No Arabic abstract
Gravitational wave (GW) detections have enriched our understanding of the universe. To date, all single-source GW events were found by interferometer-type detectors. We study a detection method using astrometric solutions from photometric surveys and demonstrate that it offers a highly flexible frequency range, uniquely complementing existing detection methods. From repeated point-source astrometric measurements, we may extract GW-induced deflections and infer wave parameters. This method can be applied to any photometric surveys measuring relative astrometry. We show that high-cadence observations of the galactic bulge, such as offered by the Roman Space Telescopes Exoplanet MicroLensing (EML) survey, can be a potent GW probe with complementary frequency range to Gaia, pulsar timing arrays (PTAs), and the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). We calculate that the Roman EML survey is sensitive to GWs with frequencies ranging from $7.7times10^{-8}$Hz to $5.6times10^{-4}$Hz, which opens up a unique GW observing window for supermassive black hole binaries and their waveform evolution. While the detection threshold assuming the currently expected performance proves too high for detecting individual GWs in light of the expected supermassive black hole binary population distribution, we show that binaries with chirp mass $M_c>10^{8.3}~M_odot$ out to 100 Mpc can be detected if the telescope is able to achieve an astrometric accuracy of 0.11 mas. To confidently detect binaries with $M_c>10^{7}~M_odot$ out to 50 Mpc, a factor of 100 sensitivity improvement is required. We propose several improvement strategies, including recovering the mean astrometric deflection and increasing astrometric accuracy, number of observed stars, field-of-view size, and observational cadence. We discuss how other existing and planned photometric surveys could contribute to detecting GWs via astrometry.
A brief history and various themes of mid-frequency gravitational wave detection are presented more or less following historical order -- Laser Interferometry, Atom Interferometry (AI), Torsion Bar Antenna (TOBA), and Superconducting Omni-directional Gravitational Radiation Observatory (SOGRO). Both Earth-based and Space-borne concepts are reviewed with outlook on expected astrophysical sources
We present an application of anomaly detection techniques based on deep recurrent autoencoders to the problem of detecting gravitational wave signals in laser interferometers. Trained on noise data, this class of algorithms could detect signals using an unsupervised strategy, i.e., without targeting a specific kind of source. We develop a custom architecture to analyze the data from two interferometers. We compare the obtained performance to that obtained with other autoencoder architectures and with a convolutional classifier. The unsupervised nature of the proposed strategy comes with a cost in terms of accuracy, when compared to more traditional supervised techniques. On the other hand, there is a qualitative gain in generalizing the experimental sensitivity beyond the ensemble of pre-computed signal templates. The recurrent autoencoder outperforms other autoencoders based on different architectures. The class of recurrent autoencoders presented in this paper could complement the search strategy employed for gravitational wave detection and extend the reach of the ongoing detection campaigns.
General Relativity predicts only two tensor polarization modes for gravitational waves while at most six possible polarization modes of gravitational waves are allowed in the general metric theory of gravity. The number of polarization modes is totally determined by the specific modified theory of gravity. Therefore, the determination of polarization modes can be used to test gravitational theory. We introduce a concrete data analysis pipeline for a single space-based detector such as LISA to detect the polarization modes of gravitational waves. Apart from being able to detect mixtures of tensor and extra polarization modes, this method also has the added advantage that no waveform model is needed and monochromatic gravitational waves emitted from any compact binary system with known sky position and frequency can be used. We apply the data analysis pipeline to the reference source J0806.3+1527 of TianQin with 90-days simulation data, and we show that $alpha$ viewed as an indicative of the intrinsic strength of the extra polarization component relative to the tensor modes can be limited below 0.5 for LISA and below 0.2 for Taiji. We investigate the possibility to detect the nontensorial polarization modes with the combined network of LISA, TianQin and Taiji and find that $alpha$ can be limited below 0.2.
Blazar OJ 287 is a candidate nanoHertz (nHz) gravitational wave (GW) source. In this article, we investigate the GWs generated by OJ 287 and their potential detection through a pulsar timing array (PTA). First, we obtain the orbit and the corresponding GW strain of OJ 287. During the time span of the next 10 years (2019 to 2029), the GW of OJ 287 will be active before 2021, with a peak strain amplitude $8 times 10^{-16}$, and then decay after that. When OJ 287 is silent in the GW channel during 2021 to 2029, the timing residual signals of the PTA will be dominated by the pulsar term of the GW strain and this provides an opportunity to observe this pulsar term. Furthermore, we choose 26 pulsars with white noise below 300 ns to detect the GW signal of OJ 287, evaluating their timing residuals and signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). The total SNR (with a cadence of 2 weeks in the next 10 years) of the PTA ranges from 1.9 to 2.9, corresponding to a weak GW signal for the current sensitivity level. Subsequently, we investigate the potential measurement of the parameters of OJ 287 using these pulsars. In particular, PSR J0437-4715, with a precisely measured distance, has the potential to constrain the polarization angle with an uncertainty below $8^{deg}$ and this pulsar will play an important role in future PTA observations.
Several km-scale gravitational-wave detectors have been constructed world wide. These instruments combine a number of advanced technologies to push the limits of precision length measurement. The core devices are laser interferometers of a new kind; developed from the classical Michelson topology these interferometers integrate additional optical elements, which significantly change the properties of the optical system. Much of the design and analysis of these laser interferometers can be performed using well-known classical optical techniques; however, the complex optical layouts provide a new challenge. In this review we give a textbook-style introduction to the optical science required for the understanding of modern gravitational wave detectors, as well as other high-precision laser interferometers. In addition, we provide a number of examples for a freely available interferometer simulation software and encourage the reader to use these examples to gain hands-on experience with the discussed optical methods.