arXiv subjects

David H. Shoemaker

Publications and source records attributed to David H. Shoemaker.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Identifying Cost-Favorable Locations for Cosmic Explorer

Cosmic Explorer (CE) is a proposed next-generation gravitational-wave observatory that aims to extend our gravitational-wave vision to the edge of the observable universe. With a foundation of technology proven by the National Science Foundation's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), CE will observe black holes and neutron stars across cosmic time, explore the nature of extreme matter with high fidelity, and probe the nature of gravity and fundamental physics. CE's reference design consists of two widely separated L-shaped detectors to be located in the conterminous United States, one with 20 km arms and one with 40 km arms. As of 2026, CE is in its design and site evaluation phase, with plans to begin observing in the early 2040s together with the Einstein Telescope in Europe. The size of CE observatories---up to an order of magnitude larger than the 4 km LIGO observatories---presents a significant challenge for identifying suitable candidate sites where CE will achieve its science goals, be built within cost boundaries, attract and retain a workforce, and align with community values. In this paper, we report on the design and use of a Python package, the Cosmic Explorer Location Search (CELS) package, to identify cost-favorable sites for CE. For a specified detector location and L-shaped geometry in the conterminous United States, CELS estimates site-preparation costs associated with excavation, land clearing, and land acquisition, while accounting for the scientific effects of detector tilt, arm length, and arm opening angle. After describing the package's methods, we present results for a national-level cost and positioning analysis that complements a recent national suitability analysis. We also discuss how future improvements to CELS will allow deeper, more local studies as the Cosmic Explorer team narrows its list of potential locations.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2026

deci-Hz Gravitational Wave Observations on the Moon and Beyond

This document summarizes talks and discussions from the workshop "deci-Hz Gravitational Wave Observations on the Moon and Beyond" that took place at Johns Hopkins University between September 1 and September 3, 2025. The workshop focused on experimental proposals to observe gravitational waves in the deci-Hz band, including lunar detectors, laser interferometers in space, and atom interferometry; gravitational wave sources in the deci-Hz frequency band; and the multi-messenger and multi-band astronomy that would be enabled by these observations.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Criteria for identifying and evaluating locations that could potentially host the Cosmic Explorer observatories

Cosmic Explorer (CE) is a next-generation ground-based gravitational-wave observatory that is being designed in the 2020s and is envisioned to begin operations in the 2030s together with the Einstein Telescope in Europe. The CE concept currently consists of two widely separated L-shaped observatories in the United States, one with 40 km-long arms and the other with 20 km-long arms. This order of magnitude increase in scale with respect to the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA observatories will, together with technological improvements, deliver an order of magnitude greater astronomical reach, allowing access to gravitational waves from remnants of the first stars and opening a wide discovery aperture to the novel and unknown. In addition to pushing the reach of gravitational-wave astronomy, CE endeavors to approach the lifecycle of large scientific facilities in a way that prioritizes mutually beneficial relationships with local and Indigenous communities. This article describes the (scientific, cost and access, and social) criteria that will be used to identify and evaluate locations that could potentially host the CE observatories.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2024

Multi-messenger Astrophysics of Black Holes and Neutron Stars as Probed by Ground-based Gravitational Wave Detectors: From Present to Future

The ground-based gravitational wave (GW) detectors LIGO and Virgo have enabled the birth of multi-messenger GW astronomy via the detection of GWs from merging stellar-mass black holes (BHs) and neutron stars (NSs). GW170817, the first binary NS merger detected in GWs and all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, is an outstanding example of the impact that GW discoveries can have on multi-messenger astronomy. Yet, GW170817 is only one of the many and varied multi-messenger sources that can be unveiled using ground-based GW detectors. In this contribution, we summarize key open questions in the astrophysics of stellar-mass BHs and NSs that can be answered using current and future-generation ground-based GW detectors, and highlight the potential for new multi-messenger discoveries ahead.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2024

Characterizing Gravitational Wave Detector Networks: From A$^\sharp$ to Cosmic Explorer

Gravitational-wave observations by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo have provided us a new tool to explore the Universe on all scales from nuclear physics to the cosmos and have the massive potential to further impact fundamental physics, astrophysics, and cosmology for decades to come. In this paper we have studied the science capabilities of a network of LIGO detectors when they reach their best possible sensitivity, called A#, given the infrastructure in which they exist and a new generation of observatories that are factor of 10 to 100 times more sensitive (depending on the frequency), in particular a pair of L-shaped Cosmic Explorer observatories (one 40 km and one 20 km arm length) in the US and the triangular Einstein Telescope with 10 km arms in Europe. The presence of one or two A# observatories in a network containing two or one next generation observatories, respectively, will provide good localization capabilities for facilitating multimessenger astronomy and precision measurement of the Hubble parameter. Two Cosmic Explorer observatories are indispensable for achieving precise localization of binary neutron star events, facilitating detection of electromagnetic counterparts and transforming multimessenger astronomy. Their combined operation is even more important in the detection and localization of high-redshift sources, such as binary neutron stars, beyond the star-formation peak, and primordial black hole mergers, which may occur roughly 100 million years after the Big Bang. The addition of the Einstein Telescope to a network of two Cosmic Explorer observatories is critical for accomplishing all the identified science metrics. For most metrics the triple network of next generation terrestrial observatories are a factor 100 better than what can be accomplished by a network of three A# observatories.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Cosmic Explorer: A Submission to the NSF MPSAC ngGW Subcommittee

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.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2022

Report of the Topical Group on Cosmic Probes of Fundamental Physics for for Snowmass 2021

