Compact binary systems with neutron stars or black holes are one of the most promising sources for ground-based gravitational-wave detectors .
Gravitational radiation encodes rich information about source physics ; thus parameter estimation and model selection are crucial analysis steps for any detection candidate events .
Detailed models of the anticipated waveforms enable inference on several parameters , such as component masses , spins , sky location and distance , that are essential for new astrophysical studies of these sources .
However , accurate measurements of these parameters and discrimination of models describing the underlying physics are complicated by artifacts in the data , uncertainties in the waveform models and in the calibration of the detectors .
Here we report such measurements on a selection of simulated signals added either in hardware or software to the data collected by the two LIGO instruments and the Virgo detector during their most recent joint science run , including a “ blind injection ” where the signal was not initially revealed to the collaboration .
We exemplify the ability to extract information about the source physics on signals that cover the neutron-star and black-hole binary parameter space over the component mass range 1 \mathrm { M } _ { \odot } -25 \mathrm { M } _ { \odot } and the full range of spin parameters .
The cases reported in this study provide a snap-shot of the status of parameter estimation in preparation for the operation of advanced detectors .