Speed Of Gravitational Waves Research Articles

Constraining Horndeski theory with gravitational waves from coalescing binaries

In the broad subclass of Horndeski theories with a luminal speed of gravitational waves, we derive gravitational waveforms emitted from a compact binary by considering the wave propagation on a spatially flat cosmological background. A scalar field nonminimally coupled to gravity gives rise to hairy neutron star (NS) solutions with a nonvanishing scalar charge, whereas black holes (BHs) do not have scalar hairs in such theories. A binary system containing at least one hairy neutron star modifies the gravitational waveforms in comparison to those of the BH-BH binary. Using the tensor gravitational waveforms, we forecast the constraints on a parameter characterizing the difference of scalar charges of NS-BH or NS-NS binaries for Advanced LIGO and Einstein Telescope. We illustrate how these constraints depend on redshift and signal-to-noise ratio, and on different possible priors. We show that in any case it is possible to constrain the scalar charge precisely, so that some scalarized NS solutions known in the literature can be excluded.

Phenomenology of wavelike vector dark matter nonminimally coupled to gravity

We study three astrophysical/cosmological consequences of nonminimal couplings to gravity in wavelike vector dark matter. In the nonrelativistic limit, the nonminimal coupling with the lowest mass dimension leads to effective self-interactions that affect the mass-radius relation of vector solitons, growth of linear perturbations during structure formation, and the speed of gravitational waves (GWs). Based on the success of cold dark matter on large-scale perturbations and the current limits on GW speed, we constrain the dark matter mass and nonminimal coupling strength to be within the range |ξ 1|/m 2 ≪ 1050 eV-2 and -3 × 1046 eV-2 ≲ ξ 2/m 2 ≲ 8 × 1048 eV-2.

Nonminimal derivative coupling cosmology and the speed of gravitational waves

The so-called Nonminimal Derivative Coupling (NDC) is an alternative to General Relativity, which produces an asymptotic inflationary mechanism when applied to cosmology. The detection of gravitational waves in the last decade has imposed very stringent constraints over gravitational theories, which gave rise to a massive revision of those theories, in order to investigate the compatibility between them and that observational data. In this paper, we review NDC and address the question if it is compatible with gravitational waves or not. We show that the very existence of gravitational waves in this theory is restricted to a limited range in phase space and there are no accelerated solutions compatible with the present day data for the speed of such waves. This last result is alleviated by the fact that we did not detect primordial gravitational waves so far. Those conclusions are based on the comparison between the expression for the speed of tensor perturbations and the phase space. Finally, some possible scenarios and solutions are considered.

Mirage of Luminal Modified Gravitational-Wave Propagation.

Using conformal invariance of gravitational waves, we show that for a luminal modified gravity theory, the gravitational-wave propagation and luminosity distance are the same as in general relativity. The relation between the gravitational-wave and electromagnetic-wave luminosity distance gets modified, however, for electromagnetism minimally coupled to the Jordan frame metric. Using effective field theory we show that the modified relation obtained for luminal theories is also valid for nonluminal theories with Jordan frame matter-gravity coupling. We generalize our analysis to a time-dependent speed of gravitational waves with matter minimally coupled to either the Jordan or Einstein frame metrics.

Revisiting Vainshtein screening for fast N-body simulations

We revisit a method to incorporate the Vainshtein screening mechanism in N-body simulations proposed by R. Scoccimarro in [1]. We further extend this method to cover a subset of Horndeski theories that evade the bound on the speed of gravitational waves set by the binary neutron star merger GW170817. The procedure consists of the computation of an effective gravitational coupling that is time and scale dependent, G eff (k,z), where the scale dependence will incorporate the screening of the fifth-force. This is a fast procedure that when contrasted to the alternative of solving the full equation of motion for the scalar field inside N-body codes, reduces considerably the computational time and complexity required to run simulations. To test the validity of this approach in the non-linear regime, we have implemented it in a COmoving Lagrangian Approximation (COLA) N-body code, and ran simulations for two gravity models that have full N-body simulation outputs available in the literature, nDGP and Cubic Galileon. We validate the combination of the COLA method with this implementation of the Vainshtein mechanism with full N-body simulations for predicting the boost function: the ratio between the modified gravity non-linear matter power spectrum and its General Relativity counterpart. This quantity is of great importance for building emulators in beyond-ΛCDM models, and we find that the method described in this work has an agreement of below 2% for scales down to k ≈ 3h/Mpc with respect to full N-body simulations.

