Limits on the stochastic gravitational wave background and prospects for single-source detection with GRACE Follow-On

• DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.101.102004
• Publication Date: 2020-05-21T16:42:22Z
• Authors: M. P. Ross; C. A. Hagedorn; E. A. Shaw; A. L. Lockwood; B. M. Iritani; J. G. Lee; K. Venkateswara; J. H. Gundlach
• Keywords: 0103 physical sciences; FOS: Physical sciences; General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc); 01 natural sciences; General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology; 620

With a reinterpretation of recent results, the GRACE Follow-On mission can be applied to gravitational wave astronomy. Existing GRACE Follow-On data constrain the stochastic gravitational wave background to $��_{GW}<3.3\times10^{7}$ at 100 mHz. With a dedicated analysis, GRACE Follow-On may be able to detect the inspiral of local neutron star binaries, inspiral of subgalactic stellar-mass black hole binaries, or mergers of intermediate-mass black hole binaries within the Milky Way.