arXiv subjects

Shaoqi Hou

Publications and source records attributed to Shaoqi Hou.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Inspiraling double compact object detection and lensing rate -- forecast for DECIGO and B-DECIGO

Emergence of gravitational wave (GW) astronomy revived the interest in exploring the low frequency GW spectrum inaccessible from the ground. Satellite GW observatory DECIGO in its original configuration and the currently proposed smaller scale B-DECIGO are aimed to cover deci-Hertz part of the GW spectrum, which fills the gap between LISA mili-Hertz and deca- to kilo-Hertz range probed by ground-based detectors. In this paper we forecast the detection rates of inspiraling double compact objects (DCOs) and the unresolved confusion noise from these sources in DECIGO and B-DECIGO. In the context of DECIGO we use, for the first time, the population synthesis intrinsic inspiral rates of NS-NS, BH-NS and BH-BH systems. We also estimate the expected gravitational lensing rates of such sources for DECIGO and B-DECIGO. The result is that yearly detection of DCOs inspirals for the DECIGO is of order of $10^4 - 10^5$, while for a much smaller scale B-DECIGO they are about $10^2 - 10^4$ depending on the DCO population considered. Taking into account that considerable part of these events would be detectable by ground-based GW observatories the added value of DECIGO/B-DECIGO could be substantial. DECIGO will also be able to register $5-50$ lensed NS-NS inspirals and up to O(100) BH-BH inspirals. On the contrary, predictions for the B-DECIGO are pessimistic: only the optimistic common envelope scenario of DCO formation could yield a few lensed BH-BH inspirals per year. We also address the question of the magnification bias in the GW event catalogs of DECIGO and B-DECIGO.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2021

Constraining cosmological parameters from strong lensing with DECIGO and B-DECIGO sources

Gravitational lensing has long been used to measure or constrain cosmology models. Although the lensing effect of gravitational waves has not been observed by LIGO/Virgo, it is expected that there can be a few to a few hundreds lensed events to be detected by the future Japanese space-borne interferometers DECIGO and B-DECIGO, if they are running for 4 years. Given the predicted lensed gravitational wave events, one can estimate the constraints on the cosmological parameters via the lensing statistics and the time delay methods. With the lensing statistics method, the knowledge of the lens redshifts, even with the moderate uncertainty, will set the tight bound on the energy density parameter $Ω_M$ for matter, that is, $0.288\lesssimΩ_M\lesssim0.314$ at best. The constraint on the Hubble constant $H_0$ can be determined using the time delay method. It is found out that at $5σ$, $|δH_0|/H_0$ ranges from $3\%$ to $11\%$ for DECIGO, and B-DECIGO will give less constrained results, $8\%-15\%$. In this work, the uncertainties on the luminosity distance and the time delay distance are set to be $10\%$ and $20\%$, respectively. The improvement on measuring these distances will tighten the bounds.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

"Conserved charges" of the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs algebra in the Brans-Dicke theory

The asymptotic symmetries in Brans-Dicke theory are analyzed using Penrose's conformal completion method, which is independent of the coordinate system used. These symmetries indeed include supertranslations and Lorentz transformations for an asymptotically flat spacetime. With the Wald-Zoupas formalism, "conserved charges" and fluxes of the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs algebra are computed. The scalar degree of freedom contributes only to the Lorentz boost charge, although it plays a role in various fluxes. The flux-balance laws are further used to constrain displacement memory, spin memory and center-of-mass memory effects.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Lensing rates of gravitational wave signals displaying beat patterns detectable by DECIGO and B-DECIGO

The coherent nature of gravitational wave emanating from a compact binary system makes it possible to detect some interference patterns in two (or more) signals registered simultaneously by the detector. Gravitational lensing effect can be used to bend trajectories of gravitational waves, which might reach the detector at the same time. Once this happens, a beat pattern may form, and can be used to obtain the luminosity distance of the source, the lens mass, and cosmological parameters such as the Hubble constant. Crucial question is how many such kind of events could be detected. In this work, we study this issue for the future space-borne detectors: DECIGO and its downscale version, B-DECIGO. It is found out that there can be a few tens to a few hundreds of lensed gravitational wave events with the beat pattern observed by DECIGO and B-DECIGO per year, depending on the evolution scenario leading to the formation of double compact objects. In particular, black hole-black hole binaries are dominating population of lensed sources in which beat patterns may reveal. However, DECIGO could also register a considerable amount of lensed signals from binary neutron stars, which might be accompanied by electromagnetic counterparts. Our results suggest that, in the future, lensed gravitational wave signal with the beat pattern could play an important role in cosmology and astrophysics.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Gravitational memory effects in Brans-Dicke theory

