Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published August 3, 2018 | Submitted + Published
Journal Article Open

Searching for Near-Horizon Quantum Structures in the Binary Black-Hole Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background

Abstract

Quantum gravity corrections have been speculated to lead to modifications to space-time geometry near black-hole horizons. Such structures may reflect gravitational waves, causing echoes that follow the main gravitational waves from binary black-hole coalescence. By studying two phenomenological models of the near-horizon structures under the Schwarzschild approximation, we show that such echoes, if they exist, will give rise to a stochastic gravitational-wave background, which is very substantial if the near-horizon structure has a near-unity reflectivity for gravitational waves, readily detectable by Advanced LIGO. In case the reflectivity is much less than unity, the background will mainly be arising from the first echo, with a level proportional to the power reflectivity of the near-horizon structure, but robust against uncertainties in the location and the shape of the structure—as long as it is localized and close to the horizon. Sensitivity of third-generation detectors allows the detection of a background that corresponds to power reflectivity ∼3×10^(−3), if uncertainties in the binary black-hole merger rate can be removed. We note that the echoes do alter the f^(2/3) power law of the background spectra at low frequencies, which is rather robust against uncertainties.

Additional Information

© 2018 American Physical Society. Received 20 January 2018; revised manuscript received 7 May 2018; published 3 August 2018. This work is supported by NSF Grants No. PHY-1708212, No. PHY-1404569, and No. PHY-1708213, and the Brinson Foundation. We thank Yiqiu Ma, Zachary Mark, and Aaron Zimmerman for discussions, in particular Z. M. and A. Z. for sharing insights on the echoes. We are grateful to Eric Thrane and Xing-Jiang Zhu for providing feedback on the manuscript.

Attached Files

Published - PhysRevLett.121.051105.pdf

Submitted - 1803.10947.pdf

Files

1803.10947.pdf
Files (1.5 MB)
Name Size Download all
md5:e5060bb88bc022a78dcc196b785aaf56
719.7 kB Preview Download
md5:d42939da1207103696772d1306359a3d
821.4 kB Preview Download

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 18, 2023