A case study of small field inflationary dynamics in the Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet framework in the light of GW170817

We study two of the most theoretically promising models of inflation, namely Natural inflation and Mutated Hilltop inflation, in the Einstein-Gauss Bonnet(EGB) gravity framework. In this work, we try to explore these models keeping observations from GW170817 on the speed of gravitational wave to be equal to the speed of light. This has direct implications on the non-minimal coupling to the Gauss–Bonnet invariant in the action. Thus, the effective potential gets new features. We have not only analysed the inflationary dynamics, but also the reheating dynamics and finally the corresponding energy spectrum of the gravitational wave.

Chasing supermassive black hole merging events withAthenaandLISA

ABSTRACTThe European Space Agency is studying two large-class missions bound to operate in the decade of the 30s, and aiming at investigating the most energetic and violent phenomena in the Universe. Athena is poised to study the physical conditions of baryons locked in large-scale structures from the epoch of their formation, as well as to yield an accurate census of accreting supermassive black holes down to the epoch of reionization; LISA will extend the hunt for Gravitational Wave (GW) events to the hitherto unexplored mHz regime. We discuss in this paper the science that their concurrent operation could yield, and present possible Athena observational strategies. We focus on Supermassive (M$\lesssim 10^7\, \rm {M_\odot }$) Black Hole Mergers (SMBHMs), potentially accessible to Athena up to z ∼ 2. The simultaneous measurement of their electromagnetic (EM) and GW signals may enable unique experiments in the domains of astrophysics, fundamental physics, and cosmography, such as the magnetohydrodynamics of fluid flows in a rapidly variable space–time, the formation of coronae and jets in Active Galactic Nuclei, and the measurement of the speed of GW, among others. Key to achieve these breakthrough results will be the LISA capability of locating a SMBHM event with an error box comparable to, or better than the field-of-view of the Athena Wide Field Imager ($\simeq 0.4\,$ deg2) and Athena capability to slew fast to detect the source during the inspiral phase and the post-merger phase. Together, the two observatories will open in principle the exciting possibility of truly concurrent EM and GW studies of the SMBHMs

Prospects of probing dark matter condensates with gravitational waves

The Lambda-Cold Dark Matter model explains cosmological observations most accurately till date. However, it is still plagued with various shortcomings at galactic scales. Models of dark matter such as superfluid dark matter, Bose-Einstein Condensate(BEC) dark matter and fuzzy dark matter have been proposed to overcome some of these drawbacks. In this work, we probe these models using the current constraint on the gravitational wave (GW) propagation speed coming from the binary neutron star GW170817 detection by LIGO-Virgo detector network and use it to study the allowed parameter space for these three models for Advanced LIGO+Virgo, LISA, IPTA and SKA detection frequencies. The speed of GW has been shown to depend upon the refractive index of the medium, which in turn, depends on the dark matter model parameters through the density profile of the galactic halo. We constrain the parameter space for these models using the bounds coming from GW speed measurement and the Milky Way radius bound. Our findings suggest that with Advanced LIGO-Virgo detector sensitivity, the three models considered here remain unconstrained. A meaningful constraint can only be obtained for detection frequencies ≤ 10-9 Hz, which falls in the detection range of radio telescopes such as IPTA and SKA. Considering this best possible case, we find that out of the three condensate models, the fuzzy dark matter model is the most feasible scenario to be falsified/validated in near future.

