Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-r7xzm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T14:46:04.872Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Gravitational wave astronomy, relativity tests, and massive black holes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2010

Peter L. Bender*
Affiliation:
JILA, Univ. of Colorado and NIST
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The gravitational wave detectors that are operating now are looking for several kinds of gravitational wave signals at frequencies of tens of Hertz to kilohertz. One of these is mergers of roughly 10 M BH binaries. Sometime between now and about 8 years from now, it is likely that signals of this kind will be observed. The result will be strong tests of the dynamical predictions of general relativity in the high field regime. However, observations at frequencies below 1 Hz will have to wait until the launch of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), hopefully only a few years later. LISA will have 3 main objectives, all involving massive BHs. The first is observations of mergers of pairs of intermediate mass (100 to 105M) and higher mass BHs at redshifts out to roughly z=10. This will provide new information on the initial formation and growth of BHs such as those found in most galaxies, and the relation between BH growth and the evolution of galactic structure. The second objective is observations of roughly 10 M BHs, neutron stars, and white dwarfs spiraling into much more massive BHs in galactic nuclei. Such events will provide detailed information on the populations of such compact objects in the regions around galactic centers. And the third objective is the use of the first two types of observations for testing general relativity even more strongly than ground based detectors will. As an example, an extreme mass ratio event such as a 10 M BH spiraling into a galactic center BH can give roughly 105 observable cycles during about the last year before merger, with a mean relative velocity of 1/3 to 1/2 the speed of light, and the frequencies of periapsis precession and Lense-Thirring precession will be high. The LISA Pathfinder mission to prepare for LISA is scheduled for launch in 2011.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2010

References

Armano, M. et al. , 2009, Class & Quantum Grav. 26 (9), 094001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Begelman, M. C., Rossi, E. M., & Armitage, P. J., 2008, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 387, 1649CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carbone, L., et al. , 2007, Phys. Rev. D 75 (4), 042001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Di Matteo, T., et al. , 2008, ApJ 676, 33CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freitag, M., Gürkan, M. A., & Rasio, F. A., 2006, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 368, 141CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gair, J. R., 2009, Class & Quantum Grav. 26 (9), 094034CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, S. A., 2006, in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, AIP Conf. Proc. 873 (Melville, N. Y., Eds. Merkowitz, S. M. and Livas, J. C.), 13Google Scholar
McNamara, P. W., 2006, in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, loc cit, 49Google Scholar
McNamara, P., Vitale, S., & Danzmann, K., 2008, Class. & Quantum Grav. 25 (11), 114034CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollack, S. E., Schlamminger, S., & Gundlach, J. H., 2006, in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, loc cit, 158Google Scholar
Racca, G. & McNamara, P., 2009, Space Sci. Rev., (submitted)Google Scholar
Sallusti, M., et al. , 2009, Class. & Quantum Grav. 26 (9), 094015CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlamminger, S., et al. , 2006, in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, loc cit, 151Google Scholar
Schutz, B. F., 2009a, Class. & Quantum Grav. 26 (9), 094020CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schutz, B. F., 2009b, this proceedings, 234Google Scholar
Schutz, B. F., et al. , 2009, “Will Einstein Have the Last Word on Gravity?" White Paper submitted to the ASTRO2010 Decadal Survey on Astronomy and AstrophysicsGoogle Scholar
Sesana, A., Volonteri, M., & Haardt, F., 2009, Class. & Quantum Grav. 26 (9), 094033CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shaddock, D., et al. , 2006, in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, loc cit, 654Google Scholar
Stebbins, R. T., 2006, in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, loc cit, 3Google Scholar
Volonteri, M., 2006, in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, loc cit, 61Google Scholar
Volonteri, M., Haardt, F., & Madau, P., 2003, Astrophys. J. 582, 599CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wand, V., et al. , 2006, in Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, loc cit, 689Google Scholar