Joint observations of space-based gravitational-wave detectors: Source localization and implications for parity-violating gravity

Space-based gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, including LISA, Taiji and TianQin, are able to detect mHz GW signals produced by mergers of supermassive black hole binaries, which opens a new window for GW astronomy. In this article, we numerically estimate the potential capabilities of the future networks of multiple space-based detectors using Bayesian analysis. We modify the public package Bilby and employ the sampler PyMultiNest to analyze the simulated data of the space-based detector networks, and investigate their abilities for source localization and testing the parity symmetry of gravity. In comparison with the case of an individual detector, we find detector networks can significantly improve the source localization. While for constraining the parity symmetry of gravity, we find that detector networks and an individual detector follow the similar constraints on the parity-violating energy scale M-PV. Similar analysis can be applied to other potential observations of various space-based GW detectors.

Automated summary

This study numerically estimates the potential capabilities of future networks of multiple space-based detectors using Bayesian analysis, finding that detector networks significantly improve source localization accuracy and have similar effects as individual detectors in constraining the parity symmetry of gravity.