Past,present and future of the Resonant-Mass gravitational wave detectors

Resonant-mass gravitational wave detectors are reviewed from the concept of gravitational waves and its mathematical derivation, using Einstein＇s general relativity, to the present status of bars and spherical detectors, and their prospects for the future, which include dual detectors and spheres with non-resonant transducers. The review not only covers technical aspects of detectors and sciences that will be done, but also analyzes the subject in a historical perspective, covering the various detection efforts over four decades, starting from Weber＇s pioneering work.

Optical gravitational wave detectors on the ground and in space:theory and technology

Major predictions of General Relativity, unforeseen at the beginning of the preceding century, are now under investigation. The existence of black holes of any mass from tens to billions of solar masses is now established, and the physics around these objects begins to be studied through direct observations in a wide electromagnetic spectrum from visible light to X-rays. General relativity, however, provides an extra medium which carries more information on the regions of intense gravitational field, namely gravitational waves （GWs）. Due to their extremely weak coupling to matter, GWs are precisely generated in those regions of spacetime undergoing strong curvature, which is very exciting for modern astrophysics. On the other hand, this weak coupling makes it difficult for GWs to cause appreciable effects in human made instruments. This is why technology of GW detectors took such a long time to reach a sensitivity level consistent with GW amplitudes predicted by theoretical models of sources. In the present status, apart from resonant solid detectors, two large interferometric antennas （LIGO in the USA and the French-Italian Virgo） are beginning to produce data, and a joint ESA-NASA space mission, resulting from a wide effort of European and American groups, is reaching a crucial approval phase. The aim of the present review is to give the theoretical bases of GW detectors using light.

Detecting Very-High-Frequency Relic Gravitational Waves by a Waveguide

The polarization vector （PV） of an electromagnetic wave （EW） will experience a rotation in a region of spacetime perturbed by gravitational waves （GWs）. Based on this consideration, Cruise＇s group has built an annular waveguide to detect GWs. We give detailed calculations of the rotations of polarization vector of an EW caused by incident GWs from various directions and in various polarization states, and then analyze the accumulative effects on the polarization vector when the EW passes n cycles along the annular waveguide. We reexamine the feasibility and limitation of this method to detect GWs of high frequency around 100 MHz, in particular the relic gravitational waves （RGWs）. By comparing the spectrum of RGWs in the accelerating universe with the detector sensitivity of the current waveguide, it is found that the amplitude of the RGWs is too low to be detected by the waveguide detectors currently operating. Possible ways of improvements on detection are suggested.

Gravitational waves from compact objects

Large ground-based laser beam interferometers are presently in operation both in the USA （LIGO） and in Europe （VIRGO） and potential sources that might be detected by these instruments are revisited. The present generation of detectors does not have a sensitivity high enough to probe a significant volume of the universe and, consequently, predicted event rates are very low. The planned advanced generation of interferometers will probably be able to detect, for the first time, a gravitational sig- nal. Advanced LIGO and EGO instruments are expected to detect few （some）： binary coalescences consisting of either two neutron stars, two black holes or a neutron star and a black hole. In space, the sensitivity of the planned LISA spacecraft constellation will allow the detection of the gravitational signals, even within a ＂pessimistic＂ range of possible signals, produced during the capture of compact objects by supermassive black holes, at a rate of a few tens per year.

Imprints of relic gravitational waves on pulsar timing

Relic gravitational waves （RGWs）, a background originating during inflation, would leave imprints on pulsar timing residuals. This makes RGWs an important source for detection of RGWs using the method of pulsar timing. In this paper, we discuss the effects of RGWs on single pulsar timing, and quantitatively analyze the timing residuals caused by RGWs with different model parameters. In principle, if the RGWs are strong enough today, they can be detected by timing a single millisecond pulsar with high precision after the intrinsic red noises in pulsar timing residuals are understood, even though simultaneously observing multiple millisecond pulsars is a more powerful technique for extracting gravitational wave signals. We correct the normalization of RGWs using observations of the cosmic microwave background （CMB）, which leads to the amplitudes of RGWs being reduced by two orders of magnitude or so compared to our previous works. We obtained new constraints on RGWs using recent observations from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array, employing the tensor-to-scalar ratio r = 0.2 due to the tensor-type polarization observations of CMB by BICEP2 as a reference value, even though its reliability has been brought into question. Moreover, the constraints on RGWs from CMB and Big Bang nucleosynthesis will also be discussed for comparison.

