Faint Radio Signals from Very High-Frequency Gravitational Waves in the Strong Astrophysical Magnetic Field (2412.05338v1)

Abstract: Gravitational waves (GWs) may convert into photons in a magnetic field (MF) through the Gertsenshtein-Zeldovich (GZ) effect. The properties of the MF significantly influence this conversion probability. Although interstellar and interplanetary magnetic fields are vast, their low intensities result in limited conversion probabilities. Here, we confirm that strong MFs in neutron stars significantly increase this conversion probability. We use single-dish telescopes FAST, TMRT, QTT, and GBT, as well as the radio interferometers SKA1-MID and SKA2-MID, to estimate the detection potential of very high-frequency (VHF) GWs. We infer two types of signals in the $10^{6}-10^{11}\mathrm{~Hz}$ radio waveband: transient and persistent signals. We propose three criteria for distinguishing signals from other astrophysical signals while identifying different GW sources. We derive the expected intrinsic spectral line shapes for gravitons by considering their mass and spin in quantum field theory (QFT). These are smooth, continuous lines that don't have any absorption or emission features. FAST has the highest sensitivity in single-dish telescopes for detecting VHF GWs, it provides a bound on the characteristic strain at $h_c<10^{-23}$ near $h_c=10^{-24}$ within $\left[1\mathrm{~GHz}, 3\mathrm{~GHz}\right]$ with 6 hours of observation time. This exceeds the threshold for detecting VHF GWs produced by primordial black holes (PBHs) with over $5\sigma$ confidence and approaches the Big Bang nucleosynthesis bound. Moreover, SKA2-MID has greater detection potential. Detection of such GWs would enhance our understanding of cosmological models, refine the PBH parameter spaces, and serve as a test for QFT.