Fundamental physics and cosmology with TianQin
Abstract The exploration of the surrounding world and the universe is an important theme in the legacy of humankind. The detection of gravitational waves is adding a new dimension to this grand effort. What are the fundamental physical laws governing the dynamics of the universe? What is the fundamental composition of the universe? How has the universe evolved in the past and how will it evolve in the future? These are the basic questions that press for answers. The space-based gravitational wave detector TianQin will tune in to gravitational waves in the millihertz frequency range ( $$10^{-4}$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mn>10</mml:mn> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>4</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:msup> </mml:math> –1 Hz, to be specific), opening a new gravitational wave spectrum window to explore many of the previously hidden sectors of the universe. TianQin will discover many astrophysical systems, populating the universe at different redshifts: some will be of new types that have never been detected before, some will have very high signal-to-noise ratios, and some will have very high parameter estimation precision. The plethora of information collected will bring us to new fronts on which to search for the breaking points of general relativity, the possible violation of established physical laws, the signature of possible new gravitational physics and new fundamental fields, and to improve our knowledge on the expansion history of the universe. In this white paper, we highlight the advances that TianQin can bring to fundamental physics and cosmology.
Authors
- Haipeng An (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5431-6025)
- Jianwei Mei (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2140-9687)
- Anzhong Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8852-9966)
- Lijing Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1334-8853)
- Misao Sasaki
- Changfu Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2252-3131)
- Shao-Jiang Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4378-870X)
- F T Huang
- Konstantin Postnov
- S. Huang
- En-Kun Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3186-8721)
- Jian-dong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5930-6739)
- Xi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4638-3997)
- HE Jian-hua
- M. A. Hendry
- Sang Pyo Kim
- Wenbiao Han
- Wencong Hong
- Pan-Pan Wang
- Wen Zhao
- Sai Wang
- Yi-Ming Hu
- Huan Yang
- Shuo Sun
- Zhoujian Cao
- Vadim Milyukov
- Shi Pi
- Jun Luo
- Ligong Bian
- Liang-Gui Zhu
- Zhong-Zhi Xianyu
- Rong-Gen Cai
- Tao Yang
- Cheng-Gang Shao
- Bin Hu
- Yu-Xiao Liu
Institutions
- Ningbo University (CN)
- Kunsan National University (KR)
- University of Science and Technology of China (CN)
- Kunming University (CN)
- Baylor University (US)
- Sun Yat-sen University (CN)
- Chongqing University (CN)
- Hangzhou Normal University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Lomonosov Moscow State University (RU)
- Peking University (CN)
- Huazhong Agricultural University (CN)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (CN)
- Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (KR)
- Wuhan University (CN)
- First People's Hospital of Yuhang District (CN)
- Kavli Institute for Theoretical Sciences (CN)
- Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (JP)
- Institute of Theoretical Physics (CN)
- Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)
- Institute of High Energy Physics (CN)
- Institute for Advanced Study (DE)
- Moscow State University (TJ)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Lanzhou University (CN)
- University of Glasgow (GB)
- Nanjing University (CN)
- Northeastern University (CN)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Living Reviews in Relativity
- Published
- 2026-04-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s41114-025-00063-2
- Primary Topic
- Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00