Simulating a stochastic background of gravitational waves from neutron star formation at cosmological distances

We develop a temporal simulation of the potentially detectable gravitational wave background from neutron star formation at cosmological distances. By using a recent model for the evolving star formation rate, we investigate the statistical distribution of gravitational wave amplitudes due to supernovae that result in neutron star formation in the Einstein-de Sitter cosmology. We find that the gravitational wave amplitude distribution in our frame is highly skewed, with skewness related to the distribution of sources, and that the potentially detectable gravitational wave strain is dominated by sources at a redshift of 2-3. Time traces of the simulation, using selected waveforms, are presented graphically and are also made available as web-based audio files. The method developed can readily be extended to different cosmologies, as well as to incorporate other waveforms and source types. This type of simulation will be useful in testing and optimizing detection strategies for gravitational wave backgrounds due to various types of individually undetectable astrophysical sources.