This presentation navigates through key aspects of gravitational-wave transient searches by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration.
Beginning with an overview of interferometric gravitational-wave detectors, I will address the fundamentals of their functioning and describe their sensitivity to astrophysical sources. I will introduce the challenges related to transient noise and highlight the critical concept of data quality.
Transitioning to the joint astrophysical searches by the LVK, I will then provide an overview into the ongoing fourth observational campaign, O4, with a special focus on the searches for signals from the coalescence of compact binary systems of black holes and neutron stars. Emphasizing the broader framework of multimessenger astrophysics, I will highlight the role of the Rapid Response Team and the Low Latency infrastructure for rapid vetting of event alerts.
Concluding, I will connect experiments and observations by describing the relevant data quality checks for the purpose of event validation. This crucial step in the information flow that goes from the detectors and their data to publications in catalogs and discovery papers, is meant to reassure on the reliability of the results delivered to the astronomical community, reinforcing the confidence in the astrophysical origin of the detected events and the estimated parameters of their sources.