Statistics of time and frequency-averaged spectra in gravitational-wave background searches

Time series analysis from gravitational-wave detectors often relies on the assumption that time chunks, or frequency bins, are uncorrelated. We discuss the validity of this approximation in the context of searches for stochastic gravitational-wave backgrounds. We examine the impact of averaging over time and frequency, a reduction technique commonly employed to minimize the computational expense of likelihood evaluations. We introduce an analytical tool based on Fisher information to quantify the error in parameter inference arising from ignoring these effects. Finally, we address the issue of locally stationary processes and optimal time chunking.