Estimation of spectrum and parameters of relic gravitational waves using space-borne interferometers

We present a study of spectrum estimation of relic gravitational waves(RGWs) as a Gaussian stochastic background from output signals of future space-borne interferometers, like LISA and ASTROD.As the target of detection, the analytical spectrum of RGWs generated during inflation is described by three parameters: the tensor-scalar ratio, the spectral index and the running index. The Michelson interferometer is shown to have a better sensitivity than Sagnac and symmetrized Sagnac. For RGW detection, we analyze the auto-correlated signals for a single interferometer, and the cross-correlated, integrated as well as unintegrated signals for a pair of interferometers, and give the signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) for RGW, and obtain lower limits of the RGW parameters that can be detected. By suppressing noise level, a pair has a sensitivity2 orders better than a single for one year observation. SNR of LISA will be 4–5 orders higher than that of Advanced LIGO for the default RGW. To estimate the spectrum, we adopt the maximum likelihood(ML)estimation, calculate the mean and covariance of signals, obtain the Gaussian probability density function(PDF) and the likelihood function, and derive expressions for the Fisher matrix and the equation of the ML estimate for the spectrum. The Newton-Raphson method is used to solve the equation by iteration. When the noise is dominantly large, a single LISA is not effective for estimating the RGW spectrum as the actual noise in signals is not known accurately. For cross-correlating a pair, the spectrum cannot be estimated from the integrated output signals either, and only one parameter can be estimated with the other two being either fixed or marginalized. We use the ensemble averaging method to estimate the RGW spectrum from the un-integrated output signals. We also adopt a correlation of un-integrated signals to estimate the spectrum and three parameters of RGW in a Bayesian approach. For all three methods, we provide simulations to illustrate their feasibility.

The astrophysical gravitational wave stochastic background

A stochastic background of gravitational waves with astrophysical origins may have＇resulted from the superposition of a large number of unresolved sources since the beginning of stellar activity. Its detection would put very strong constraints on the physical properties of compact objects, the initial mass function and star for- marion history. On the other hand, it could be a ＇noise＇ that would mask the stochastic background of its cosmological origin. We review the main astrophysical processes which are able to produce a stochastic background and discuss how they may differ from the primordial contribution in terms of statistical properties. Current detection methods are also presented.

Sensitivity function analysis of gravitational wave detection with single-laser and large-momentum-transfer atomic sensors

Recently, a configuration using atomic interferometers （AIs） had been sug- gested for the detection of gravitational waves. A new AI with some additional laser pulses for implementing large momentum transfer was also put forward, in order to reduce the effect of shot noise and laser frequency noise. We use a sensitivity function to analyze all possible configurations of the new AI and to distinguish how many mo- menta are transferred in a specific configuration. By analyzing the new configuration, we further explore a detection scheme for gravitational waves, in particular, that ame- liorates laser frequency noise. We find that the amelioration occurs in such a scheme, but novelly, in some cases, the frequency noise can be canceled completely by using a proper data processing method.

Long-term evolution and gravitational wave radiation of neutron stars with differential rotation induced by r-modes

In a second-order r-mode theory, Sa and Tome found that the r-mode oscillation in neutron stars （NSs） could induce stellar differential rotation, which naturally leads to a saturated state of the oscillation. Based on a consideration of the coupling of the r-modes and the stellar spin and thermal evolution, we carefully investigate the influences of the differential rotation on the long-term evolution of isolated NSs and NSs in low-mass X-ray binaries, where the viscous damping of the r-modes and its resultant effects are taken into account. The numerical results show that, for both kinds of NSs, the differential rotation can significantly prolong the duration of the r-modes. As a result, the stars can keep nearly a constant temperature and constant angular velocity for over a thousand years. Moreover, the persistent radiation of a quasi-monochromatic gravitational wave would also be predicted due to the long-term steady r-mode oscillation and stellar rotation. This increases the detectability of gravitational waves from both young isolated and old accreting NSs.

Pulsar timing residuals due to individual non-evolving gravitational wave sources

The pulsar timing residuals induced by gravitational waves from non- evolving single binary sources are affected by many parameters related to the relative positions of the pulsar and the gravitational wave sources. We will analyze the various effects due to different parameters. The standard deviations of the timing residuals will be calculated with a variable parameter fixing a set of other parameters. The or- bits of the binary sources will be generally assumed to be elliptical. The influences of different eccentricities on the pulsar timing residuals will also be studied in detail. We find that the effects of the related parameters are quite different, and some of them display certain regularities.

