Gravitational wave (GW) detection in space probes GW spectrum that is inaccessible from the Earth. In addition to LISA project led by European Space Agency, and the DECIGO detector proposed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, two Chinese space
-based GW observatories -- TianQin and Taiji -- are planned to be launched in the 2030s. TianQin has a unique concept in its design with a geocentric orbit. Taijis design is similar to LISA, but is more ambitious with longer arm distance. Both facilities are complementary to LISA, considering that TianQin is sensitive to higher frequencies and Taiji probes similar frequencies but with higher sensitivity. In this Perspective we explain the concepts for both facilities and introduce the development milestones of TianQin and Taiji projects in testing extraordinary technologies to pave the way for future space-based GW detections. Considering that LISA, TianQin and Taiji have similar scientific goals, all are scheduled to be launched around the 2030s and will operate concurrently, we discuss possible collaborations among them to improve GW source localization and characterization.
Intermediate/Extreme mass ratio inspiral (IMRI/EMRI) system provides a good tool to test the nature of gravity in strong field. We construct the self-force and use the self-force method to generate accurate waveform templates for IMRIS/EMRIs on quasi
-elliptical orbits in Brans-Dicke theory. The extra monopole and dipole emissions in Brans-Dicke theory accelerate the orbital decay, so the observations of gravitational waves may place stronger constraint on Brans-Dicke theory. With a two-year observations of gravitational waves emitted from IMRIs/EMRIs with LISA, we can get the most stringent constraint on the Brans-Dicke coupling parameter $omega_0>10^5$.
We devise a novel mechanism and for the first time demonstrate that the Higgs model in particle physics can drive the inflation to satisfy the cosmic microwave background observations and simultaneously enhance the curvature perturbations at small sc
ales to explain the abundance of dark matter in our universe in the form of primordial black holes. The production of primordial black holes is accompanied by the secondary gravitational waves induced by the first order Higgs fluctuations which is expected observable by space-based gravitational wave detectors. We propose possible cosmological probes of Higgs field in the future observations for primordial black holes dark matter or stochastic gravitational waves.
Inflation predicts that the Universe is spatially flat. The Planck 2018 measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy favour a spatially closed universe at more than 2$sigma$ confidence level. We use model independent methods to study th
e issue of cosmic curvature. The method reconstructs the Hubble parameter $H(z)$ from cosmic chronometers data with the Gaussian process method. The distance modulus is then calculated with the reconstructed function $H(z)$ and fitted by type Ia supernovae data. Combining the cosmic chronometers and type Ia supernovae data, we obtain $Omega_{k0}h^2=0.102pm 0.066$ which is consistent with a spatially flat universe at the 2$sigma$ confidence level. By adding the redshift space distortions data to the type Ia supernovae data with a proposed novel model independent method, we obtain $Omega_{k0}h^2=0.117^{+0.058}_{-0.045}$ and no deviation from $Lambda$CDM model is found.
We consider a class of helical phase inflation models from the ${mathcal N}=1$ supergravity where the phase component of a complex field acts as an inflaton. This class of models avoids the eta problem in supergravity inflation due to the phase monod
romy of the superpotential. We study the inflationary predictions of this class of models in the context of both standard and large extra dimensional brane cosmology, and find that they can easily accommodate the Planck 2018 and BICEP2 constraints. We find that the helical phase inflation has $alpha$-attractors and the attractors depend on one model parameter only.
Gravitational waves are perturbations of the metric of space-time. Six polarizations are possible, although general relativity predicts that only two such polarizations, tensor plus and tensor cross are present for gravitational waves. We give the an
alytical formulas for the antenna response functions for the six polarizations which are valid for any equal-arm interferometric gravitational-wave detectors without optical cavities in the arms.The response function averaged over the source direction and polarization angle decreases at high frequencies which deteriorates the signal-to-noise ratio registered in the detector. At high frequencies, the averaged response functions for the tensor and breathing modes fall of as $1/f^2$, the averaged response function for the longitudinal mode falls off as $1/f$ and the averaged response function for the vector mode falls off as $ln(f)/f^2$.
The detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory opens a new era to use gravitational waves to test alternative theories of gravity. We investigate the polarizations of gravitational waves in $f(R)$ grav
ity and Horndeski theory, both containing scalar modes. These theories predict that in addition to the familiar $+$ and $times$ polarizations, there are transverse breathing and longitudinal polarizations excited by the massive scalar mode and the new polarization is a single mixed state. It would be very difficult to detect the longitudinal polarization by interferometers, while pulsar timing array may be the better tool to detect the longitudinal polarization.
The next generation of space-borne gravitational wave detectors may detect gravitational waves from extreme mass-ratio inspirals with primordial black holes. To produce primordial black holes which contribute a non-negligible abundance of dark matter
and are consistent with the observations, a large enhancement in the primordial curvature power spectrum is needed. For a single field slow-roll inflation, the enhancement requires a very flat potential for the inflaton, and this will increase the number of $e$-folds. To avoid the problem, an ultra-slow-roll inflation at the near inflection point is required. We elaborate the conditions to successfully produce primordial black hole dark matter from single field inflation and propose a toy model with polynomial potential to realize the big enhancement of the curvature power spectrum at small scales while maintaining the consistency with the observations at large scales. The power spectrum for the second order gravitational waves generated by the large density perturbations at small scales is consistent with the current pulsar timing array observations.
We derive a lower bound on the field excursion for the tachyon inflation, which is determined by the amplitude of the scalar perturbation and the number of $e$-folds before the end of inflation. Using the relation between the observables like $n_s$ a
nd $r$ with the slow-roll parameters, we reconstruct three classes of tachyon potentials. The model parameters are determined from the observations before the potentials are reconstructed, and the observations prefer the concave potential. We also discuss the constraints from the reheating phase preceding the radiation domination for the three classes of models by assuming the equation of state parameter $w_{re}$ during reheating is a constant. Depending on the model parameters and the value of $w_{re}$, the constraints on $N_{re}$ and $T_{re}$ are different. As $n_s$ increases, the allowed reheating epoch becomes longer for $w_{re}=-1/3$, 0 and $1/6$ while the allowed reheating epoch becomes shorter for $w_{re}=2/3$.
We analyze the polarization content of gravitational waves in Horndeski theory. Besides the familiar plus and cross polarizations in Einsteins General Relativity, there is one more polarization state which is the mixture of the transverse breathing a
nd longitudinal polarizations.The additional mode is excited by the massive scalar field. In the massless limit, the longitudinal polarization disappears, while the breathing one persists. The upper bound on the graviton mass severely constrains the amplitude of the longitudinal polarization, which makes its detection highly unlikely by the ground-based or space-borne interferometers in the near future. However, pulsar timing arrays might be able to detect the polarization excited by the massive scalar field. Since additional polarization states appear in alternative theories of gravity, the measurement of the polarizations of gravitational waves can be used to probe the nature of gravity. In addition to the plus and cross states, the detection of the breathing polarization means that gravitation is mediated by massless spin 2 and spin 0 fields, and the detection of both the breathing and longitudinal states means that gravitation is propagated by the massless spin 2 and massive spin 0 fields.
