The science obejctives for LISA describe the science that LISA is
intended to provide. The subsequent investigations highlight the
ways of obtaining the science by evaluating the LISA science
data. The science objectives are discussed in more detail in the
LISA Science Requirement Document and in the LISA Science Survey.
| 1. |
Trace the formation, growth, and merger history of massive black holes |
|
1.1 |
Trace the formation, growth, and merger history of
intermediate-mass black holes and massive black holes out to redshift z = 15 |
|
1.2 |
Determine the merger history of massive black holess
with masses of
104 Msol – 3×105 Msol
from the era of the earliest known quasars, z ∼ 6 |
|
1.3 |
Determine the merger history of massive black holes with
masses between 3×106 Msol and
107 Msol at later epochs,
z < 6 |
2. |
Explore stellar populations and dynamics in galactic nuclei |
|
2.1. |
Characterize the immediate environment of massive
black holes in z < 1 galactic nuclei
from extreme mass-ratio inspiral capture signals. |
|
2.2. |
Study intermediate-mass black holes from their capture
signals. |
|
2.3. |
Improve our understanding of stars and gas in the
vicinity of Galactic black holes using coordinated gravitational
and electromagnetic observations. |
| 3. |
Survey compact stellar-mass binaries and study
the structure of the Galaxy |
|
3.1. |
Elucidate the formation and evolution of Galactic
stellar-mass binaries: constrain the diffuse extragalactic
foreground. |
|
3.2. |
Determine the spatial distribution of stellar mass
binaries in the Milky Way and environs. |
|
3.3. |
Improve our understanding of
white dwarfs, their masses, and their interactions in
binaries and enable combined gravitational and
electromagnetic observations. |
| 4. |
Confront General Relativity with observations |
|
5.1. |
Detect gravitational waves directly and measure their
properties precisely. |
|
5.2. |
Test whether the central massive objects in galactic nuclei are the black holes of
general relativity. |
|
5.3. |
Make precision tests of dynamical strong-field
gravity. |
| 5. |
Probe new physics and cosmology with
gravitational waves |
|
5.1. |
Study cosmic expansion history, geometry and dark energy
using precise gravitationally calibrated distances in
cases where redshifts are measured. |
|
5.2. |
Measure the spectrum of, or set bounds on, cosmological
backgrounds. |
|
5.3. |
Search for burst events from cosmic string cusps. |
|
5.4 |
Search for unforeseen sources of gravitational waves |
