Graviton Mass in the Era of Multi-Messenger Astronomy

Abstract

The idea of massive graviton plays a fundamental role in modern physics as a landmark of most scenarios related to modified gravity theories. Limits on graviton mass can be obtained through different methods, using all the capabilities of multi-messenger astronomy available today. In this paper, we consider some emerging opportunities. In particular, modified relativistic dispersion relations of massive gravitons may lead to changes in the travel time of gravitational waves (GWs) emitted from distant astrophysical objects. Strong gravitational lensing of signals from a carefully selected class of extra-galactic sources such as compact object binaries (actually, binary neutron stars) is predicted to play an important role in this context. Comparing time delays between images of the lensed GW signal and its electromagnetic (EM) counterpart may be a new model-independent strategy (proposed by us in X.-L. Fan et al., 2017), which is especially promising in light of the fruitful observing runs of interferometric GW detectors, resulting in numerous GW signals. In addition to this direct, kinematic method, one can use an indirect, static method. In this approach, the non-zero graviton mass would modify estimates of the total cluster mass via a Yukawa term, influencing the Newtonian potential. In A. Piórkowska-Kurpas et al., 2022, using the X-COP galaxy cluster sample, we obtained mg<(4.99−6.79)×10−29 eV (at 95% C.L.), which is one of the best available constraints.