Cosmic microwave background constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio

One of the main goals of modern cosmic microwave background （CMB） missions is to measure the tensor-to-scalar ratio r accurately to constrain inflation models. Due to ignorance about the reionization history Xe （z）, this analysis is usu- ally done by assuming an instantaneous reionization Xe （z） which, however, can bias the best-fit value of r. Moreover, due to the strong mixing of B-mode and E-mode polarizations in cut-sky measurements, multiplying the sky coverage fraction fsky by the full-sky likelihood would not give satisfactory results. In this work, we forecast constraints on r for the Planck mission taking into account the general reionization scenario and cut-sky effects. Our results show that by applying an N-point interpo- lation analysis to the reionization history, the bias induced by the assumption of in- stantaneous reionization is removed and the value of r is constrained within 5% error level, if the true value of r is greater than about 0.1.

Merging strangeon stars

The state of supranuclear matter in compact stars remains puzzling, and it is argued that pul- sars could be strangeon stars. What would happen if binary strangeon stars merge？ This kind of merger could result in the formation of a hyper-massive strangeon star, accompanied by bursts of gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation （and even a strangeon kilonova explained in the paper）. The tidal polarizability of binary strangeon stars is different from that of binary neutron stars, because a strangeon star is self-bound on the surface by the fundamental strong force while a neutron star by the gravity, and their equations of state are different. Our calculation shows that the tidal polarizability of merging bi- nary strangeon stars is favored by GW170817. Three kinds of kilonovae （i.e., of neutron, quark and strangeon） are discussed, and the light curve of the kilonova AT 2017gfo following GW170817 could be explained by considering the decaying strangeon nuggets and remnant star spin-down. Additionally, the energy ejected to the fireball around the nascent remnant strangeon star, being manifested as a gamma-ray burst, is calculated. It is found that, after a prompt burst, an X-ray plateau could follow in a timescale of 102 - 103 s. Certainly, the results could be tested also by further observational synergies between gravitational wave detectors （e.g., Advanced LIGO） and X-ray telescopes （e.g., the Chinese HXMT satellite and eXTP mission）, and especially if the detected gravitational wave form is checked by peculiar equations of state provided by the numerical relativistical simulation.

Research career of an astronomer who has studied celestial mechanics

Celestial mechanics has been a classical field of astronomy. Only a few astronomers were in this field and not so many papers on this subject had been published during the first half of the 20th century. However, as the beauty of classical dynamics and celestial mechanics attracted me very much, I decided to take celestial mechanics as my research subject and entered university, where a very famous professor of celestial mechanics was a member of the faculty. Then as artificial satellites were launched starting from October 1958, new topics were investigated in the field of celestial mechanics. Moreover, planetary rings, asteroids with moderate values of eccentricity, inclination and so on have become new fields of celestial mechanics. In fact I have tried to solve such problems in an analytical way. Finally, to understand what gravitation is I joined the TAMA300 gravitational wave detector group.

Correcting for the solar wind in pulsar timing observations: the role of simultaneous and low-frequency observations

The primary goal of pulsar timing array projects is to detect ultra-low-frequency gravitational waves. Pulsar data sets are affected by numerous noise processes including varying dispersive delays in the interstellar medium and from the solar wind. The solar wind can lead to rapidly changing variations that, with existing telescopes, can be hard to measure and then remove. In this paper we study the possibility of using a low frequency telescope to aid in such correction for the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array （PPTA） and also discuss whether the ultra-wide-bandwidth receiver for the FAST telescope is sufficient to model solar wind variations. Our key result is that a single wide-bandwidth receiver can be used to model and remove the effect of the solar wind. However, for pulsars that pass close to the Sun such as PSR J1022＋ 1022, the solar wind is so variable that observations at two telescopes separated by a day are insufficient to correct the solar wind effect.

Magnetic interaction in ultra-compact binary systems

This article reviews the current works on ultra-compact double-degenerate binaries in the presence of magnetic interaction, in particular, unipolar induction. The orbital dynamics and evolution of compact white-dwarf pairs are discussed in detail. Models and predictions of electron cyclotron masers from unipolar-inductor compact binaries and unipolar-inductor white-dwarf planetary systems are presented. Einstein-Laub effects in compact binaries are briefly discussed.