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  • Open Access

Irreducible gravitational wave background as a particle detector

Anish Ghoshal1,*, Angus Spalding2,†, and Graham White2,‡

  • *Contact author: A.Ghoshal@sussex.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: angus.spalding1@gmail.com
  • ‡Contact author: G.A.White@soton.ac.uk
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 063539 – Published 22 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/3d8p-8q4v

Abstract

Beyond the standard model particles can imprint a temporary early matter-dominated epoch on a stochastic gravitational-wave background. For a freely propagating background whose production has ceased, we show that the resulting feature contains two characteristic frequencies that determine the particle decay rate Γ and the abundance-weighted mass YiM, independently of the microphysical origin of the gravitational-wave source. Using numerical scans, we derive semianalytic relations between these characteristic frequencies and the beyond the standard model particle parameters, and quantify the parameter ranges over which these relations remain valid. For backgrounds that remain actively sourced, the end of early matter domination continues to define a source-independent cosmological frequency scale controlled by Γ, although the second feature, and hence the inference of YiM, is source dependent. Once a particle model and production mechanism are specified, the measured combinations can be translated into masses and microscopic couplings. Remarkably, decay lengths targeted by upcoming long-lived-particle searches map directly onto the nanohertz range in which NANOGrav has reported evidence for a stochastic gravitational-wave background.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 063539– Published 22 September, 2026
  • Received 6 June 2026
  • Accepted 28 August 2026
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