Gravitational-wave inference at GPU speed: A bilby-like nested sampling kernel within blackjax-ns

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Main Authors: Prathaban, Metha, Yallup, David, Alvey, James, Yang, Ming, Templeton, Will, Handley, Will
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Prathaban, Metha
Yallup, David
Alvey, James
Yang, Ming
Templeton, Will
Handley, Will
author_facet Prathaban, Metha
Yallup, David
Alvey, James
Yang, Ming
Templeton, Will
Handley, Will
contents We present a GPU-accelerated implementation of the gravitational-wave Bayesian inference pipeline for parameter estimation and model comparison. Specifically, we implement the `acceptance-walk' sampling method, a cornerstone algorithm for gravitational-wave inference within the bilby and dynesty framework. By integrating this trusted kernel with the vectorized blackjax-ns framework, we achieve typical speedups of 20-40x for aligned spin binary black hole analyses, while recovering posteriors and evidences that are statistically identical to the original CPU implementation. This faithful re-implementation of a community-standard algorithm establishes a foundational benchmark for gravitational-wave inference. It quantifies the performance gains attributable solely to the architectural shift to GPUs, creating a vital reference against which future parallel sampling algorithms can be rigorously assessed. This allows for a clear distinction between algorithmic innovation and the inherent speedup from hardware. Our work provides a validated community tool for performing GPU-accelerated nested sampling in gravitational-wave data analyses.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_04336
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Gravitational-wave inference at GPU speed: A bilby-like nested sampling kernel within blackjax-ns
Prathaban, Metha
Yallup, David
Alvey, James
Yang, Ming
Templeton, Will
Handley, Will
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
We present a GPU-accelerated implementation of the gravitational-wave Bayesian inference pipeline for parameter estimation and model comparison. Specifically, we implement the `acceptance-walk' sampling method, a cornerstone algorithm for gravitational-wave inference within the bilby and dynesty framework. By integrating this trusted kernel with the vectorized blackjax-ns framework, we achieve typical speedups of 20-40x for aligned spin binary black hole analyses, while recovering posteriors and evidences that are statistically identical to the original CPU implementation. This faithful re-implementation of a community-standard algorithm establishes a foundational benchmark for gravitational-wave inference. It quantifies the performance gains attributable solely to the architectural shift to GPUs, creating a vital reference against which future parallel sampling algorithms can be rigorously assessed. This allows for a clear distinction between algorithmic innovation and the inherent speedup from hardware. Our work provides a validated community tool for performing GPU-accelerated nested sampling in gravitational-wave data analyses.
title Gravitational-wave inference at GPU speed: A bilby-like nested sampling kernel within blackjax-ns
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.04336