MFB: A Mid-Frequency-Band Space Gravitational Wave Observer for the 2020 Decade

TL;DR

This paper advocates for a Mid-Frequency-Band gravitational wave observatory in geosynchronous orbit, filling a crucial gap between existing ground-based and space-based detectors to enable early detection of various astrophysical sources.

Contribution

It proposes the development of a mid-frequency gravitational wave observatory in geosynchronous orbit, highlighting its potential to observe sources before LIGO and LISA can.

Findings

MFB can detect medium mass BBH and BNS before LIGO.

It can observe EMRIs and supermassive BBH mergers.

MFB offers a promising frequency band for early GW astrophysics.

Abstract

We make the case for the early development of a Mid-Frequency-Band (MFB) gravitational wave (GW) observatory in geosynchronous orbit (73,000 km arm), optimized for the frequency band 10 mHz to 1 Hz. MFB bridges the science acquisition frequencies between the ground observatories LIGO/VIRGO (4/3 km arm - as well as future planned ones 10/40 km arm), and the milli-hertz band of LISA (2.5 Gm arm)- with usable sensitivity extending to 10 Hz. We argue that this band will enable the timely development of this game-changing field of astrophysics, with observations of medium mass Binary Black Holes (BBH) and Binary Neutron Stars (BNS) sources prior to their mergers in the LIGO frequency range as well as Extreme Mass Ratio Inspirals (EMRI)s and mergers of supermassive BBH within the main detection band. MFB is better placed than LISA to access this exciting frequency region.