Signal analysis of the post-Newtonian gravitational wave form of coalescing binaries

Abstract

In this paper we compute the signal-to-noise ratios for gravitational wave signals from coalescing binaries in the post-Newtonian approximation using matched-filtering techniques. We find that, up to the second post-Newtonian order, on the whole the signal-to-noise ratios are reduced for broadband detectors. For a binary with a mass parameter ~1M_⊙ and detection frequency range of 100-2000 Hz the signal-to-noise ratio can go down by as much as 15%. This is basically due to the reduction in integration time of the signal. We compute the signal-to-noise ratios in the standard recycling case for a wide range of parameters which include the orientation of the detector and source. Useful semianalytic formulas are derived. Numerical results are displayed for the full wave form for various orientations of the binary system.