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arXiv · 2306.13745

Cosmic Explorer: A Submission to the NSF MPSAC ngGW Subcommittee

Matthew Evans·Alessandra Corsi·Chaitanya Afle·Alena Ananyeva·K. G. Arun·Stefan Ballmer·Ananya Bandopadhyay·Lisa Barsotti·Masha Baryakhtar·Edo Berger·Emanuele Berti·Sylvia Biscoveanu·Ssohrab Borhanian·Floor Broekgaarden·Duncan A. Brown·Craig Cahillane·Lorna Campbell·Hsin-Yu Chen·Kathryne J. Daniel·Arnab Dhani·Jennifer C. Driggers·Anamaria Effler·Robert Eisenstein·Stephen Fairhurst·Jon Feicht·Peter Fritschel·Paul Fulda·Ish Gupta·Evan D. Hall·Giles Hammond·Otto A. Hannuksela·Hannah Hansen·Carl-Johan Haster·Keisi Kacanja·Brittany Kamai·Rahul Kashyap·Joey Shapiro Key·Sanika Khadkikar·Antonios Kontos·Kevin Kuns·Michael Landry·Philippe Landry·Brian Lantz·Tjonnie G. F. Li·Geoffrey Lovelace·Vuk Mandic·Georgia L. Mansell·Denys Martynov·Lee McCuller·Andrew L. Miller·Alexander Harvey Nitz·Benjamin J. Owen·Cristiano Palomba·Jocelyn Read·Hemantakumar Phurailatpam·Sanjay Reddy·Jonathan Richardson·Jameson Rollins·Joseph D. Romano·Bangalore S. Sathyaprakash·Robert Schofield·David H. Shoemaker·Daniel Sigg·Divya Singh·Bram Slagmolen·Piper Sledge·Joshua Smith·Marcelle Soares-Santos·Amber Strunk·Ling Sun·David Tanner·Lieke A. C. van Son·Salvatore Vitale·Benno Willke·Hiro Yamamoto·Michael Zucker
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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.

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Matthew Evans, Alessandra Corsi, Chaitanya Afle, Alena Ananyeva, K. G. Arun, Stefan Ballmer, Ananya Bandopadhyay, Lisa Barsotti, Masha Baryakhtar, Edo Berger, Emanuele Berti, Sylvia Biscoveanu, Ssohrab Borhanian, Floor Broekgaarden, Duncan A. Brown, Craig Cahillane, Lorna Campbell, Hsin-Yu Chen, Kathryne J. Daniel, Arnab Dhani, Jennifer C. Driggers, Anamaria Effler, Robert Eisenstein, Stephen Fairhurst, Jon Feicht, Peter Fritschel, Paul Fulda, Ish Gupta, Evan D. Hall, Giles Hammond, Otto A. Hannuksela, Hannah Hansen, Carl-Johan Haster, Keisi Kacanja, Brittany Kamai, Rahul Kashyap, Joey Shapiro Key, Sanika Khadkikar, Antonios Kontos, Kevin Kuns, Michael Landry, Philippe Landry, Brian Lantz, Tjonnie G. F. Li, Geoffrey Lovelace, Vuk Mandic, Georgia L. Mansell, Denys Martynov, Lee McCuller, Andrew L. Miller, Alexander Harvey Nitz, Benjamin J. Owen, Cristiano Palomba, Jocelyn Read, Hemantakumar Phurailatpam, Sanjay Reddy, Jonathan Richardson, Jameson Rollins, Joseph D. Romano, Bangalore S. Sathyaprakash, Robert Schofield, David H. Shoemaker, Daniel Sigg, Divya Singh, Bram Slagmolen, Piper Sledge, Joshua Smith, Marcelle Soares-Santos, Amber Strunk, Ling Sun, David Tanner, Lieke A. C. van Son, Salvatore Vitale, Benno Willke, Hiro Yamamoto, Michael Zucker. 2023-06-23. Cosmic Explorer: A Submission to the NSF MPSAC ngGW Subcommittee. https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.13745

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