[cypherpunks01]

Can anyone explain in simple terms what is going on here? Author states he's going to "discuss possible causes for this behavior and implications" but I don't really see where it's discussed.

Why would human activity impact the probability of LIGO event detection? Is this because LIGO operators are doing certain things to the detector during their work hours, or some other property of the environment around the 2 LIGO detectors?

[fred_is_fred]

As I read it basically the detectors get a lot of noise from the environment and humans being active. Driving to work, doing construction, whatever. It detects the waves better when everyone is asleep. Given this information, it's possible to see a shift in detections when the time changes.

[levocardia]

Then why is't the paper called "LIGO detection probability is affected by daylight savings time"? Cute titles considered harmful.

[potsandpans]

Harmful to who exactly?

[astrange]

The paper mentions that some of it is because of when maintenance is scheduled and when operators are onsite to keep it working. But IIRC they're just incredibly sensitive to motion and any motion (like a truck driving past) affects them.

[paradox460]

LIGO has to filter out loads of noise to look for signals. The interferometers are sensitive enough to pick up human activity, like cars, the trains that run over and around Lake Pontchartrain and the Livingston area, and even river flow fluctuations in the Yakima River. Daylight savings transitions basically shift a lot of human activity around by an hour, which can muck with the filtering