Probing the Sound Speed of Dark Energy with a Lunar Laser Interferometer
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arXiv
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| Auteurs principaux: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Publié: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866908798544773120 |
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| author | Gurrola, Alfredo Scherrer, Robert J. Trivedi, Oem |
| author_facet | Gurrola, Alfredo Scherrer, Robert J. Trivedi, Oem |
| contents | The sound speed of dark energy encodes fundamental information about the microphysics underlying cosmic acceleration, yet remains essentially unconstrained by existing observations. We demonstrate that a lunar-based laser interferometer, such as the proposed Laser Interferometer Lunar Antenna (LILA), can directly probe the sound speed of dark energy by measuring the real-time evolution of horizon-scale gravitational potentials. Operating in the ultra-low-frequency gravitational band inaccessible from Earth, LILA is sensitive to scalar metric perturbations sourced by dark energy dynamics. Using both fluid and effective field theory descriptions, we develop a complete framework linking dark energy sound speed to observable strain signatures. We construct a likelihood pipeline and Fisher forecasts, showing that LILA can either detect clustering dark energy or exclude broad classes of models with unprecedented sensitivity. This establishes lunar interferometry as a novel and powerful probe of the physics driving cosmic acceleration. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_22084 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Probing the Sound Speed of Dark Energy with a Lunar Laser Interferometer Gurrola, Alfredo Scherrer, Robert J. Trivedi, Oem Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Theory The sound speed of dark energy encodes fundamental information about the microphysics underlying cosmic acceleration, yet remains essentially unconstrained by existing observations. We demonstrate that a lunar-based laser interferometer, such as the proposed Laser Interferometer Lunar Antenna (LILA), can directly probe the sound speed of dark energy by measuring the real-time evolution of horizon-scale gravitational potentials. Operating in the ultra-low-frequency gravitational band inaccessible from Earth, LILA is sensitive to scalar metric perturbations sourced by dark energy dynamics. Using both fluid and effective field theory descriptions, we develop a complete framework linking dark energy sound speed to observable strain signatures. We construct a likelihood pipeline and Fisher forecasts, showing that LILA can either detect clustering dark energy or exclude broad classes of models with unprecedented sensitivity. This establishes lunar interferometry as a novel and powerful probe of the physics driving cosmic acceleration. |
| title | Probing the Sound Speed of Dark Energy with a Lunar Laser Interferometer |
| topic | Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.22084 |