Squashed Pyramid Interferometer Network (SPIN): Direct Access to Chirality of Cosmological Gravitational Waves

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Main Authors: Kharzeev, Dmitri E., Maleknejad, Azadeh, Shalamberidze, Saba
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Kharzeev, Dmitri E.
Maleknejad, Azadeh
Shalamberidze, Saba
author_facet Kharzeev, Dmitri E.
Maleknejad, Azadeh
Shalamberidze, Saba
contents The cosmological gravitational wave background provides a powerful window on parity-violating physics at energies far beyond the reach of terrestrial experiments. However, any colocated planar detector network is insensitive to isotropic circular polarization, independent of its relative orientation. In this Letter, we show that this no-go result can be evaded by a new class of colocated 3D interferometer designs, which we call Squashed Pyramid, whose non-coplanar configuration geometrically isolates chirality. The design can be viewed as a minimal extension of the Einstein Telescope geometry, obtained by introducing a slightly tilted arm relative to the ET planar configuration. The coplanar correlation channel is blind to circular polarization, whereas the colocated non-coplanar channel is insensitive to the unpolarized background and acquires a response only in the presence of nonzero net helicity. Squashed Pyramid interferometer networks therefore furnish a unique probe of cosmological gravitational wave chirality, opening a realistic terrestrial pathway to test parity violation and fundamental symmetry breaking in the early Universe.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_08471
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Squashed Pyramid Interferometer Network (SPIN): Direct Access to Chirality of Cosmological Gravitational Waves
Kharzeev, Dmitri E.
Maleknejad, Azadeh
Shalamberidze, Saba
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
The cosmological gravitational wave background provides a powerful window on parity-violating physics at energies far beyond the reach of terrestrial experiments. However, any colocated planar detector network is insensitive to isotropic circular polarization, independent of its relative orientation. In this Letter, we show that this no-go result can be evaded by a new class of colocated 3D interferometer designs, which we call Squashed Pyramid, whose non-coplanar configuration geometrically isolates chirality. The design can be viewed as a minimal extension of the Einstein Telescope geometry, obtained by introducing a slightly tilted arm relative to the ET planar configuration. The coplanar correlation channel is blind to circular polarization, whereas the colocated non-coplanar channel is insensitive to the unpolarized background and acquires a response only in the presence of nonzero net helicity. Squashed Pyramid interferometer networks therefore furnish a unique probe of cosmological gravitational wave chirality, opening a realistic terrestrial pathway to test parity violation and fundamental symmetry breaking in the early Universe.
title Squashed Pyramid Interferometer Network (SPIN): Direct Access to Chirality of Cosmological Gravitational Waves
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.08471