Testing gravitational wave propagation with multiband detections

Effective field theories (EFT) of dark energy (DE) — built to parameterise the properties of DE in an agnostic manner — are severely constrained by measurements of the propagation speed of gravitational waves (GW). However, GW frequencies probed by ground-based interferometers lie around the typical strong coupling scale of the EFT, and it is likely that the effective description breaks down before even reaching that scale. We discuss how this leaves the possibility that an appropriate ultraviolet completion of DE scenarios, valid at scales beyond an EFT description, can avoid present constraints on the GW speed. Instead, additional constraints in the lower frequency LISA band would be harder to escape, since the energies involved are orders of magnitude lower. By implementing a method based on GW multiband detections, we show indeed that a single joint observation of a GW150914-like event by LISA and a terrestrial interferometer would allow one to constrain the speed of light and gravitons to match to within 10-15. Multiband GW observations can therefore firmly constrain scenarios based on the EFT of DE, in a robust and unambiguous way.

Compatibility of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet inflation theory with non-minimal derivative coupling in the constant-roll

Inflation is a theory in cosmology that explains that the early universe experienceda very fast expansion in a very short time and is able to explain some cosmological problemsand the presence of gravitational waves generated during the inflation period. Based on theevent GW170817, it was found that c2t = 1, which indicates that the speed of gravitationalwaves is nearly equal to the speed of light. This contradicts several modified theories of gravity,one of which is the Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory. This paper examines the compatibility ofEinstein-Gauss-Bonnet inflation theory with the GW170817 phenomenon, with the addition ofthe Non-minimal derivative coupling term and the constant-roll approach and its characteristics.The formulation of observational quantities is carried out using Horndeski theory and EffectiveField Theory with ADM formalism and the calculations are done numerically. The constantvalues are selected in such a way that the spectral index values and tensor-scalar ratios are closeto the 2018 Planck data. The results found that this theory is compatible with GW170817 withthe influence of Gauss-Bonnet term and constant-roll parameter β most dominant.

Probing the speed of gravity with LVK, LISA, and joint observations

Theories of dark energy that affect the speed of gravitational waves c_{textrm{GW}} on cosmological scales naturally lead to a frequency-dependent transition of that speed close to the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA (LVK) band. While observations such as GW170817 assure us that c_{textrm{GW}} is extremely close to the speed of light in the LVK band, a frequency-dependent transition below the LVK band is a smoking-gun signal for large classes of dynamical dark energy theories. Here we discuss (1) how the remnants of such a transition can be constrained with observations in the LVK band, (2) what signatures are associated with such a transition in the LISA band, and (3) how joint observations in the LVK and LISA bands allow us to place tight constraints on this transition and the underlying theories. We find that deviations of c_{textrm{GW}} can be constrained down to a level of sim 10^{-17} in the LVK and LISA bands even for mild frequency-dependence, much stronger than existing bounds for frequency-independent c_{textrm{GW}}ne c. We use the strain data from GW170817 to bound the deviation of c_{textrm{GW}} to be less than 10^{-17} at 100 Hz and less than 10^{-18} at 500 Hz. We also identify a particularly interesting type of transition in between the LVK and LISA bands and show how multi-band observations can constrain this further. Finally, we discuss what these current and forecasted constraints imply for the underlying dark energy theories.

Shrouded black holes in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity

We study black holes in a modified gravity scenario involving a scalar field quadratically coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant. The scalar is assumed to be in a spontaneously broken phase at spatial infinity due to a bare Higgs-like potential. For a proper choice of sign, the non-minimal coupling to gravity leads to symmetry restoration near the black hole horizon, prompting the development of the scalar wall in its vicinity. The wall thickness depends on the bare mass of the scalar and can be much smaller than the Schwarzschild radius. In a weakly coupled regime, the quadratic coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant effectively becomes linear, and no walls are formed. We find approximate analytical solutions for the scalar field in the test field regime, and obtain numerically static black hole solutions within this setup. We discuss cosmological implications of the model and show that it is fully consistent with the existence of an inflationary stage, unlike the spontaneous scalarization scenario assuming the opposite sign of the non-minimal coupling to gravity. Our model predicts the speed of gravitational waves to be extremely close to unity, - in a comfortable agreement with the observation of the GW170817 event and its electromagnetic counterpart.

