Astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics with compact binary coalescence and the Einstein Telescope

Abstract

The second-generation interferometric gravitational wave detectors currently under construction are expected to make their first detections within this decade. This will firmly establish gravitational wave physics as an empirical science and will open up a new era in astrophysics, cosmology, and fundamental physics. Already with the first detections, we will be able to, among other things, establish the nature of short-hard gamma ray bursts, definitively confirm the existence of black holes, measure the Hubble constant in a completely independent way, and for the first time gain access to the genuinely strong-field dynamics of gravity. Hence it is timely to consider the longer-term future of this new field. The Einstein Telescope (ET) is a concrete conceptual proposal for a third-generation gravitational wave observatory, which will be ~10 times more sensitive in strain than the second-generation detectors. This will give access to sources at cosmological distances, with a correspondingly higher detection rate. I give an overview of the science case for ET, with a focus on what can be learned from signals emitted by coalescing compact binaries. Third-generation observatories will allow us to map the coalescence rate out to redshifts z ~ 3, determine the mass functions of neutron stars and black holes, and perform precision measurements of the neutron star equation of state. ET will enable us to study the large-scale structure and evolution of the Universe without recourse to a cosmic distance ladder. Finally, I discuss how it will allow for high-precision measurements of strong-field, dynamical gravity.

10 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings of the International Conference on Gravitation and Cosmology, Goa, India, 2011

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• Localization accuracy of compact binary coalescences detected by the third-generation gravitational-wave detectors and implication for cosmology
• Probing multiple populations of compact binaries with third-generation gravitational-wave detectors
• Testing Brans-Dicke gravity using the Einstein telescope
• Biases in parameter estimation from overlapping gravitational-wave signals in the third generation detector era
• Second Einstein Telescope Mock Data and Science Challenge: Low Frequency Binary Neutron Star Data Analysis
• Black hole science with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
• Measuring tidal effects with the Einstein Telescope: A design study
• Outliers in the LIGO Black Hole Mass Function from Coagulation in Dense Clusters
• Gravitational Radiation from Eccentric Binary Black Hole System in Dynamical Chern-Simons Gravity
• Can we use next-generation gravitational wave detectors for terrestrial precision measurements of Shapiro delay?
• Imprints of the redshift evolution of double neutron star merger rate on the signal to noise ratio distribution
• Dynamical double black holes and their host cluster properties