Cosmological mirror symmetry and gravitational-wave helicity

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Calderón-Bustillo, Juan, del Rio, Adrian, Leong, Samson H. W., Sanchis-Gual, Nicolas
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Calderón-Bustillo, Juan
del Rio, Adrian
Leong, Samson H. W.
Sanchis-Gual, Nicolas
author_facet Calderón-Bustillo, Juan
del Rio, Adrian
Leong, Samson H. W.
Sanchis-Gual, Nicolas
contents Our current understanding of the Universe relies on the hypothesis that, when observed at sufficiently large scales, it looks statistically identical regardless of location or direction of observation. Consequently, the Universe should exhibit mirror-reflection symmetry. In this essay, we show that gravitational-wave astronomy provides a unique, observer-independent test of this hypothesis. In particular, we analyze the average circular polarization emitted by an ensemble of binary black hole mergers detected by LIGO-Virgo, which we compute using a novel geometric and chiral observable in general relativity. We discuss current results and future prospects with upcoming detections and technical advancements. Moreover, we show that this circular polarization and the helicity of the remnant black hole are linearly correlated, drawing a conceptual parallel with Wu experiment in particle physics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_09699
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Cosmological mirror symmetry and gravitational-wave helicity
Calderón-Bustillo, Juan
del Rio, Adrian
Leong, Samson H. W.
Sanchis-Gual, Nicolas
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Our current understanding of the Universe relies on the hypothesis that, when observed at sufficiently large scales, it looks statistically identical regardless of location or direction of observation. Consequently, the Universe should exhibit mirror-reflection symmetry. In this essay, we show that gravitational-wave astronomy provides a unique, observer-independent test of this hypothesis. In particular, we analyze the average circular polarization emitted by an ensemble of binary black hole mergers detected by LIGO-Virgo, which we compute using a novel geometric and chiral observable in general relativity. We discuss current results and future prospects with upcoming detections and technical advancements. Moreover, we show that this circular polarization and the helicity of the remnant black hole are linearly correlated, drawing a conceptual parallel with Wu experiment in particle physics.
title Cosmological mirror symmetry and gravitational-wave helicity
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.09699