Cosmic Probes of Fundamental Physics take two primary forms: Very high energy particles (cosmic rays, neutrinos, and gamma rays) and gravitational waves. Already today, these probes give access to fundamental physics not available by any other means, helping elucidate the underlying theory that completes the Standard Model. The last decade has witnessed a revolution of exciting discoveries such as the detection of high-energy neutrinos and gravitational waves. The scope for major developments in the next decades is dramatic, as we detail in this report.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

A Horizon Study for Cosmic Explorer: Science, Observatories, and Community

This Horizon Study describes a next-generation ground-based gravitational-wave observatory: Cosmic Explorer. With ten times the sensitivity of Advanced LIGO, Cosmic Explorer will push gravitational-wave astronomy towards the edge of the observable universe ($z \sim 100$). The goals of this Horizon Study are to describe and evaluate design concepts for Cosmic Explorer; to plan for the United States' leadership in gravitational-wave astronomy; and to envisage the role of Cosmic Explorer in the international effort to build a "Third-Generation" (3G) observatory network that will make discoveries transformative across astronomy, physics, and cosmology.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2019

What we can learn from multi-band observations of black hole binaries

The LIGO/Virgo gravitational-wave (GW) interferometers have to-date detected ten merging black hole (BH) binaries, some with masses considerably larger than had been anticipated. Stellar-mass BH binaries at the high end of the observed mass range (with "chirp mass" ${\cal M} \gtrsim 25 M_{\odot}$) should be detectable by a space-based GW observatory years before those binaries become visible to ground-based GW detectors. This white paper discusses some of the synergies that result when the same binaries are observed by instruments in space and on the ground. We consider intermediate-mass black hole binaries (with total mass $M \sim 10^2 -10^4 M_{\odot}$) as well as stellar-mass black hole binaries. We illustrate how combining space-based and ground-based data sets can break degeneracies and thereby improve our understanding of the binary's physical parameters. While early work focused on how space-based observatories can forecast precisely when some mergers will be observed on the ground, the reverse is also important: ground-based detections will allow us to "dig deeper" into archived, space-based data to confidently identify black hole inspirals whose signal-to-noise ratios were originally sub-threshold, increasing the number of binaries observed in both bands by a factor of $\sim 4 - 7$.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Tests of General Relativity and Fundamental Physics with Space-based Gravitational Wave Detectors

Low-frequency gravitational-wave astronomy can perform precision tests of general relativity and probe fundamental physics in a regime previously inaccessible. A space-based detector will be a formidable tool to explore gravity's role in the cosmos, potentially telling us if and where Einstein's theory fails and providing clues about some of the greatest mysteries in physics and astronomy, such as dark matter and the origin of the Universe.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2009

Astro2010 Decadal Survey Whitepaper: Coordinated Science in the Gravitational and Electromagnetic Skies

It is widely expected that the coming decade will witness the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs). The ground-based LIGO and Virgo GW observatories are being upgraded to advanced sensitivity, and are expected to observe a significant binary merger rate. The launch of The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) would extend the GW window to low frequencies, opening new vistas on dynamical processes involving massive (M >~ 10^5 M_Sun) black holes. GW events are likely to be accompanied by electromagnetic (EM) counterparts and, since information carried electromagnetically is complementary to that carried gravitationally, a great deal can be learned about an event and its environment if it becomes possible to measure both forms of radiation in concert. Measurements of this kind will mark the dawn of trans-spectral astrophysics, bridging two distinct spectral bands of information. The aim of this whitepaper is to articulate future directions in both theory and observation that are likely to impact broad astrophysical inquiries of general interest. What will EM observations reflect on the nature and diversity of GW sources? Can GW sources be exploited as complementary probes of cosmology? What cross-facility coordination will expand the science returns of gravitational and electromagnetic observations?

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2003

Towards Gravitational Wave Signals from Realistic Core Collapse Supernova Models

We have computed the gravitational wave signal from supernova core collapse using the presently most realistic input physics available. We start from state-of-the-art progenitor models of rotating and non-rotating massive stars, and simulate the dynamics of their core collapse by integrating the equations of axisymmetric hydrodynamics together with the Boltzmann equation for the neutrino transport including an elaborate description of neutrino interactions, and a realistic equation of state. We compute the quadrupole wave amplitudes, the Fourier wave spectra, the amount of energy radiated in form of gravitational waves, and the S/N ratios for the LIGO and the tuned Advanced LIGO interferometers resulting both from non-radial mass motion and anisotropic neutrino emission. The simulations demonstrate that the dominant contribution to the gravitational wave signal is produced by neutrino-driven convection behind the supernova shock. For stellar cores rotating at the extreme of current stellar evolution predictions, the core-bounce signal is detectable with advanced LIGO up to a distance of 5kpc, whereas the signal from post-shock convection is observable up to a distance of about 100kpc. If the core is non-rotating its gravitational wave emission can be measured up to a distance of 15kpc, while the signal from the Ledoux convection in the deleptonizing, nascent neutron star can be detected up to a distance of 10kpc. Both kinds of signals are generically produced by convection in any core collapse supernova.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2003

Effects of electrical charging on the mechanical Q of a fused silica disk

We report on the effects of an electrical charge on mechanical loss of a fused silica disk. A degradation of Q was seen that correlated with charge on the surface of the sample. We examine a number of models for charge damping, including eddy current damping and loss due to polarization. We conclude that rubbing friction between the sample and a piece of dust attracted by the charged sample is the most likely explanation for the observed loss.

gr-qc↗