Cosmic archaeology with gravitational waves from cosmic strings
Abstract
Cosmic strings are generic cosmological predictions of many extensions of the standard model of particle physics, such as a U(1)' symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early Universe or remnants of superstring theory. Unlike other topological defects, cosmic strings can reach a scaling regime that maintains a small fixed fraction of the total energy density of the Universe from a very early epoch until today. If present, they will oscillate and generate gravitational waves with a frequency spectrum that imprints the dominant sources of total cosmic energy density throughout the history of the Universe. We demonstrate that current and future gravitational wave detectors, such as LIGO and LISA, could be capable of measuring the frequency spectrum of gravitational waves from cosmic strings and discerning the energy composition of the Universe at times well before primordial nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background where standard cosmology has yet to be tested. This work establishes a benchmark case that gravitational waves may provide an unprecedented, powerful tool for probing the evolutionary history of the very early Universe.
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1440801
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1498902; OSTI ID: 1647746
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0007859
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article: Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Physical Review. D.
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Physical Review. D. Journal Volume: 97 Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Citation Formats
Cui, Yanou, Lewicki, Marek, Morrissey, David E., and Wells, James D. Cosmic archaeology with gravitational waves from cosmic strings. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.97.123505.
Cui, Yanou, Lewicki, Marek, Morrissey, David E., & Wells, James D. Cosmic archaeology with gravitational waves from cosmic strings. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.123505
Cui, Yanou, Lewicki, Marek, Morrissey, David E., and Wells, James D. 2018.
"Cosmic archaeology with gravitational waves from cosmic strings". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.97.123505.
@article{osti_1440801,
title = {Cosmic archaeology with gravitational waves from cosmic strings},
author = {Cui, Yanou and Lewicki, Marek and Morrissey, David E. and Wells, James D.},
abstractNote = {Cosmic strings are generic cosmological predictions of many extensions of the standard model of particle physics, such as a U(1)' symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early Universe or remnants of superstring theory. Unlike other topological defects, cosmic strings can reach a scaling regime that maintains a small fixed fraction of the total energy density of the Universe from a very early epoch until today. If present, they will oscillate and generate gravitational waves with a frequency spectrum that imprints the dominant sources of total cosmic energy density throughout the history of the Universe. We demonstrate that current and future gravitational wave detectors, such as LIGO and LISA, could be capable of measuring the frequency spectrum of gravitational waves from cosmic strings and discerning the energy composition of the Universe at times well before primordial nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background where standard cosmology has yet to be tested. This work establishes a benchmark case that gravitational waves may provide an unprecedented, powerful tool for probing the evolutionary history of the very early Universe.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.97.123505},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1440801},
journal = {Physical Review. D.},
issn = {2470-0010},
number = 12,
volume = 97,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 06 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Wed Jun 06 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:
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