Probing Scalar Polarization with Next-Generation Gravitational-Wave Detectors: The Roles of Detector Geometry and Source Inclination

Abstract

Gravitational-wave observations of compact binaries offer a direct way to test whether gravity admits polarizations beyond the two tensor modes of general relativity. We perform a forecast to assess how well future multi-messenger events will constrain the presence of scalar polarizations in gravitational waves. Performing binary neutron star injections, we forecast next-generation constraints on three modified gravity parameters in the PPE formalism: $α$ (tensor amplitude), $α_B$ (scalar amplitude) and $β$ (tensor and scalar phase). Cosmic Explorer (CE) and Einstein Telescope (ET) each tighten every parameter by 1--2 orders of magnitude over an O5 LIGO-Virgo network, with ET's triangular geometry giving a persistent $\approx2\times$ improvement over 2$\times$CE on the scalar-mode amplitude $α_B$ in both a GW170817-like and a second, representative BNS. We show that, if the sky position and luminosity distance are known from EM observations, adding an EM-based prior on the orbital inclination $ι$ narrows the $α_B$ constraint by $\approx56\times$ relative to an isotropic inclination prior, for a GW170817-like event. We also assess how EM inclination priors as well as assumptions on the neutron star equation of state may affect the inference on the scalar amplitude $α_B$. Overall, these results indicate that detector geometry and the availability of well-placed EM external information are both important levers --- alongside raw network sensitivity --- for next decade scalar-polarization tests.