Narrowing Down Sources of High-Frequency Gravitational Waves

TL;DR

This paper explores potential sources of high-frequency gravitational waves above 100 kHz, emphasizing model-independent constraints and identifying the most promising theoretical regions for future detection.

Contribution

It provides model-independent arguments to narrow down the source regions of high-frequency gravitational waves and constrains their physical properties.

Findings

Gravitational waves above 1 MHz likely originate within the Solar System.

Model-independent constraints help identify promising source regions.

Energy conservation limits the possible mechanisms for high-frequency GW production.

Abstract

Detecting gravitational waves above 100 kHz would constitute a major discovery, as any observable signal would have to arise from new physics within the late universe. Although many technologies have been identified to explore this high-frequency regime, the known landscape of promising sources remains extremely sparse. In this work, we aim to rectify this issue by providing model-independent arguments that highlight the most interesting parts of theory space, while remaining agnostic of the specific signal mechanism. For example, energy-conservation implies that gravitational waves detectable by future experiments well above a MHz would most likely have to originate from within the Solar System. Based on these arguments, we also constrain the physical properties of such sources.