Thermal Inflation and the Gravitational Wave Background
Abstract
We consider the impact of thermal inflation -- a short, secondary period of inflation that can arise in supersymmetric scenarios -- on the stochastic gravitational wave background. We show that while the primordial inflationary gravitational wave background is essentially unchanged at CMB scales, it is massively diluted at solar system scales and would be unobservable by a BBO style experiment. Conversely, bubble collisions at the end of thermal inflation can generate a new stochastic background. We calculate the likely properties of the bubbles created during this phase transition, and show that the expected amplitude and frequency of this signal would fall within the BBO range.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0801.4197,
title = {Thermal Inflation and the Gravitational Wave Background},
author = {Richard Easther and John T. Giblin and Eugene A. Lim and Wan-Il Park and Ewan D. Stewart},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0801.4197},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
21 pages, 4 figures; accepted for JCAP; a reference added; table reformatted