The gravitational wave symphony of the Universe

TL;DR

This paper discusses the upcoming gravitational wave detectors, both ground-based and space-based, which will enable new observations of the universe's most extreme phenomena, opening a novel window into the dark universe.

Contribution

It highlights the potential scientific discoveries enabled by the future gravitational wave network, emphasizing its role in exploring phenomena inaccessible to traditional astronomy.

Findings

Detection of gravitational waves from neutron stars and black holes

Observation of early universe phase transitions and quantum fluctuations

Establishment of a new observational window into the dark universe

Abstract

The new millennium will see the upcoming of several ground-based interferometric gravitational wave antennas. Within the next decade a space-based antenna may also begin to observe the distant Universe. These gravitational wave detectors will together operate as a network taking data continuously for several years, watching the transient and continuous phenomena occurring in the deep cores of astronomical objects and dense environs of the early Universe where gravity was extremely strong and highly non-linear. The network will listen to the waves from rapidly spinning non-axisymmetric neutron stars, normal modes of black holes, binary black hole inspiral and merger, phase transitions in the early Universe, quantum fluctuations resulting in a characteristic background in the early Universe. The gravitational wave antennas will open a new window to observe the dark Universe unreachable via other channels of astronomical observations.