The Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna: Mission Studies and Science Case

TL;DR

The paper proposes the Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna (LGWA), a lunar-based detector for gravitational waves in the 1 mHz to 1 Hz range, bridging space and terrestrial detectors and enabling multi-messenger astronomy.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive analysis of LGWA's science case, mission planning, and potential lunar science applications.

Findings

LGWA can detect GWs from 1 mHz to 1 Hz.

LGWA bridges the sensitivity gap between space and terrestrial GW detectors.

The study outlines lunar science opportunities with LGWA data.

Abstract

The Lunar Gravitational-wave Antenna (LGWA) is a proposed array of next-generation inertial sensors to monitor the response of the Moon to gravitational waves (GWs). Given the size of the Moon and the expected noise produced by the lunar seismic background, the LGWA would be able to observe GWs from about 1 mHz to 1 Hz. This would make the LGWA the missing link between space-borne detectors like LISA with peak sensitivities around a few millihertz and proposed future terrestrial detectors like Einstein Telescope or Cosmic Explorer. In this article, we provide a first comprehensive analysis of the LGWA science case including its multi-messenger aspects and lunar science with LGWA data. We also describe the scientific analyses of the Moon required to plan the LGWA mission.