Theory HEP Seminar

Detecting microHz Gravitational Waves with Binary Resonances

Joshua Foster

Fermilab

Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy offers unrivaled discovery opportunities in the coming decades, with the potential to shed light on physics ranging from the formation and evolution of black holes to fundamental aspects of the early Universe. However, a comprehensive examination of the GW frequency spectrum is hampered by presently limited prospects for μHz GW detection. Searching for the resonant transfer of energy from GW backgrounds to orbiting binary systems has been proposed as a potential bridge of the “μHz”, and we explore in detail this possibility by developing a novel framework based on linear systems theory for calculating the effect of GWs on binary systems. We demonstrate that optimal modeling and analysis of lunar laser ranging, satellite laser ranging, and pulsar timing data may achieve μHz GW sensitivities orders of magnitude than previously appreciated.