Does the speed of gravitational waves depend on the source velocity?

Abstract

The second postulate of special relativity states that the speed of light in vacuum is independent of the emitter’s motion. The test of this postulate so far remains unexplored for gravitational radiation. We analyze data from the LIGO-Virgo detectors to test this postulate within the ambit of a model where the speed of the emitted GWs (c′) from a binary depends on a characteristic velocity ˜v proportional to that of the reduced one-body system as c′=c+k˜v, where k is a constant. We have estimated the upper bound on the 90% credible interval over k to be k≤8.3×10−18, which is several orders of magnitude more stringent compared to previous bounds obtained from electromagnetic observations. The Bayes’ factor supports the second postulate with a strong evidence that the data is consistent with the null hypothesis k=0, upholding the principle of relativity for gravitational interactions.