}$ on intrinsic strain, $2times10^{-7}$ on fiducial ellipticity, and $3times10^{-6}$ on r-mode amplitude. These beat the indirect limits from energy conservation and are within the range of theoretical predictions for neutron-star ellipticities and r-mode amplitudes.
We describe directed searches for continuous gravitational waves from sixteen well localized candidate neutron stars assuming none of the stars has a binary companion. The searches were directed toward fifteen supernova remnants and Fomalhaut~b, an extrasolar planet candidate which has been suggested to be a nearby old neutron star. Each search covered a broad band of frequencies and first and second time derivatives. After coherently integrating spans of data from the first Advanced LIGO observing run of 3.5--53.7 days per search, applying data-based vetoes and discounting known instrumental artifacts, we found no astrophysical signals. We set upper limits on intrinsic gravitational wave strain as strict as $1times10^{-25}$, on fiducial neutron star ellipticity as strict as $2times10^{-9}$, and on fiducial $r$-mode amplitude as strict as $3times10^{-8}$.
We conduct searches for continuous gravitational waves from seven pulsars, that have not been targeted in continuous wave searches of Advanced LIGO data before. We target emission at exactly twice the rotation frequency of the pulsars and in a small band around such frequency. The former search assumes that the gravitational wave quadrupole is changing phase-locked with the rotation of the pulsar. The search over a range of frequencies allows for differential rotation between the component emitting the radio signal and the component emitting the gravitational waves, for example the crust or magnetosphere versus the core. Timing solutions derived from the Arecibo 327-MHz Drift-Scan Pulsar Survey (AO327) observations are used. No evidence of a signal is found and upper limits are set on the gravitational wave amplitude. For one of the pulsars we probe gravitational wave intrinsic amplitudes just a factor of 3.8 higher than the spin-down limit, assuming a canonical moment of inertia of $10^{38}$ kg m$^2$. Our tightest ellipticity is $1.7 times 10^{-8}$, which is a value well within the range of what a neutron star crust could support.
We present results of three wide-band directed searches for continuous gravitational waves from 15 young supernova remnants in the first half of the third Advanced LIGO and Virgo observing run. We use three search pipelines with distinct signal models and methods of identifying noise artifacts. Without ephemerides of these sources, the searches are conducted over a frequency band spanning from 10~Hz to 2~kHz. We find no evidence of continuous gravitational radiation from these sources. We set upper limits on the intrinsic signal strain at 95% confidence level in sample sub-bands, estimate the sensitivity in the full band, and derive the corresponding constraints on the fiducial neutron star ellipticity and $r$-mode amplitude. The best 95% confidence constraints placed on the signal strain are $7.7times 10^{-26}$ and $7.8times 10^{-26}$ near 200~Hz for the supernova remnants G39.2--0.3 and G65.7+1.2, respectively. The most stringent constraints on the ellipticity and $r$-mode amplitude reach $lesssim 10^{-7}$ and $ lesssim 10^{-5}$, respectively, at frequencies above $sim 400$~Hz for the closest supernova remnant G266.2--1.2/Vela Jr.
Searches for persistent gravitational radiation from nonpulsating neutron stars in young supernova remnants (SNRs) are computationally challenging because of rapid stellar braking. We describe a practical, efficient, semi-coherent search based on a hidden Markov model (HMM) tracking scheme, solved by the Viterbi algorithm, combined with a maximum likelihood matched filter, the $mathcal{F}$-statistic. The scheme is well suited to analyzing data from advanced detectors like the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (Advanced LIGO). It can track rapid phase evolution from secular stellar braking and stochastic timing noise torques simultaneously without searching second- and higher-order derivatives of the signal frequency, providing an economical alternative to stack-slide-based semi-coherent algorithms. One implementation tracks the signal frequency alone. A second implementation tracks the signal frequency and its first time derivative. It improves the sensitivity by a factor of a few upon the first implementation, but the cost increases by two to three orders of magnitude.
textit{Superradiance} can trigger the formation of an ultra-light boson cloud around a spinning black hole. Once formed, the boson cloud is expected to emit a nearly periodic, long-duration, gravitational-wave signal. For boson masses in the range $(10^{-13}-10^{-11})$ eV, and stellar mass black holes, such signals are potentially detectable by gravitational wave detectors, like Advanced LIGO and Virgo. In this {it Letter} we present full band upper limits for a generic all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in LIGO O2 data, and use them to derive - for the first time - direct constraints on the ultra-light scalar boson field mass.