Detecting White Dwarf Binary Mergers with Gravitational Waves

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential of mid-band gravitational wave detectors like MAGIS Space and AEDGE to detect signals from white dwarf binary mergers, enabling early warnings and multi-messenger observations of Type Ia supernovae.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of white dwarf binary gravitational wave signals in the mid-band and assesses their detectability with proposed space-based atom-interferometer detectors.

Findings

MAGIS Space could detect at least one white dwarf merger every four years.

AEDGE could observe hundreds of white dwarf mergers annually.

Prolonged GW signals enable precise localization and early warning for supernovae.

Abstract

Mergers of white dwarf binaries are a possible progenitor channel for Type Ia supernovae. While white dwarfs are abundant in the universe and relatively well understood, their gravitational wave signals have not yet been directly observed. In order to detect gravitational waves from merging white dwarf binaries, a detector in the mid-band between LVK and LISA appears necessary. In this paper, we compute and discuss the gravitational waves emitted by inspiraling and merging white dwarf binaries, and assess their detectability with proposed space-based atom-interferometer detectors such as MAGIS Space and AEDGE. Gravitational waves from massive white dwarf binaries can be observed for many years before merger, offering a unique early warning of their final explosion. Our projections suggest that MAGIS Space could detect signals from Type Ia supernova progenitors at least once every four years, while AEDGE could observe at least a few hundred such events annually. The prolonged gravitational wave emission captured by atom-interferometers provides precise sky localisation and can allow observation of the final explosion with electromagnetic telescopes. The combined observation with electromagnetic radiation from the white dwarf binary coalescence could open a new pathway for multi-messenger astronomy involving some of the brightest transient events in the universe.