INO: Interplanetary Network of Optical Lattice Clocks

TL;DR

The paper proposes using space-based optical lattice clocks and Doppler tracking to detect low-frequency gravitational waves, enabling observation of supermassive black-hole mergers with high sensitivity and an estimated event rate of 20-50 annually.

Contribution

It introduces the INO system, a novel space network of optical lattice clocks for gravitational wave detection below 1 Hz, with significant sensitivity improvements over previous missions.

Findings

Sensitivity of h_n ~ 10^{-17} to 10^{-18} in 10^{-5}Hz to 1Hz range.

Potential to observe black-hole mergers >10^5 solar masses.

Estimated detection rate of 20-50 events per year.

Abstract

The new technique of measuring frequency by optical lattice clocks now approaches to the relative precision of $(\Delta f/f)=O(10^{-18})$. We propose to place such precise clocks in space and to use Doppler tracking method for detecting low-frequency gravitational wave below 1 Hz. Our idea is to locate three spacecrafts at one A.U. distance (say at L1, L4 & L5 of the Sun-Earth orbit), and apply the Doppler tracking method by communicating "the time" each other. Applying the current available technologies, we obtain the sensitivity for gravitational wave with three or four-order improvement ($h_{\rm n}\sim 10^{-17}$ or $10^{-18}$ level in $10^{-5}$Hz -- $1$ Hz) than that of Cassini spacecraft in 2001. This sensitivity enables us to observe black-hole mergers of their mass greater than $10^5 M_\odot$ in the cosmological scale. Based on the hierarchical growth model of black-holes in galaxies, we estimate the event rate of detection will be 20-50 a year. We nickname "INO" (Interplanetary Network of Optical Lattice Clocks) for this system, named after Tadataka Ino (1745--1818), a Japanese astronomer, cartographer, and geodesist.