No Arabic abstract
Third generation gravitational-wave (GW) detectors are expected to detect a large number of binary black holes (BBHs) to large redshifts, opening up an independent probe of the large scale structure using their clustering. This probe will be complementary to the probes using galaxy clustering -- GW events could be observed up to very large redshifts ($z sim 10$) although the source localization will be much poorer at large distances ($sim$ tens of square degrees). We explore the possibility of probing the large scale structure from the spatial distribution of the observed BBH population, using their two-point (auto)correlation function. We find that we can estimate the bias factor of population of BBH (up to $z sim 1$) with a few years of observations with these detectors. Our method relies solely on the source-location posteriors obtained the GW events and does not require any information from electromagnetic observations. This will help in identifying the type of galaxies that host the BBH population, thus shedding light on their origins.
Ultralight primordial black holes (PBHs) with masses $lesssim 10^{15}$g and subatomic Schwarzschild radii, produced in the early Universe, are expected to have evaporated by the current cosmic age due to Hawking radiation. Based on this assumption, a number of constraints on the abundance of ultralight PBHs have been made. However, Hawking radiation has thus far not been verified experimentally. It would, therefore, be of interest if constraints on ultralight PBHs could be placed independent of the assumption of Hawking-radiation. In this paper, we explore the possibility of probing these PBHs, within a narrow mass range, using gravitational-wave (GW) data from the two LIGO detectors. The idea is that large primordial curvature perturbations that result in the formation of PBHs, would also generate GWs through non-linear mode couplings. These induced GWs would produce a stochastic background. Specifically, we focus our attention on PBHs of mass range $sim 10^{13} - 10^{15}$g for which the induced stochastic GW background peak falls in the sensitivity band of LIGO. We find that, for both narrow and broad Gaussian PBH mass distributions, the corresponding GW background would be detectable using presently available LIGO data, provided we neglect the existing constraints on the abundance of PBHs, which are based on Hawking radiation. Furthermore, we find that these stochastic backgrounds would be detectable in LIGOs third observing run, even after considering the existing constraints on PBH abundance. A non-detection should enable us to constrain the amplitude of primordial curvature perturbations as well as the abundance of ultralight PBHs. We estimate that by the end of the third observing run, assuming non-detection, we should be able to place constraints that are orders of magnitude better than currently existing ones.
Next-generation observations will revolutionize our understanding of binary black holes and will detect new sources, such as intermediate-mass black holes. Primary science goals include: Discover binary black holes throughout the observable Universe; Reveal the fundamental properties of black holes; Uncover the seeds of supermassive black holes.
An observable stochastic background of gravitational waves is generated whenever primordial black holes are created in the early universe thanks to a small-scale enhancement of the curvature perturbation. We calculate the anisotropies and non-Gaussianity of such stochastic gravitational waves background which receive two contributions, the first at formation time and the second due to propagation effects. The former contribution can be generated if the distribution of the curvature perturbation is characterized by a local and scale-invariant shape of non-Gaussianity. Under such an assumption, we conclude that a sizeable magnitude of anisotropy and non-Gaussianity in the gravitational waves would suggest that primordial black holes may not comply the totality of the dark matter.
Black holes are unique among astrophysical sources: they are the simplest macroscopic objects in the Universe, and they are extraordinary in terms of their ability to convert energy into electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. Our capacity to probe their nature is limited by the sensitivity of our detectors. The LIGO/Virgo interferometers are the gravitational-wave equivalent of Galileos telescope. The first few detections represent the beginning of a long journey of exploration. At the current pace of technological progress, it is reasonable to expect that the gravitational-wave detectors available in the 2035-2050s will be formidable tools to explore these fascinating objects in the cosmos, and space-based detectors with peak sensitivities in the mHz band represent one class of such tools. These detectors have a staggering discovery potential, and they will address fundamental open questions in physics and astronomy. Are astrophysical black holes adequately described by general relativity? Do we have empirical evidence for event horizons? Can black holes provide a glimpse into quantum gravity, or reveal a classical breakdown of Einsteins gravity? How and when did black holes form, and how do they grow? Are there new long-range interactions or fields in our universe, potentially related to dark matter and dark energy or a more fundamental description of gravitation? Precision tests of black hole spacetimes with mHz-band gravitational-wave detectors will probe general relativity and fundamental physics in previously inaccessible regimes, and allow us to address some of these fundamental issues in our current understanding of nature.
The recent measurement of the gravitational redshifts of galaxies in galaxy clusters by Wojtak et al. has opened a new observational window on dark matter and modified gravity. By stacking clusters this determination effectively used the line of sight distortion of the cross-correlation function of massive galaxies and lower mass galaxies to estimate the gravitational redshift profile of clusters out to 4 Mpc/h. Here we use a halo model of clustering to predict the distortion due to gravitational redshifts of the cross-correlation function on scales from 1 - 100 Mpc/h. We compare our predictions to simulations and use the simulations to make mock catalogues relevant to current and future galaxy redshift surveys. Without formulating an optimal estimator, we find that the full BOSS survey should be able to detect gravitational redshifts from large-scale structure at the ~4 sigma level. Upcoming redshift surveys will greatly increase the number of galaxies useable in such studies and the BigBOSS and Euclid experiments should be capable of measurements with precision at the few percent level. As has been recently pointed out by McDonald, Kaiser and Zhao et al, other interesting effects including relativistic beaming and transverse Doppler shift can add additional asymmetric distortions to the correlation function. While these contributions are subdominant to the gravitational redshift on large scales, they represent additional opportunities to probe gravitational physics and indicate that many qualitatively new measurements should soon be possible using large redshift surveys.