Polarization and Speed of Gravitational Waves in Hybrid Metric-Palatini f(R)-Gravity

The question of the correspondence between the number of degrees of freedom and the number of polarization states in hybrid metric-Palatini f(R)-gravity is considered. It is shown that the scalar transverse breathing and longitudinal modes are a mixture of one polarization state. The speed of gravitational waves propagation in hybrid f(R)-gravity is calculated.

Measuring the propagation speed of gravitational waves with LISA

The propagation speed of gravitational waves, cT , has been tightly constrained by the binary neutron star merger GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart, under the assumption of a frequency-independent cT . Drawing upon arguments from Effective Field Theory and quantum gravity, we discuss the possibility that modifications of General Relativity allow for transient deviations of cT from the speed of light at frequencies well below the band of current ground-based detectors. We motivate two representative Ansätze for cT (f), and study their impact upon the gravitational waveforms of massive black hole binary mergers detectable by the LISA mission. We forecast the constraints on cT (f) obtainable from individual systems and a population of sources, from both inspiral and a full inspiral-merger-ringdown waveform. We show that LISA will enable us to place stringent independent bounds on departures from General Relativity in unexplored low-frequency regimes, even in the absence of an electromagnetic counterpart.

Inflation with Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet, non-minimal, and non-minimal derivative couplings: the constant-roll condition

In our research, we consider and study the inflation theories of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet, minimal, non-minimal, and non-minimal derivative coupling with the constant-roll condition. Given the gravitational wave event, GW170817, which produces the speed of gravitational waves that was almost equal to the speed of light in vacuum, we constrain that the speed of the tensor perturbation was nearly equal to unity, . We involve a scalar field potential whose function can be obtained from an equation of motion by choosing the Gauss-Bonnet coupling functions. We use the linear and quadratic coupling functions, which are their simplest functions. The one result obtained are able to produce observed quantities such as the spectral index for scalar perturbation, ns = 0.9642, the spectral index for tensor perturbation, nT = −5.2471 × 10−4, and tensor-scalar ratio, r = 0.0041, which are compatible with the newest Planck data using the slow-roll parameters obtained analytically.

Cosmic evolution in DHOST theory with scaling solutions

We study cosmic evolution based on the fixed points in the dynamical analysis of the degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor (DHOST) theories. We consider the DHOST theory in which the propagation speed of gravitational waves is equal to the speed of light, the tensor perturbations do not decay to dark energy perturbations, and the scaling solutions exist. The scaling fixed point associated with late-time acceleration of the universe can be either stable or saddle depending on the parameters of the theory. For some ranges of the parameters, this scaling fixed point and field-dominated fixed point can be simultaneously stable. Cosmic evolution will reach either the scaling attractor or the field-dominated attractor depending on the sign of the time derivative of the scalar field in the theory during the matter domination. The density parameter of dark matter can be larger than unity before reaching the scaling attractor if the deviation from Einstein’s theory of gravity is too large. For this DHOST theory, stabilities of {phi }-matter-dominated epoch (phi MDE) and field-dominated solutions are similar to the coupled dark energy models in Einstein gravity even though gravity is described by different theories. In our consideration, the universe can only evolve from the phi MDE regime to the field-dominated regime. The ghost and gradient instabilities up to linear order in cosmological perturbations have been investigated. There is no gradient instability, while the ghost instability can be avoided for some range of the model parameters.

Late time cosmology in -gravity with interacting fluids

Cosmological models are obtained in a f(R) modified gravity with a coupled Gauss–Bonnet (GB) terms in the gravitational action. The dynamical role of the GB terms is explored with a coupled dilaton field in two different cases (I) where γ, λ and δ are arbitrary constants and (II) f(R) = R and estimate the constraints on the model parameters. In the first case we choose GB terms coupled with a free scalar field in the presence of interacting fluid and in the second case GB terms coupled with scalar field in a self interacting potential to compare the observed Universe. The evolutionary scenario of the Universe is obtained adopting a numerical technique as the field equations are highly non-linear. Defining a new density parameter Ω H , a ratio of the dark energy (DE) density to the present energy density of the non-relativistic matter, we look for a late accelerating Universe. The state finder parameters Ω H , deceleration parameter (q), jerk parameter (j) are plotted. It is noted that a non-singular Universe with oscillating cosmological parameters for a given strength of interactions is admitted in model-I. The gravitational coupling constant λ is playing an important role. The Lagrangian density of f(R) is found to dominate over the GB terms when oscillating phase of DE arises. In model-II, we do not find oscillation of the cosmological parameters as the Universe evolves. In the presence of interaction the energy from radiation sector of matter cannot flow to the other two sectors of fluid. The range of values of the strengths of interaction of the fluids are estimated for a stable Universe assuming the primordial gravitational wave speed equal to unity.

