Constraining effective quantum gravity with LISA

Abstract

All modern routes leading to a quantum theory of gravity -- i.e., perturbative quantum gravitational one-loop exact correction to the global chiral current in the standard model, string theory, and perhaps even loop quantum gravity -- require supplementing the Einstein-Hilbert action with a parity-violating Chern-Simons term. Such a term leads to amplitude-birefringent gravitational wave propagation: i.e., one (circular) polarization state amplified with propagation while the other is attenuated. The proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is capable of observing gravitational wave sources at cosmological distances, suggesting the possibility that LISA observations may place a strong bound on this manifestation of quantum gravity. Here we report on a calculation of the effect that spacetime amplitude birefringence has on the signal LISA is capable of observing from inspiraling supermassive black hole binaries at large redshift. We find that the birefringence manifests itself in the observations as an anomalous precession of the binary's orbital angular momentum as it evolves toward coalescence, whose magnitude depends on the integrated history of the Chern-Simons coupling over the worldline of radiation wavefront. We estimate that LISA could place bounds on Chern-Simons modified gravity that are several orders of magnitude stronger than the present Solar System constraints, thus providing a probe of the quantum structure of spacetime.

6 pages, no figures, submitted to the LISA Symposium Conference Proceedings

References in corpus (7)

• Axions In String Theory
• N-flationary magnetic fields
• The effects of Chern-Simons gravity on bodies orbiting the Earth
• Higher signal harmonics, LISA's angular resolution, and dark energy
• A gravitational-wave probe of effective quantum gravity
• A new PPN parameter to test Chern-Simons gravity
• Parametrized Post-Newtonian Expansion of Chern-Simons Gravity

Cited by in corpus (19)

• Black holes, gravitational waves and fundamental physics: a roadmap
• Theoretical Physics Implications of the Binary Black-Hole Mergers GW150914 and GW151226
• Fundamental Theoretical Bias in Gravitational Wave Astrophysics and the Parameterized Post-Einsteinian Framework
• Gravitational Wave Tests of General Relativity with Ground-Based Detectors and Pulsar Timing Arrays
• Towards a generic test of the strong field dynamics of general relativity using compact binary coalescence
• Extreme- and Intermediate-Mass Ratio Inspirals in Dynamical Chern-Simons Modified Gravity
• Testing gravitational parity violation with coincident gravitational waves and short gamma-ray bursts
• Testing General Relativity using Bayesian model selection: Applications to observations of gravitational waves from compact binary systems
• Parameterized Post-Einsteinian Gravitational Waveforms in Various Modified Theories of Gravity
• Constraining the evolutionary history of Newton's constant with gravitational wave observations
• Gravitational Waves Probes of Parity Violation in Compact Binary Coalescence
• Parameterized and inspiral-merger-ringdown consistency tests of gravity with multi-band gravitational wave observations
• Double Binary Pulsar Test of Dynamical Chern-Simons Modified Gravity
• Probing Gravitational Parity Violation with Gravitational Waves from Stellar-mass Black Hole Binaries
• Constraining Parity Violation in Gravity with Measurements of Neutron-Star Moments of Inertia
• Multi-band gravitational wave tests of general relativity
• Testing Gravity with Gravitational Waves from Binary Black Hole Mergers: Contributions from Amplitude Corrections
• Testing Effective Quantum Gravity with Gravitational Waves from Extreme-Mass-Ratio Inspirals
• Probing Fundamental Physics with Gravitational Waves