Constraints on scalar-induced gravitational waves up to third order from a joint analysis of BBN, CMB, and PTA data

Jul 6, 2023
10 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.Res. 6 (2024) 1, 013207
  • Published: Feb 26, 2024
e-Print:

Citations per year

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Abstract: (APS)
Recently, strong evidence for a gravitational-wave background has been reported by collaborations of pulsar timing arrays (PTAs). In the framework of scalar-induced gravitational waves, we concurrently investigate the second- and third-order gravitational waves by jointly analyzing PTA data alongside big-bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background datasets. We determine the primordial curvature spectral amplitude as 0.021<Aζ<0.085 and the spectral peak frequency as 107.3Hz<f*<106.3Hz at a 95% confidence interval, pointing towards a mass range for primordial black holes of 104.5M<mPBH<102.5M. Our findings suggest that third-order gravitational waves contribute more significantly to the integrated energy density than the second-order ones when Aζ0.06. Furthermore, we expect future PTA projects to validate these findings and provide robust means to investigate the genesis and evolution of the universe, especially inflation.
Note:
  • 10 pages, 2 columns, 3 figures. Version accepted by Physical Review Research
  • nucleosynthesis: big bang
  • curvature: primordial
  • gravitational radiation: background
  • black hole: primordial
  • energy: density
  • cosmic background radiation
  • spectral
  • pulsar
  • inflation
  • gravitational radiation: induced
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