There exist gravitational memory effects in Brans-Dicke theory. They are closely related to the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs symmetries living on the null infinity in an isolated system. By studying the asymptotically flat spacetime in Brans-Dicke theory and the asymptotic symmetries, one discovers that the displacement memory effect in the tensor sector is due to the vacuum transition caused by the null energy fluxes panetrating the null infinity, while in the scalar sector, the vacuum transition is due to the angular momentum fluxes. Together with the spin and the center-of-mass memory effects, the displacement memories are constrained by various flux-balance laws.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Gravitational memory effects and Bondi-Metzner-Sachs symmetries in scalar-tensor theories

The relation between gravitational memory effects and Bondi-Metzner-Sachs symmetry of the asymptotically flat spacetimes is studied in the scalar-tensor theory. For this purpose, the solutions to the equations of motion near the future null infinity are obtained in the generalized Bondi-Sachs coordinates with a suitable determinant condition. It turns out that the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs group is also a semi-direct product of an infinitesimal dimensional supertranslation group and the Lorentz group as in general relativity. There are also degenerate vacua in both the tensor and the scalar sectors in the scalar-tensor theory. The supertranslation relates the vacua in the tensor sector, while in the scalar sector, it is the Lorentz transformation that transforms the vacua to each other. So there are the tensor memory effect similar to the one in general relativity, and the scalar memory effect, which is new. The evolution equations for the Bondi mass and angular momentum aspects suggest that the null energy fluxes and the angular momentum fluxes across the null infinity induce the transition among the vacua in the tensor and the scalar sectors, respectively.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Corrections to the gravitational wave phasing

The gravitational wave, traveling a long cosmological distance to reach interferometers, interacts with the (homogeneous and isotropic) cosmological background, so generally speaking, its amplitude and phase are modified in some nontrivial way. As the sensitivity of interferometers is improved, one may detect corrections to the short-wavelength approximation, which naturally includes the information of cosmological evolution. In this work, the Newman-Penrose variable $Ψ_4$ has been calculated to show that there are two new corrections to the short-wavelength approximation. One formally occurs at the first post-Newtonian order but is highly suppressed by the Hubble parameters; the other occurs at the fifth post-Newtonian order, which is due to the variation of the amplitude. The first correction contains the evolution of the Universe, but it may not be easily detected. The second one indicates that the short-wavelength approximation has to be corrected, when the more accurate waveforms with the higher-order post-Newtonian terms are calculated.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Gravitational Wave Interference via Gravitational Lensing: Measurements of Luminosity Distance, Lens Mass, and Cosmological Parameters

The gravitational lensing of gravitational waves might cause beat patterns detectable by interferometers. The feature of this kind of signal is the existence of the beat pattern in the early inspiral phase, followed by a seemingly randomly changing profile. After the strain peaks for the first time, the signal takes the usual waveform and the strain peaks for the second time. Once this signal is detected, the actual magnification factors can be obtained, so the true luminosity distance of the binary system is known. If the lens can be described by a point mass or a singular isothermal sphere, the functional forms of the time delay and the magnification factors are simple enough, so we can infer the mass of the lens or the cosmological parameters.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Gravitational Lensing of Gravitational Waves: Rotation of Polarization Plane

