Cosmic Explorer: A Submission to the NSF MPSAC ngGW Subcommittee

Abstract

Gravitational-wave astronomy has revolutionized humanity's view of the universe, a revolution driven by observations that no other field can make. This white paper describes an observatory that builds on decades of investment by the National Science Foundation and that will drive discovery for decades to come: Cosmic Explorer. Major discoveries in astronomy are driven by three related improvements: better sensitivity, higher precision, and opening new observational windows. Cosmic Explorer promises all three and will deliver an order-of-magnitude greater sensitivity than LIGO. Cosmic Explorer will push the gravitational-wave frontier to almost the edge of the observable universe using technologies that have been proven by LIGO during its development. With the unprecedented sensitivity that only a new facility can deliver, Cosmic Explorer will make discoveries that cannot yet be anticipated, especially since gravitational waves are both synergistic with electromagnetic observations and can reach into regions of the universe that electromagnetic observations cannot explore. With Cosmic Explorer, scientists can use the universe as a laboratory to test the laws of physics and study the nature of matter. Cosmic Explorer allows the United States to continue its leading role in gravitational-wave science and the international network of next-generation observatories. With its extraordinary discovery potential, Cosmic Explorer will deliver revolutionary observations across astronomy, physics, and cosmology including: Black Holes and Neutron Stars Throughout Cosmic Time, Multi-Messenger Astrophysics and Dynamics of Dense Matter, New Probes of Extreme Astrophysics, Fundamental Physics and Precision Cosmology, Dark Matter and the Early Universe.

Cited by in corpus (16)

• The CosmoVerse White Paper: Addressing observational tensions in cosmology with systematics and fundamental physics
• Possible Causes of False General Relativity Violations in Gravitational Wave Observations
• Gravitational waves from mergers of Population III binary black holes: roles played by two evolution channels
• Neutrinos from explosive transients at the dawn of multi-messenger astronomy
• Stellar-mass black-hole binaries in LISA: characteristics and complementarity with current-generation interferometers
• The mass distribution of the first stars can be determined via the 21-cm signal
• Targeted Search for Gravitational Waves from Highly Spinning Light Compact Binaries
• Compact object populations over cosmic time II. Compact object merger rates and masses over redshift from varying initial conditions
• Gravitational Wave emission in Binary Neutron Star early post-merger within a dark environment
• Theory-agnostic searches for non-gravitational modes in black hole ringdown
• A multi-parameter expansion for the evolution of asymmetric binaries in astrophysical environments
• A prototype differential atom interferometer for fundamental physics
• Population Synthesis of Gravitational Wave Sources
• Compact object populations over cosmic time I. BOSSA: a Binary Object environment-Sensitive Sampling Algorithm
• Neutrinos in colliding neutron stars and black holes
• Identifying Host Galaxies of Binary Black Hole Mergers with Next-Generation Gravitational Wave Detector Networks