MHz gravitational wave constraints with decameter Michelson interferometers

Holometer Collaboration

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56 Scopus citations

Abstract

A new detector, the Fermilab Holometer, consists of separate yet identical 39-meter Michelson interferometers. Strain sensitivity achieved is better than 10-21/Hz between 1 to 13 MHz from a 130-h data set. This measurement exceeds the sensitivity and frequency range made from previous high frequency gravitational wave experiments by many orders of magnitude. Constraints are placed on a stochastic background at 382 Hz resolution. The 3σ upper limit on ΩGW, the gravitational wave energy density normalized to the closure density, ranges from 5.6×1012 at 1 MHz to 8.4×1015 at 13 MHz. Another result from the same data set is a search for nearby primordial black hole binaries (PBHB). There are no detectable monochromatic PBHBs in the mass range 0.83-3.5×1021 g between the Earth and the Moon. Projections for a chirp search with the same data set increase the mass range to 0.59-2.5×1025 g and distances out to Jupiter. This result presents a new method for placing limits on a poorly constrained mass range of primordial black holes. Additionally, solar system searches for PBHBs place limits on their contribution to the total dark matter fraction.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number063002
JournalPhysical Review D
Volume95
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 3 2017

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Energy at Fermilab under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH11359 and the Early Career Research Program (FNAL FWP 11-03), and by grants from the John Templeton Foundation, the National Science Foundation (Grants No. PHY-1205254 and No. DGE-1144082), NASA (Grant No. NNX09AR38G), the Fermi Research Alliance, the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago/Fermilab Strategic Collaborative Initiatives, Science Support Consortium, and the Universities Research Association Visiting Scholars Program. B.K. was supported by National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE-0909667), Universities Research Association Visiting Scholars Program and the Ford Foundation. O.K. was supported by the Basic Science Research Program (Grant No. NRF-2016R1D1A1B03934333) of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education. L.M. was supported by National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE-0638477).

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)

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