Lensing of gravitational waves as a novel probe of graviton mass

The diffraction patterns of lensed gravitational waves encode information about their propagation speeds. If gravitons have mass, the dispersion relation and speed of gravitational waves will be affected in a frequency-dependent manner, which would leave traces in the diffraction pattern if the waves are lensed. In this paper, we study how the alternative dispersion relation induced by massive gravitons affects gravitational waves lensed by point-mass lenses, such as intermediate-mass black holes. We find that the waveform morphology of lensed dispersive gravitational waves depends on the graviton mass more sensitively than their unlensed counterpart. Together with lensing amplification, the waveform-morphology modifications due to lensing can improve the measurement accuracy of the graviton mass. A single lensed gravitational-wave signal enables us to measure the graviton mass with an accuracy comparable with the combined measurement across $\mathcal{O}(10^3)$ unlensed signals. Our method allows us to incorporate lensed gravitational-wave signals into existing graviton-mass measurements. Our method can also be generalized to other lens types, gravitational-wave sources, and detector networks, preparing ourselves for thoroughly understanding the nature of gravitational waves in the era of lensed gravitational-wave astronomy.

Distinguishing modified gravity with just two tensorial degrees of freedom from general relativity: Black holes, cosmology, and matter coupling

We consider spatially covariant modified gravity in which the would-be scalar degree of freedom is made nondynamical and hence there are just two tensorial degrees of freedom, i.e., the same number of dynamical degrees of freedom as in general relativity. Focusing on a class of such modified gravity theories characterized by three functions of time, we discuss how modified gravity with two tensorial degrees of freedom can be distinguished observationally or phenomenologically from general relativity. It is checked that the theory gives the same predictions as general relativity for the parametrized post-Newtonian parameter $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ and the propagation speed of gravitational waves. We also find that there is no modification to asymptotically flat black holes at rest with respect to the preferred frame. Due to a large degree of freedom to choose the time-dependent functions in the theory, the homogeneous and isotropic cosmological dynamics can be made close to or even identical to that of the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}\mathrm{CDM}$ model. We investigate the behavior of cosmological perturbations in the long- and short-wavelength limits and show that in both limits the effects of modified gravity appear only through the modification of the background evolution. Finally, it is remarked that in the presence of a Galileon field in the matter sector, the scalar degree of freedom is revived, ruining the essential feature of the theory.

Theoretical priors in scalar-tensor cosmologies: Shift-symmetric Horndeski models

Attempts at constraining theories of late time accelerated expansion often assume broad priors for the parameters in their phenomenological description. Focusing on shift-symmetric scalar-tensor theories with standard gravitational wave speed, we show how a more careful analysis of their dynamical evolution leads to much narrower priors. In doing so, we propose a simple and accurate parametrization of these theories, capturing the redshift dependence of the equation of state, $w(z)$, and the kinetic braiding parameter, ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{\mathrm{B}}(z)$, with only two parameters each, and derive their statistical distribution (also known as theoretical priors) that fit the cosmology of the underlying model. We have considered two versions of the shift-symmetric model, one where the energy density of dark energy is given solely by the scalar field and another where it also has a contribution from the cosmological constant. By including current data, we show how theoretical priors can be used to improve constraints by up to an order of magnitude. Moreover, we show that shift-symmetric theories without a cosmological constant are observationally viable. We work up to quartic order in first derivatives of the scalar in the action, and our results suggest this truncation is a good approximation to more general shift-symmetric theories. This work establishes an actionable link between phenomenological parametrizations and Lagrangian-based theories, the two main approaches to test cosmological gravity and cosmic acceleration.