Prospects for weighing neutrinos in interacting dark energy models using joint observations of gravitational waves and γ-ray bursts*

Abstract

Cosmological observations can be used to weigh neutrinos, but this method is model-dependent, with results relying on the cosmological model considered. If we consider interactions between dark energy and dark matter, the neutrino mass constraints differ from those derived under the standard model. On the contrary, gravitational wave (GW) standard siren observations can measure absolute cosmological distances, helping to break parameter degeneracies inherent in traditional cosmological observations, thereby improving constraints on neutrino mass. This paper examines the constraints on neutrino mass within interacting dark energy (IDE) models and explores how future GW standard siren observations could enhance these results. For multi-messenger GW observations, we consider the joint observations of binary neutron star mergers by third-generation ground-based GW detectors and short γ-ray burst observations by missions similar to the THESEUS satellite project. Using current cosmological observations (CMB+BAO+SN), we obtain an upper limit on the neutrino mass in the IDE models of 0.15 (or 0.16) eV. With the inclusion of GW data, the upper limit on the neutrino mass improves to 0.14 eV. This indicates that in the context of IDE models, the improvement in neutrino mass constraints from GW observations is relatively limited. However, GW observations significantly enhance the constraints on other cosmological parameters, such as matter density parameter, the Hubble constant, and coupling strength between dark energy and dark matter.