Graviton Mass Bounds

TL;DR

This paper reviews observational and theoretical bounds on the mass of gravitons, analyzing recent gravitational wave detections and their implications for massive gravity theories.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of various bounds on graviton mass from observations and recent theoretical developments in massive gravity.

Findings

GW150914 sets an upper bound on graviton mass.

Other bounds come from Yukawa potential, dispersion relation, and fifth force effects.

Comparison of observational bounds with theoretical models.

Abstract

Recently, aLIGO has announced the first direct detections of gravitational waves, a direct manifestation of the propagating degrees of freedom of gravity. The detected signals GW150914 and GW151226 have been used to examine the basic properties of these gravitational degrees of freedom, particularly setting an upper bound on their mass. It is timely to review what the mass of these gravitational degrees of freedom means from the theoretical point of view, particularly taking into account the recent developments in constructing consistent massive gravity theories. Apart from the GW150914 mass bound, a few other observational bounds have been established from the effects of the Yukawa potential, modified dispersion relation and fifth force that are all induced when the fundamental gravitational degrees of freedom are massive. We review these different mass bounds and examine how they stand in the wake of recent theoretical developments and how they compare to the bound from GW150914.