Gravitational waves in a cyclic Universe: resilience through cycles and vacuum state

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: De Angelis, Mariaveronica, Smith, Adam, Giarè, William, van de Bruck, Carsten
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866929387750817792
author De Angelis, Mariaveronica
Smith, Adam
Giarè, William
van de Bruck, Carsten
author_facet De Angelis, Mariaveronica
Smith, Adam
Giarè, William
van de Bruck, Carsten
contents We present a generalised calculation for the spectrum of primordial tensor perturbations in a cyclic Universe, making no assumptions about the vacuum state of the theory and accounting for the contribution of tensor modes produced in the dark energy phase of the previous cycle. We show that these modes have minimal impact on the spectrum observed in the current cycle, except for corrections on scales as large as the comoving Hubble radius today. These corrections are due to sub-horizon modes produced towards the end of the dark energy phase, persisting into the ekpyrotic phase of the next cycle as additional quanta. In relation to the vacuum state, we argue that non-Bunch-Davies quanta can easily overwhelm the energy density driving the dark energy phase, potentially compromising the model. Therefore, avoiding backreaction effects sets restrictive constraints on deviations away from the Bunch-Davies vacuum during this phase, limiting the overall freedom to consider alternative vacua in the cyclic Universe.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_00533
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Gravitational waves in a cyclic Universe: resilience through cycles and vacuum state
De Angelis, Mariaveronica
Smith, Adam
Giarè, William
van de Bruck, Carsten
High Energy Physics - Theory
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
We present a generalised calculation for the spectrum of primordial tensor perturbations in a cyclic Universe, making no assumptions about the vacuum state of the theory and accounting for the contribution of tensor modes produced in the dark energy phase of the previous cycle. We show that these modes have minimal impact on the spectrum observed in the current cycle, except for corrections on scales as large as the comoving Hubble radius today. These corrections are due to sub-horizon modes produced towards the end of the dark energy phase, persisting into the ekpyrotic phase of the next cycle as additional quanta. In relation to the vacuum state, we argue that non-Bunch-Davies quanta can easily overwhelm the energy density driving the dark energy phase, potentially compromising the model. Therefore, avoiding backreaction effects sets restrictive constraints on deviations away from the Bunch-Davies vacuum during this phase, limiting the overall freedom to consider alternative vacua in the cyclic Universe.
title Gravitational waves in a cyclic Universe: resilience through cycles and vacuum state
topic High Energy Physics - Theory
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.00533