Testing Scalar-Tensor Gravity with Gravitational-Wave Observations of Inspiralling Compact Binaries

Clifford M. Will

doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.50.6058

paper

Testing Scalar-Tensor Gravity with Gravitational-Wave Observations of Inspiralling Compact Binaries

arXiv:gr-qc/9406022 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.50.6058

Abstract

Observations of gravitational waves from inspiralling compact binaries using laser-interferometric detectors can provide accurate measures of parameters of the source. They can also constrain alternative gravitation theories. We analyse inspiralling compact %binaries in the context of the scalar-tensor theory of Jordan, Fierz, Brans and Dicke, focussing on the effect on the inspiral of energy lost to dipole gravitational radiation, whose source is the gravitational self-binding energy of the inspiralling bodies. Using a matched-filter analysis we obtain a bound on the coupling constant $ω_{BD}$ of Brans-Dicke theory. For a neutron-star/black-hole binary, we find that the bound could exceed the current bound of $ω_{BD} > 500$ from solar-system experiments, for sufficiently low-mass systems. For a $0.7 M_{⊙}$ neutron star and a $3 M_{⊙}$ black hole we find that a bound $ω_{BD} \approx 2000$ is achievable. The bound decreases with increasing black-hole mass. For binaries consisting of two neutron stars, the bound is less than 500 unless the stars' masses differ by more than about $0.5 M_{⊙}$ . For two black holes, the behavior of the inspiralling binary is observationally indistinguishable from its behavior in general relativity. These bounds assume reasonable neutron-star equations of state and a detector signal-to-noise ratio of 10.

10 pages, (3 figures upon request), WUGRAV-94-6

Testing Scalar-Tensor Gravity with Gravitational-Wave Observations of Inspiralling Compact Binaries

Abstract

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