Multi-band Gravitational Wave Astronomy Research Articles

The missing link in gravitational-wave astronomy

Since 2015 the gravitational-wave observations of LIGO and Virgo have transformed our understanding of compact-object binaries. In the years to come, ground-based gravitational-wave observatories such as LIGO, Virgo, and their successors will increase in sensitivity, discovering thousands of stellar-mass binaries. In the 2030s, the space-based LISA will provide gravitational-wave observations of massive black holes binaries. Between the sim 10–103 Hz band of ground-based observatories and the sim 10^{-4}–10− 1 Hz band of LISA lies the uncharted decihertz gravitational-wave band. We propose a Decihertz Observatory to study this frequency range, and to complement observations made by other detectors. Decihertz observatories are well suited to observation of intermediate-mass (sim 10^{2}–104M⊙) black holes; they will be able to detect stellar-mass binaries days to years before they merge, providing early warning of nearby binary neutron star mergers and measurements of the eccentricity of binary black holes, and they will enable new tests of general relativity and the Standard Model of particle physics. Here we summarise how a Decihertz Observatory could provide unique insights into how black holes form and evolve across cosmic time, improve prospects for both multimessenger astronomy and multiband gravitational-wave astronomy, and enable new probes of gravity, particle physics and cosmology.

Detectability of intermediate-mass black holes in multiband gravitational wave astronomy

The direct measurement of gravitational waves is a powerful tool for surveying the population of black holes across the universe. The first gravitational wave catalog from LIGO has detected black holes as heavy as $\sim50~M_\odot$, colliding when our Universe was about half its current age. However, there is yet no unambiguous evidence of black holes in the intermediate-mass range of $10^{2-5}~M_\odot$. Recent electromagnetic observations have hinted at the existence of IMBHs in the local universe; however, their masses are poorly constrained. The likely formation mechanisms of IMBHs are also not understood. Here we make the case that multiband gravitational wave astronomy --specifically, joint observations by space- and ground-based gravitational wave detectors-- will be able to survey a broad population of IMBHs at cosmological distances. By utilizing general relativistic simulations of merging black holes and state-of-the-art gravitational waveform models, we classify three distinct population of binaries with IMBHs in the multiband era and discuss what can be observed about each. Our studies show that multiband observations involving the upgraded LIGO detector and the proposed space-mission LISA would detect the inspiral, merger and ringdown of IMBH binaries out to redshift ~2. Assuming that next-generation detectors, Einstein Telescope, and Cosmic Explorer, are operational during LISA's mission lifetime, we should have multiband detections of IMBH binaries out to redshift ~5. To facilitate studies on multiband IMBH sources, here we investigate the multiband detectability of IMBH binaries. We provide analytic relations for the maximum redshift of multiband detectability, as a function of black hole mass, for various detector combinations. Our study paves the way for future work on what can be learned from IMBH observations in the era of multiband gravitational wave astronomy.

Gravitational waveforms and radiation powers of the triple system PSR J0337+1715 in modified theories of gravity

In this paper, we study the gravitational waveforms, polarizations and radiation powers of the first relativistic triple systems PSR J0337 + 1715, observed in 2014, by using the post-Newtonian approximations to their lowest order. Although they cannot be observed either by current or next generation of the detectors, they do provide useful information to test different theories of gravity. In particular, we carry out the studies in three different theories, general relativity (GR), Brans-Dicke (BD) gravity, and Einstein-aether ($\ae$) theory. The tensor modes $h_{+}$ and $h_{\times}$ exist in all three theories and have almost equal amplitudes. Their frequencies are all peaked at two locations, $ f^{(+, \times)}_1 \simeq 0.0686656 \mu$Hz and $ f^{(+, \times)}_2 \simeq 14.2138 \mu$Hz, which are about twice of the outer and inner orbital frequencies of the triple system, as predicted in GR. In $\ae$-theory, all the six polarization modes are different from zero, but the breathing $h_b$ and longitudinal $h_L$ modes are not independent and also peaked at two frequencies, but at the frequencies, $ f^{(b, L, \ae)}_{1} \simeq 0.0457771 \mu$Hz and $f^{(b, L, \ae)}_{ 2} \simeq 7.09545 \mu$Hz. A similar phenomenon is also observed in BD gravity, in which only the three modes $h_{+},\; h_{\times}$ and $h_{b}$ exit. We also study the radiation powers, and find that the quadrupole emission in each of the three theories has almost the same amplitude, but the dipole emission can be as big as the quadrupole emission in $\ae$-theory. This can provide a very promising window to obtain severe constraints on $\ae$-theory by the multi-band gravitational wave astronomy.

Multi-band gravitational wave astronomy: science with joint space- and ground-based observations of black hole binaries

Soon after the observation of the first black hole binary (BHB) by advanced LIGO (aLIGO), GW150914, it was realised that such a massive system would have been observable in the milli-Hz (mHz) band few years prior to coalescence. Operating in the frequency range 0.1-100 mHz, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) can potentially detect up to thousands inspiralling BHBs, based on the coalescence rates inferred from the aLIGO first observing run (O1). The vast majority of them (those emitting at f < 10 mHz) will experience only a minor frequency drift during LISA lifetime, resulting in signals similar to those emitted by galactic white dwarf binaries. At f > 10 mHz however, several of them will sweep through the LISA band, eventually producing loud coalescences in the audio-band probed by aLIGO. This contribution reviews the scientific potential of these new class of LISA sources which, in the past few months, has been investigated in several contexts, including multi-messenger and multi-band gravitational wave astronomy, BHB astrophysics, tests of alternative theories of gravity and cosmography.