Related papers: The Quest for Gravity Wave B-modes
We present a new signature by which to one could potentially discriminate between a spectrum of gravitational radiation generated by a self-ordering scalar field vs that of inflation, specifically a comparison of the magnitude of a flat…
The recent claim by BICEP2 of evidence for primordial gravitational waves from inflation has focused interest on the potential for early-Universe cosmology using observations of gravitational waves. In addition to cosmic microwave…
We review the prospects for detecting tensor modes generated during inflation by CMB polarization experiments and by searching for a stochastic gravitational wave background with laser interferometers in space. We tackle the following two…
Current bounds from the polarization of the CMB predict the scale-invariant gravitational wave (GW) background of inflation to be out of reach for upcoming GW interferometers. This prospect dramatically changes if the inflaton is a…
We investigate the sources of the Hubble-induced mass for a flat direction in supersymmetric theories and show that the sign of the Hubble-induced mass generally changes just after the end of inflation. This implies that global cosmic…
We investigate the dependence of the gravitational wave spectrum from quintessential inflation on the reheating process. We consider two extreme reheating processes. One is the gravitational reheating by particle creation in the expanding…
Following inflation, the Universe may pass through an early matter-dominated phase supported by the oscillating inflaton condensate. Initially small fluctuations in the condensate grow gravitationally on subhorizon scales and can collapse…
The inflationary $B$-mode signals encode invaluable information about the origin of our Universe and searching for potential signatures of primordial gravitational waves (PGWs) is one of the major science goals for future precision…
The B-mode polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) provides a unique window into tensor perturbations from inflationary gravitational waves. Survey effects complicate the estimation and description of the power spectrum on the…
While many aspects of general relativity have been tested, and general principles of quantum dynamics demand its quantization, there is no direct evidence for that. It has been argued that development of detectors sensitive to individual…
A new effect is described by which primordial gravity waves leave a permanent signature in the large scale structure of the Universe. The effect occurs at second order in perturbation theory and is sensitive to the order in which…
In forthcoming years, connections between cosmology and particle physics will be made increasingly important with the advent of a new generation of cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. Here, we review a number of these links. Our…
Inflation provides a unified paradigm for understanding the isotropy of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the flatness problem, and the origin of large-scale structure. Although the physics responsible for inflation is not yet well…
The recent BICEP2 measurement of B-modes in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background suggests that inflation was driven by a field at an energy scale of $2\times 10^{16}$ GeV. I explore the potential of upcoming CMB polarization…
We reconsider the enhancement of primordial gravitational waves that arises from a quantum gravitational model of inflation. A distinctive feature of this model is that the end of inflation witnesses a brief phase during which the Hubble…
In many models of inflation, the period of accelerated expansion ends with preheating, a highly non-thermal phase of evolution during which the inflaton pumps energy into a specific set of momentum modes of field(s) to which it is coupled.…
One of the most spectacular scientific breakthroughs in past decades was using measurements of the fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to test precisely our understanding of the history and composition of the Universe.…
It is widely accepted that the primordial universe experienced a brief period of accelerated expansion called inflation. This scenario provides a plausible solution to the horizon and flatness problems. However, the particle physics…
In general relativity, a gravitational wave has two polarization modes (tensor mode), but it could have additional polarizations (scalar and vector modes) in the early stage of the universe, where the general relativity may not strictly…
One of the most important issues in an inflationary theory as standard or quintessential inflation is the mechanism to reheat the universe after the end of the inflationary period in order to match with the Hot Big Bang universe. In…