Similar to the light, gravitational waves traveling in multiple paths may arrive at the same location if there is a gravitational lens on their way. Apart from the magnification of the amplitudes and the time delay between the gravitational wave rays, gravitational lensing also rotates their polarization planes. This results in the changes in the antenna pattern function, which describes the response of the detector to its relative orientation to the gravitational wave. These effects are all reflected in the strain, the signal registered by the interferometers. The gravitational wave rays in various directions stimulate different strains. Their strains differ from each other due to different magnification factors, the phases and the rotation of the polarization plane. The phase difference mainly comes from the time delay. Moreover, the rotation of the polarization plane seemingly introduces the \textit{apparent} vector polarizations, when these strains are compared with each other. Because of the smallness of the deflection angles, the effect of the rotation is negligible.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Strong Equivalence Principle and Gravitational Wave Polarizations in Horndeski Theory

The relative acceleration between two nearby particles moving along accelerated trajectories is studied, which generalizes the geodesic deviation equation. The polarization content of the gravitational wave in Horndeski theory is investigated by examining the relative acceleration between two self-gravitating particles. It is found out that the longitudinal polarization exists no matter whether the scalar field is massive or not. It would be still very difficult to detect the enhanced longitudinal polarization with the interferometer, as the violation of the strong equivalence principle of mirrors used by interferometers is extremely small. However, the pulsar timing array is promised to relatively easily detect the effect of the violation as neutron stars have large self-energy. The advantage of using this method to test the violation of the strong equivalence principle is that neutron stars are not required to be present in the binary systems.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Gravitational waves and the polarizations in Hořava gravity after GW170817

The gravitational waves of Hořava gravity, their polarization states and their possible observational signatures are discussed. Using the gauge-invariant variable formalism, we found the three polarization modes in Hořava gravity excited by the three physical degrees of freedom contained in this theory. In particular, the scalar degree of freedom excites a mix of the transverse breathing and the longitudinal polarizations. The constraints from the previous experimental observations are taken into account, especially including the speed bound from the observations of GW170817 and GRB 170817A. It was found that Hořava theory is highly constrained. Within the experimentally allowed parametric space, we studied whether the pulsar timing arrays and the Gaia mission can be used to distinguish the different polarizations. After calculating the cross-correlation functions between the redshifts of photons and the astrometric positions of stars, one concludes that it is possible to tell whether there exits the scalar polarization using pulsar timing arrays and the Gaia mission.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Gravitational waves in Einstein-Æther theory and generalized TeVeS theory after GW170817

In this paper, the polarization contents of Einstein-æther theory and the generalized TeVeS theory are studied. The Einstein-æther theory has five polarizations, while the generalized TeVeS theory has six. In particular, transverse and longitudinal breathing polarization are mixed. The~possibility of using pulsar timing arrays to detect the extra polarizations in Einstein-æther theory was also investigated. The analysis showed that different polarizations cannot be easily distinguished by using pulsar timing arrays in this theory. For generalized TeVeS theory, one of the propagating modes travels much faster than the speed of light due to the speed bound set by GW170817. In some parameter subspaces, the strong coupling does not take place, so this theory is excluded.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

The Polarizations of Gravitational Waves

The direct detection of gravitational waves by LIGO/Virgo opened the possibility to test General Relativity and its alternatives in the high speed, strong field regime. Alternative theories of gravity generally predict more polarizations than General Relativity, so it is important to study the polarization contents of theories of gravity to reveal the nature of gravity. In this talk, we analyzed the polarizations contents of Horndeski theory and $f(R)$ gravity. We found out that in addition to the familiar plus and cross polarizations, a \emph{massless} Horndeski theory predicts an extra transverse polarization, and there is a mix of the pure longitudinal and transverse breathing polarizations in the \emph{massive} Horndeski theory and $f(R)$ gravity. It is possible to use pulsar timing arrays to detect the extra polarizations in these theories. We also pointed out that the classification of polarizations using Newman-Penrose variables cannot be applied to the massive modes. It cannot be used to classify polarizations in Einstein-æther theory or generalized TeVeS theory, either.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Polarizations of Gravitational Waves in Horndeski Theory

