Figure 2

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"Testing General Relativity with Low-Frequency, Space-Based Gravitational-Wave Detectors"

Jonathan R. Gair and Michele Vallisneri and Shane L. Larson and John G. Baker

	Abstract
1	Introduction
2	The Theory of Gravitation
	2.1	Will’s “standard model” of gravitational theories
	2.2	Alternative theories
	2.3	The black-hole paradigm
3	Space-Based Missions to Detect Gravitational Waves
	3.1	The classic LISA architecture
	3.2	LISA-like observatories
	3.3	Mid-frequency space-based observatories
4	Summary of Low-Frequency Gravitational-Wave Sources
	4.1	Massive black-hole coalescences
	4.2	Extreme-mass-ratio inspirals
	4.3	Galactic binaries
5	Gravitational-Wave Tests of Gravitational Physics
	5.1	The “classic tests” of general relativity with gravitational waves
	5.2	Tests of general relativity with phenomenological inspiral template families
	5.3	Beyond the binary inspiral
6	Tests of the Nature and Structure of Black Holes
	6.1	Current observational status
	6.2	Tests of black-hole structure using EMRIs
	6.3	Tests of black-hole structure using ringdown radiation: black-hole spectroscopy
	6.4	Prospects from gravitational-wave and other observations
7	Discussion
	Acknowledgements
	References
	Footnotes
	Figures
	Tables

Figure 2: The discovery space for space-based GW detectors, covering the low-frequency region of the GW spectrum, $−5 10 Hz ≲ f ≲ 0.1 Hz$ . The discovery space is delineated by the LISA threshold sensitivity curve [277] in black, and by the eLISA sensitivity curve in red [21] (the curves were produced using the online sensitivity curve and source plotting website [321]). This region is populated by a wealth of strong sources, often in large numbers, including mergers of MBHs, EMRIs of stellar-scale compact objects into MBHs, and millions of close-orbiting binary systems in the galaxy. Thousands of the strongest signals from these galactic binary systems should be individually resolvable, while the combined signals of millions of them produce a stochastic background at low frequencies. These systems provide ample opportunities for astrophysical tests of GR for gravitational-field strengths that are not well characterized and studied in conventional astronomy.