Cosmological inference using only gravitational wave observations of binary neutron stars

Walter Del Pozzo; Tjonnie G. F. Li; Chris Messenger

doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.95.043502

paper

Cosmological inference using only gravitational wave observations of binary neutron stars

arXiv:1506.06590 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.95.043502

Abstract

[Abridged] This study presents the first Bayesian investigation of the accuracy with which the cosmological parameters can be measured using information coming \emph{only} from the gravitational wave observations of binary neutron star systems by Einstein Telescope. We find, by direct simulation of $1 0^{3}$ detections of binary neutron stars, that, within our simplifying assumptions, $H_{0}, Ω_{m}, Ω_{Λ}, w_{0}$ and $w_{1}$ can be measured at the $95%$ level with an accuracy of $\sim 8%, 65%, 39%, 80%$ and $90%$ , respectively. We also find, by extrapolation, that a measurement accuracy comparable with current measurements by Planck is possible if the number of gravitational wave events observed is $O (1 0^{6 - 7})$ . We conclude that, while not competitive with electro-magnetic missions in terms of significant digits, gravitational wave alone are capable of providing a complementary determination of the dynamics of the Universe.

14 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review D

Cosmological inference using only gravitational wave observations of binary neutron stars

Abstract

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