Lensing of Gravitational Waves as a Novel Probe of Graviton Mass. (arXiv:2106.09630v1 [gr-qc])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Chung_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ka-Wai Chung</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/gr-qc/1/au:+Li_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tjonnie Guang Feng Li</a>
The diffraction patterns of lensed gravitational waves encode information
about their propagation speeds. If gravitons have mass, the dispersion relation
and speed of gravitational waves will be affected in a frequency-dependent
manner, which would leave potentially detectable traces in the diffraction
pattern if the waves are lensed. In this paper, we study how the alternative
dispersion relation induced by massive gravitons affects gravitational waves
lensed by point-mass lenses, such as intermediate-mass black holes. By
detecting a single lensed gravitational-wave signal, we can measure the
graviton mass with an accuracy better than the combined measurement across
$mathcal{O}(10^2)$ unlensed signals. Our method can be generalised to other
lens types, gravitational-wave sources, and detector networks, opening up new
ways to measure the graviton mass through gravitational-wave detection.
The diffraction patterns of lensed gravitational waves encode information
about their propagation speeds. If gravitons have mass, the dispersion relation
and speed of gravitational waves will be affected in a frequency-dependent
manner, which would leave potentially detectable traces in the diffraction
pattern if the waves are lensed. In this paper, we study how the alternative
dispersion relation induced by massive gravitons affects gravitational waves
lensed by point-mass lenses, such as intermediate-mass black holes. By
detecting a single lensed gravitational-wave signal, we can measure the
graviton mass with an accuracy better than the combined measurement across
$mathcal{O}(10^2)$ unlensed signals. Our method can be generalised to other
lens types, gravitational-wave sources, and detector networks, opening up new
ways to measure the graviton mass through gravitational-wave detection.
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