Standard-siren Cosmology Using Gravitational Waves from Binary Black Holes

Abstract

Gravitational-wave astronomy provides a unique new way to study the expansion history of the universe. In this work, we investigate the impact future gravitational-wave observatories will have on cosmology. Third-generation observatories like the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer will be sensitive to essentially all of the binary black hole coalescence events in the universe. Recent work by Farr et al. points out that features in the stellar-mass black hole population break the mass–redshift degeneracy, facilitating precise determination of the Hubble parameter without electromagnetic counterparts or host galaxy catalogs. Using a hierarchical Bayesian inference model, we show that with one year of observations by the Einstein Telescope, the Hubble constant will be measured to ≲1%. We also show that this method can be used to perform Bayesian model selection between cosmological models. As an illustrative example, we find that a decisive statement can be made comparing the ΛCDM and RHCT cosmological models using two weeks of data from the Einstein Telescope.