\texttt{cWB-space}: A time-frequency transient-search pipeline for LISA

Abstract

Gravitational-wave observations can reveal sources whose signals are not known in advance. Searches that do not require a predicted waveform are therefore an important complement to searches for specific source classes. For the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), the challenge is to find such signals among overlapping astrophysical sources and disturbances in the instrument. We present \texttt{cWB-space}, which identifies candidate signals by following how their power is distributed in time and frequency, and then reconstructs parts of their waveforms without imposing a source model. Simulations of merging massive black holes, other burst signals, and instrumental disturbances test both candidate identification and the information carried by the detector's response. The response comparison estimates its background from the observed data. Tests of disturbances in several laser measurements examine where a similar response can arise from an instrumental origin. Searching the Sangria simulated LISA data, we recover all six injected massive-black-hole binaries as the six highest-ranked candidates. Their reconstructed waveforms agree well with the injected signals over the intervals studied. The results demonstrate another route to investigating transients, while leaving the rate of false detections and general discrimination of instrumental disturbances to future validation.