Testing the anisotropy of the universe using the simulated gravitational wave events from advanced LIGO and Virgo

Hai-Nan Lin, Jin Li, Xin Li

Published 2018-02-02Version 1

The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) provides a powerful tool to constrain the cosmological parameters. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of using GWs as standard sirens in testing the anisotropy of the universe. We consider the GW signals produced by the coalescence of binary black hole systems and simulate hundreds of GW events from the advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo. It is found that the anisotropy of the universe can be tightly constrained if the redshift of the GW source is precisely known. The anisotropic amplitude can be constrained with an accuracy comparable to the Union2.1 complication of type-Ia supernovae if $\sim 400$ GW events are observed. As for the preferred direction, more than $800$ GW events are needed in order to achieve the accuracy of Union2.1. With 800 GW events, the probability of pseudo anisotropic signals with an amplitude comparable to Union2.1 is negligible. These results show that GWs as standard sirens are very promising in testing the anisotropy of the universe.