Parameter estimation of spinning binary inspirals using Markov-chain Monte Carlo

Abstract

We present a Markov-chain Monte-Carlo (MCMC) technique to study the source parameters of gravitational-wave signals from the inspirals of stellar-mass compact binaries detected with ground-based gravitational-wave detectors such as LIGO and Virgo, for the case where spin is present in the more massive compact object in the binary. We discuss aspects of the MCMC algorithm that allow us to sample the parameter space in an efficient way. We show sample runs that illustrate the possibilities of our MCMC code and the difficulties that we encounter.