with a particular set of parameters. In order to obtain a high value for the correlation the signal waveform should be known to a high level of accuracy. The matched filtering technique is very sensitive to the [*phase*]{} of the signal and even if the template and the signal mismatch by even half a cycle the correlation integral is drastically reduced.

The fully general relativistic waveform from a coalescing binary system of stars is as yet unavailable. In the absence of such an exact solution, there have been efforts to find solutions perturbatively. Most of the work in this area strives towards computing the waveform correct to a high degree of accuracy so that the theoretical templates based on this will obtain the maximum possible SNR.

The signal is said to be detected, if the maximum value of the correlation over all the parameters of the signal crosses a preassigned threshold which has been set by the false alarm one is prepared to tolerate. Once the signal is detected, the maximum likelihood estimates (MLE) of the parameters of the binary are those of the template with which the maximum correlation is obtained. The errors involved in such an estimation have 