TY - JOUR
T1 - The missing link in gravitational-wave astronomy
T2 - Discoveries waiting in the decihertz range
AU - Sedda, Manuel Arca
AU - Berry, Christopher P.L.
AU - Jani, Karan
AU - Amaro-Seoane, Pau
AU - Auclair, Pierre
AU - Baird, Jonathon
AU - Baker, Tessa
AU - Berti, Emanuele
AU - Breivik, Katelyn
AU - Burrows, Adam
AU - Caprini, Chiara
AU - Chen, Xian
AU - Doneva, Daniela
AU - Ezquiaga, Jose M.
AU - Saavik Ford, K. E.
AU - Katz, Michael L.
AU - Kolkowitz, Shimon
AU - McKernan, Barry
AU - Mueller, Guido
AU - Nardini, Germano
AU - Pikovski, Igor
AU - Rajendran, Surjeet
AU - Sesana, Alberto
AU - Shao, Lijing
AU - Tamanini, Nicola
AU - Vartanyan, David
AU - Warburton, Niels
AU - Witek, Helvi
AU - Wong, Kaze
AU - Zevin, Michael
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper is based upon a white paper submitted 4 August 2019 to ESA’s Voyage 2050 planning cycle on behalf of the LISA Consortium 2050 task force [468]. Other space-based GW observatories proposed by the LISA Consortium 2050 task force include a microhertz observatory μAres [469]; a more sensitive millihertz observatory, the advanced millihertz gravitational-wave observatory (AMIGO) [470], and a high angular-resolution observatory consisting of multiple DOs [143]. The authors thanks Pete Bender for insightful comments. MAS acknowledges financial support from the Alexander von Humboldt foundation and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German research foundation)–Project-ID 138713538 – SFB 881 (‘the milky way system’). CPLB is supported by the CIERA Board of Visitors Research Professorship. LS was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11975027, 11991053, 11721303) and the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by the China Association for Science and Technology (2018QNRC001). TB is supported by The Royal Society (grant URF\R1\180009). PAS acknowledges support from the Ramón y Cajal Programme of the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness of Spain, as well as the COST Action GWverse CA16104. This work was supported by the National Key R & D Program of China (2016YFA0400702) and the National Science Foundation of China (11721303). EB is supported by NSF Grants no. PHY-1912550 and AST-1841358, NASA ATP Grants no. 17-ATP17-0225 and 19-ATP19-0051, NSF-XSEDE Grant No. PHY-090003, and by the Amaldi Research Center, funded by the MIUR program ‘Dipartimento di Eccellenza’ (CUP: B81I18001170001). This work has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 690904. DD acknowledges financial support via the Emmy Noether Research Group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under Grant no. DO 1771/1-1 and the Eliteprogramme for Postdocs funded by the Baden–Wurttemberg Stiftung. JME is supported by NASA through the NASA Hubble Fellowship grant HST-HF2-51435.001-A awarded by the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., for NASA, under contract NAS5-26555. MLK acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation under grant DGE-0948017 and the Chateaubriand Fellowship from the Office for Science & Technology of the Embassy of France in the United States. IP acknowledges funding by Society in Science, The Branco Weiss Fellowship, administered by the ETH Zurich. AS is supported by the European Union’s H2020 ERC Consolidator Grant ‘Binary massive black hole astrophysics’ (grant agreement no. 818691–B Massive). NW is supported by a Royal Society–Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellowship (grant UF160093).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd.
PY - 2020/11/5
Y1 - 2020/11/5
N2 - The gravitational-wave astronomical revolution began in 2015 with LIGO’s observation of the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. Over the coming decades, ground-based detectors like laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory (LIGO), Virgo and KAGRA will extend their reach, discovering thousands of stellar-mass binaries. In the 2030s, the space-based laser interferometer space antenna (LISA) will enable gravitational-wave observations of the massive black holes in galactic centres. Between ground-based observatories and LISA lies the unexplored dHz gravitational-wave frequency band. Here, we show the potential of a decihertz observatory (DO) which could cover this band, and complement discoveries made by other gravitational-wave observatories. The dHz range is uniquely suited to observation of intermediate-mass (∼102–104M☉) black holes, which may form the missing link between stellar-mass and massive black holes, offering an opportunity to measure their properties. DOs will be able to detect stellar-mass binaries days to years before they merge and are observed by ground-based detectors, providing early warning of nearby binary neutron star mergers, and enabling measurements of the eccentricity of binary black holes, providing revealing insights into their formation. Observing dHz gravitational-waves also opens the possibility of testing fundamental physics in a new laboratory, permitting unique tests of general relativity (GR) and the standard model of particle physics. Overall, a DO would answer outstanding questions about how black holes form and evolve across cosmic time, open new avenues for multimessenger astronomy, and advance our understanding of gravitation, particle physics and cosmology.
AB - The gravitational-wave astronomical revolution began in 2015 with LIGO’s observation of the coalescence of two stellar-mass black holes. Over the coming decades, ground-based detectors like laser interferometer gravitational-wave observatory (LIGO), Virgo and KAGRA will extend their reach, discovering thousands of stellar-mass binaries. In the 2030s, the space-based laser interferometer space antenna (LISA) will enable gravitational-wave observations of the massive black holes in galactic centres. Between ground-based observatories and LISA lies the unexplored dHz gravitational-wave frequency band. Here, we show the potential of a decihertz observatory (DO) which could cover this band, and complement discoveries made by other gravitational-wave observatories. The dHz range is uniquely suited to observation of intermediate-mass (∼102–104M☉) black holes, which may form the missing link between stellar-mass and massive black holes, offering an opportunity to measure their properties. DOs will be able to detect stellar-mass binaries days to years before they merge and are observed by ground-based detectors, providing early warning of nearby binary neutron star mergers, and enabling measurements of the eccentricity of binary black holes, providing revealing insights into their formation. Observing dHz gravitational-waves also opens the possibility of testing fundamental physics in a new laboratory, permitting unique tests of general relativity (GR) and the standard model of particle physics. Overall, a DO would answer outstanding questions about how black holes form and evolve across cosmic time, open new avenues for multimessenger astronomy, and advance our understanding of gravitation, particle physics and cosmology.
KW - Compact binaries
KW - Decihertz observatories
KW - Early universe physics
KW - Gravitational-wave detectors
KW - Intermediate-mass black holes
KW - Multiband gravitational-wave astronomy
KW - Tests of general relativity
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U2 - 10.1088/1361-6382/abb5c1
DO - 10.1088/1361-6382/abb5c1
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85093109357
SN - 0264-9381
VL - 37
JO - Classical and Quantum Gravity
JF - Classical and Quantum Gravity
IS - 21
M1 - 215011
ER -