  Presented in this paper is a technique that we propose for extracting the
physical parameters of a rotating stellar core collapse from the observation of
the associated gravitational wave signal from the collapse and core bounce.
Data from interferometric gravitational wave detectors can be used to provide
information on the mass of the progenitor model, precollapse rotation and the
nuclear equation of state. We use waveform libraries provided by the latest
numerical simulations of rotating stellar core collapse models in general
relativity, and from them create an orthogonal set of eigenvectors using
principal component analysis. Bayesian inference techniques are then used to
reconstruct the associated gravitational wave signal that is assumed to be
detected by an interferometric detector. Posterior probability distribution
functions are derived for the amplitudes of the principal component analysis
eigenvectors, and the pulse arrival time. We show how the reconstructed signal
and the principal component analysis eigenvector amplitude estimates may
provide information on the physical parameters associated with the core
collapse event.
