Cosmographic parameters from current and next-generation gravitational wave detectors

TL;DR

This paper assesses how current and future gravitational wave detectors can measure cosmographic parameters like the Hubble constant, deceleration, and jerk, highlighting the improved precision with next-generation detectors such as Einstein Telescope and DECIGO.

Contribution

It evaluates the potential of gravitational wave detectors to constrain cosmographic parameters using a third-order Taylor expansion and standard sirens.

Findings

Advanced LIGO measures H0 at a few percent accuracy.

Einstein Telescope and DECIGO reach sub-percent H0 precision.

DECIGO achieves better than 10% for q0 and tens of percent for j0.

Abstract

We evaluate the capability of current and next-generation gravitational wave detectors, such as Advanced LIGO, Einstein Telescope and DECIGO, to constrain cosmographic parameters using electromagnetically bright standard sirens. By adopting a third-order Taylor expansion, we analyze how signal-to-noise ratios and the number of events impact the estimates of the Hubble constant ($H_0$), the deceleration ($q_0$) and jerk ($j_0$) parameters. Our results show that while Advanced LIGO provides a calibration-free measurement of $H_0$ at the few-percent level, it remains insensitive to higher-order parameters. In contrast, the Einstein Telescope and DECIGO reach sub-percent accuracy for $H_0$. Notably, DECIGO achieves a precision better than 10\% for the deceleration parameter $q_0$ and a few tens of percent for the jerk parameter $j_0$.