Phase transition during inflation and the gravitational wave signal at pulsar timing arrays

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: An, Haipeng, Su, Boye, Tai, Hanwen, Wang, Lian-Tao, Yang, Chen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author An, Haipeng
Su, Boye
Tai, Hanwen
Wang, Lian-Tao
Yang, Chen
author_facet An, Haipeng
Su, Boye
Tai, Hanwen
Wang, Lian-Tao
Yang, Chen
contents The gravitational wave (GW) signal offers a promising window into the dynamics of the early universe. The recent results from the pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) could be the first glimpse of such new physics. In particular, they could point to new details during inflation, which can not be probed by other means. We explore the possibility that the new results could come from the secondary GWs sourced by curvature perturbations, generated by a first-order phase transition during inflation. Based on the results of a field-theoretic lattice simulation of the phase transition process, we show that the GW signal generated through this mechanism can account for the new results from the PTAs. We analyze the spectral shape of the signal in detail. Future observations can use such information to distinguish the GW signal considered here from other possible sources.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2308_00070
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Phase transition during inflation and the gravitational wave signal at pulsar timing arrays
An, Haipeng
Su, Boye
Tai, Hanwen
Wang, Lian-Tao
Yang, Chen
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
The gravitational wave (GW) signal offers a promising window into the dynamics of the early universe. The recent results from the pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) could be the first glimpse of such new physics. In particular, they could point to new details during inflation, which can not be probed by other means. We explore the possibility that the new results could come from the secondary GWs sourced by curvature perturbations, generated by a first-order phase transition during inflation. Based on the results of a field-theoretic lattice simulation of the phase transition process, we show that the GW signal generated through this mechanism can account for the new results from the PTAs. We analyze the spectral shape of the signal in detail. Future observations can use such information to distinguish the GW signal considered here from other possible sources.
title Phase transition during inflation and the gravitational wave signal at pulsar timing arrays
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.00070