Related papers: Particle Physics and Gravitational Waves as comple…
Understanding dense matter under extreme conditions is one of the most fundamental puzzles in modern physics. Complex interactions give rise to emergent, collective phenomena. While nuclear experiments and Earth - based colliders provide…
Gravitational waves (GWs) are fluctuations in the fabric of spacetime predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity. Using a collection of millisecond pulsars as high-precision clocks, the nanohertz band of this radiation is likely…
We summarise the physics of first-order phase transitions in the early universe, and the possible ways in which they might come about. We then focus on gravitational waves, emphasising general qualitative features of stochastic backgrounds…
In the coming decade, gravitational waves will convert the study of general relativistic aspects of black holes and stars from a largely theoretical enterprise to a highly interactive, observational/theoretical one. For example,…
Ten short years ago, we had the rare privilege of witnessing the onset of a renaissance in science: humanity finally succeeded in its arduous quest to directly detect gravitational waves. This breakthrough did not occur in a vacuum: it was…
Pulsar timing experiments are reaching sufficient sensitivity to detect a postulated stochastic gravitational wave background generated by merging supermassive black hole systems in the cores of galaxies. We describe the techniques behind…
Gravitational waves potentially represent our only direct probe of the universe when it was less than one second old. In particular, first-order phase transitions in the early universe can generate a stochastic background of gravitational…
The grand challenges of contemporary fundamental physics---dark matter, dark energy, vacuum energy, inflation and early universe cosmology, singularities and the hierarchy problem---all involve gravity as a key component. And of all…
This article describes a set of curriculum modifications designed to integrate gravitational-wave science into a high school physics or astronomy curriculum. Gravitational-wave scientists are on the verge of being able to detect extreme…
A primordial spectrum of gravitational waves serves as a backlight to the relativistic degrees of freedom of the cosmological fluid. Any change in the particle physics content, due to a change of phase or freeze-out of a species, will leave…
A world-wide array of highly sensitive interferometers stands poised to usher in a new era in astronomy with the first direct detection of gravitational waves. The data from these instruments will provide a unique perspective on extreme…
Theories of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking predict a strong first order cosmological phase transition: we compute the resulting signals, primordial black holes and gravitational waves. These theories employ one SM-neutral scalar,…
In this article, I introduce ideas and techniques to extract information about the equation of state of matter at very high densities from gravitational waves emitted before, during and after the merger of binary neutron stars. I also…
Gravitational wave detectors are already operating at interesting sensitivity levels, and they have an upgrade path that should result in secure detections by 2014. We review the physics of gravitational waves, how they interact with…
Over a hundred gravitational-wave signals have now been detected from the mergers of black holes and neutron stars, but other sources of gravitational waves have not yet been discovered. Some of the most violent explosive events in the…
"If one could ever prove the existence of gravitational waves, the processes responsible for their generation would probably be much more curious and interesting than even the waves themselves." (Gustav Mie, 1868 - 1957) The discovery of…
Gravitational-wave astronomy has the potential to substantially advance our knowledge of the cosmos, from the most powerful astrophysical engines to the initial stages of our universe. Gravitational waves also carry information about the…
Until recently, the only way to observe the Universe was from light received by telescopes. But we are now able to measure gravitational waves, which are ripples in the fabric of the Universe predicted by Albert Einstein. If two very dense…
Gravitational waves (GW) are expected to interact with dark energy and dark matter, affecting their propagation on cosmological scales. In order to model this interaction, we derive a gauge invariant effective equation and action valid for…
A stochastic background of gravitational waves can be created by the superposition of a large number of independent sources. The physical processes occurring at the earliest moments of the universe certainly created a stochastic background…