Cross-correlating pulsar timing and polarimetry isolates the circular polarization of isotropic stochastic GW backgrounds and shares the Hellings-Downs angular pattern.
Sensitivity to a Frequency-Dependent Circular Polarization in an Isotropic Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background
7 Pith papers cite this work. Polarity classification is still indexing.
abstract
We calculate the sensitivity to a circular polarization of an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background (ISGWB) as a function of frequency for ground- and space-based interferometers and observations of the cosmic microwave background. The origin of a circularly polarized ISGWB may be due to exotic primordial physics (i.e., parity violation in the early universe) and may be strongly frequency dependent. We present calculations within a coherent framework which clarifies the basic requirements for sensitivity to circular polarization, in distinction from previous work which focused on each of these techniques separately. We find that the addition of an interferometer with the sensitivity of the Einstein Telescope in the southern hemisphere improves the sensitivity of the ground-based network to circular polarization by about a factor of two. The sensitivity curves presented in this paper make clear that the wide range in frequencies of current and planned observations ($10^{-18}\ {\rm Hz} \lesssim f \lesssim 100\ {\rm Hz}$) will be critical to determining the physics that underlies any positive detection of circular polarization in the ISGWB. We also identify a desert in circular polarization sensitivity for frequencies between $10^{-15}\ {\rm Hz} \lesssim f \lesssim 10^{-3}\ {\rm Hz}$, given the inability for pulsar timing arrays and indirect-detection methods to distinguish the gravitational wave polarization.
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verdicts
UNVERDICTED 7roles
background 3polarities
background 3representative citing papers
First astrometric constraints on parity-violating SGWB amplitude are reported as h70²ΩV = -0.020 ± 0.025 (Gaia) and -0.004 ± 0.010 (VLBA) at 2σ, consistent with zero, over 4.2e-18 Hz to 1.1e-8 Hz.
Multi-phase inflation with chiral vector interactions generates amplified primordial magnetic fields that induce a detectable circularly polarized gravitational-wave background.
Extends diagrammatic approach for scalar-induced gravitational waves to arbitrary-order local PNG, deriving semi-analytic spectra for energy density, anisotropies, bispectrum and trispectrum up to quartic terms.
Finite recombination thickness introduces Gaussian smoothing in ln k to the primordial power spectrum, producing non-trivial differences between TT and EE spectral indices that may be detectable in future CMB data.
Positive running of the spectral index is achievable in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity with viable inflation, unlike standard scalar field and F(R) models which face challenges.
A transient parity-violating phase during inflation generates a robust blue-tilted (n_T ≃ 2) primordial gravitational wave spectrum at small scales with nearly maximal helicity coherence and linear polarization, offering a cosmological template for PTA data distinct from astrophysical sources.
citing papers explorer
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Detecting Parity-Violating Gravitational Wave Backgrounds with Pulsar Polarization Arrays
Cross-correlating pulsar timing and polarimetry isolates the circular polarization of isotropic stochastic GW backgrounds and shares the Hellings-Downs angular pattern.
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First astrometric constraints on parity-violation in the gravitational wave background
First astrometric constraints on parity-violating SGWB amplitude are reported as h70²ΩV = -0.020 ± 0.025 (Gaia) and -0.004 ± 0.010 (VLBA) at 2σ, consistent with zero, over 4.2e-18 Hz to 1.1e-8 Hz.
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Chiral gravitational waves from multi-phase magnetogenesis
Multi-phase inflation with chiral vector interactions generates amplified primordial magnetic fields that induce a detectable circularly polarized gravitational-wave background.
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Isotropy, anisotropies and non-Gaussianity in the scalar-induced gravitational-wave background: diagrammatic approach for primordial non-Gaussianity up to arbitrary order
Extends diagrammatic approach for scalar-induced gravitational waves to arbitrary-order local PNG, deriving semi-analytic spectra for energy density, anisotropies, bispectrum and trispectrum up to quartic terms.
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Recombination Thickness as an Uncertainty in Inflationary Observables
Finite recombination thickness introduces Gaussian smoothing in ln k to the primordial power spectrum, producing non-trivial differences between TT and EE spectral indices that may be detectable in future CMB data.
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Positive Running of the Spectral Index for Scalar Theory and Modified Gravity
Positive running of the spectral index is achievable in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity with viable inflation, unlike standard scalar field and F(R) models which face challenges.
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Transient Parity Violation during Inflation: Implications for PTA Gravitational Waves
A transient parity-violating phase during inflation generates a robust blue-tilted (n_T ≃ 2) primordial gravitational wave spectrum at small scales with nearly maximal helicity coherence and linear polarization, offering a cosmological template for PTA data distinct from astrophysical sources.