We analyze the polarization content of gravitational waves in Horndeski theory. Besides the familiar plus and cross polarizations in Einstein's General Relativity, there is one more polarization state which is the mixture of the transverse breathing and longitudinal polarizations.The additional mode is excited by the massive scalar field. In the massless limit, the longitudinal polarization disappears, while the breathing one persists. The upper bound on the graviton mass severely constrains the amplitude of the longitudinal polarization, which makes its detection highly unlikely by the ground-based or space-borne interferometers in the near future. However, pulsar timing arrays might be able to detect the polarization excited by the massive scalar field. Since additional polarization states appear in alternative theories of gravity, the measurement of the polarizations of gravitational waves can be used to probe the nature of gravity. In addition to the plus and cross states, the detection of the breathing polarization means that gravitation is mediated by massless spin 2 and spin 0 fields, and the detection of both the breathing and longitudinal states means that gravitation is propagated by the massless spin 2 and massive spin 0 fields.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Gravitational waves in Einstein-æther and generalized TeVeS theory after GW170817

In this work, we discuss the polarization contents of Einstein-æther theory and the generalized tensor-vector-scalar (TeVeS) theory, as both theories have a normalized timelike vector field. We derive the linearized equations of motion around the flat spacetime background using the gauge-invariant variables to easily separate physical degrees of freedom. We find the plane wave solutions are then found, and identify the polarizations by examining the geodesic deviation equations. We find that there are five polarizations in Einstein-æther theory and six polarizations in the generalized TeVeS theory. In particular, the transverse breathing mode is mixed with the pure longitudinal mode. We also discuss the experimental tests of the extra polarizations in Einstein-æther theory using pulsar timing arrays combined with the gravitational-wave speed bound derived from the observations on GW 170817 and GRB 170817A. It turns out that it might be difficult to use pulsar timing arrays to distinguish different polarizations in Einstein-æther theory. The same speed bound also forces one of the propagating modes in the generalized TeVeS theory to travel much faster than the speed of light. Since the strong coupling problem does not exist in some parameter subspaces, the generalized TeVeS theory is excluded in these parameter subspaces.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Constraints on Horndeski Theory Using the Observations of Nordtvedt Effect, Shapiro Time Delay and Binary Pulsars

Alternative theories of gravity not only modify the polarization contents of the gravitational wave, but also affect the motions of the stars and the energy radiated away via the gravitational radiation. These aspects leave imprints in the observational data, which enables the test of General Relativity and its alternatives. In this work, the Nordtvedt effect and the Shapiro time delay are calculated in order to constrain Horndeski theory using the observations of lunar laser ranging experiments and Cassini time-delay data. The effective stress-energy tensor is also obtained using the method of Isaacson. Gravitational wave radiation of a binary system is calculated, and the change of the period of a binary system is deduced for the elliptical orbit. These results can be used to set constraints on Horndeski theory with the observations of binary systems, such as PSR J1738+0333. Constraints have been obtained for some subclasses of Horndeski theory, in particular, those satisfying the gravitational wave speed limits from GW170817 and GRB 170817A.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Gravitational Wave Polarizations in $f(R)$ Gravity and Scalar-Tensor Theory

The detection of gravitational waves by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory opens a new era to use gravitational waves to test alternative theories of gravity. We investigate the polarizations of gravitational waves in $f(R)$ gravity and Horndeski theory, both containing scalar modes. These theories predict that in addition to the familiar $+$ and $\times$ polarizations, there are transverse breathing and longitudinal polarizations excited by the massive scalar mode and the new polarization is a single mixed state. It would be very difficult to detect the longitudinal polarization by interferometers, while pulsar timing array may be the better tool to detect the longitudinal polarization.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Asymptotic Symmetries of the Null Infinity and the Isolated Horizon

The common intrinsic geometry shared by all the null hypersurfaces gives rise to the asymptotic symmetries found on the null infinities $\mathscr I^\pm$ and the isolated horizons $Δ$. In this work, the properties of a null hypersurface are reviewed and the invariance of its intrinsic geometry ($n^an^bh_{ab}$) is revealed under the spacetime conformal transformation. The generators, i.e., infinitesimal symmetries, of the conformal transformation tangent to the null hypersurface are defined and classified by their effects on the induced metric and the normal vector field. Two particular examples and their symmetries are discussed, that is, the null infinities $\mathscr I^\pm$ of an asymptotic flat spacetime, and the isolated horizon $Δ$ of a black hole.

gr-qc↗