Related papers: The Gravitational Universe
This is a whitepaper submitted to the 2010 Astronomy Decadal Review process, addressing the potential tests of gravity theory that could be made by observations of gravitational waves in the milliHertz frequency band by the proposed…
The paper describes the progress toward a space-borne gravitational wave observatory and its foreseeable science potential. In particular the paper describes the status of the LISA-like mission called eLISA, the reference mission for the…
Detection of a gravitational-wave signal of non-astrophysical origin would be a landmark discovery, potentially providing a significant clue to some of our most basic, big-picture scientific questions about the Universe. In this white…
This document introduces the exciting and fundamentally new science and astronomy that the European New Gravitational Wave Observatory (NGO) mission (derived from the previous LISA proposal) will deliver. The mission (which we will refer to…
Ten short years ago, we had the rare privilege of witnessing the onset of a renaissance in science: humanity finally succeeded in its arduous quest to directly detect gravitational waves. This breakthrough did not occur in a vacuum: it was…
Our knowledge and understanding of the Universe is mainly based on observations of the electromagnetic radiation in a wide range of wavelengths. Only during the past two decades, new kinds of detectors have been developed, exploiting other…
Black holes are unique among astrophysical sources: they are the simplest macroscopic objects in the Universe, and they are extraordinary in terms of their ability to convert energy into electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. Our…
In the coming decade, gravitational waves will convert the study of general relativistic aspects of black holes and stars from a largely theoretical enterprise to a highly interactive, observational/theoretical one. For example,…
As several large scale interferometers are beginning to take data at sensitivities where astrophysical sources are predicted, the direct detection of gravitational waves may well be imminent. This would open the gravitational-wave window to…
I review the scientific potential of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), a space-borne gravitational wave (GW) observatory to be launched in the early 30s'. Thanks to its sensitivity in the milli-Hz frequency range, LISA will…
Contemporary astronomy is undergoing a revolution, perhaps even more important than that which took place with the advent of radioastronomy in the 1960s, and then the opening of the sky to observations in the other electromagnetic…
The first decade of the new millenium should see the first direct detections of gravitational waves. This will be a milestone for fundamental physics and it will open the new observational science of gravitational wave astronomy. But…
The next generation of gravitational wave detectors and electromagnetic telescopes are beckoning the onset of the multi-messenger era and the exciting science that lies ahead. Multi-messenger strong gravitational lensing will help probe…
First order phase transitions in the early universe can give rise to a stochastic background of gravitational waves. A hypothetical first order electroweak phase transition is particularly interesting in this respect, since the signal is in…
It has been a half-decade since the first direct detection of gravitational waves, which signifies the coming of the era of the gravitational-wave astronomy and gravitational-wave cosmology. The increasing number of the detected…
Since the first detection of gravitational waves in 2015, gravitational-wave astronomy has emerged as a rapidly advancing field that holds great potential for studying the cosmos, from probing the properties of black holes to testing the…
Gravitational-wave astronomy has the potential to explore one of the deepest and most puzzling aspects of Einstein's theory: the existence of black holes. A plethora of ultracompact, horizonless objects have been proposed to arise in models…
A summary is given of the current status and plans for gravitational-wave searches at all plausible wavelengths, from the size of the observable universe to a few kilometers. The anticipated scientific payoff from these searches is…
Gravitational wave detectors capable of making astronomical observations could begin to operate within the next year, and over the next 10 years they will extend their reach out to cosmological distances, culminating in the space mission…
The discovery of gravitational waves by the international collaboration LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory)/Virgo on the one hand is a triumphant confirmation of the general theory of relativity, and on the other…