3-pt Statistics of Cosmological Stochastic Gravitational Waves

We consider the 3-pt function (i.e. the bispectrum or non-Gaussianity) for stochastic backgrounds of gravitational waves. We estimate the amplitude of this signal for the primordial inflationary background, gravitational waves generated during preheating, and for gravitational waves produced by self-ordering scalar fields following a global phase transition. To assess detectability, we describe how to extract the 3-pt signal from an idealized interferometric experiment and compute the signal to noise ratio as a function of integration time. The 3-pt signal for the stochastic gravitational wave background generated by inflation is unsurprisingly tiny. For gravitational radiation generated by purely causal, classical mechanisms we find that, no matter how non-linear the process is, the 3-pt correlations produced vanish in direct detection experiments. On the other hand, we show that in scenarios where the B-mode of the CMB is sourced by gravitational waves generated by a global phase transition, a strong 3-pt signal among the polarization modes could also be produced. This may provide another method of distinguishing inflationary B-modes. To carry out this computation, we have developed a diagrammatic approach to the calculation of stochastic gravitational waves sourced by scalar fluids, which has applications beyond the present scenario.

Note:

16 pages, 5 figures

04.30.Db
gravitational radiation
background: stochastic
field theory: scalar
inflation
critical phenomena
cosmic background radiation
polarization
correlation function
preheating

References(49)

Figures(5)

The Path to the enhanced and advanced LIGO gravitational-wave detectors

LIGO Scientific

Collaboration

•

Joshua R. Smith
(
- Syracuse U.
)

for the collaboration.

- Class.Quant.Grav. 26 (2009) 114013
•
e-Print:
- 0902.0381
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/0264-9381/26/11/114013

Laser interferometry for the big bang observer

- Class.Quant.Grav. 23 (2006) 4887-4894,
- Class.Quant.Grav. 23 (2006) 7361 (erratum)
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/0264-9381/23/15/008

Statistics of cosmic microwave background polarization

Marc Kamionkowski
(
- Columbia U.
)
,
Arthur Kosowsky
(
- Harvard-Smithsonian Ctr. Astrophys. and
- Harvard U.
)
,
Albert Stebbins
(
- Fermilab
)

- Phys.Rev.D 55 (1997) 7368-7388
•
e-Print:
- astro-ph/9611125
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.55.7368

CMBPol Mission Concept Study: Probing Inflation with CMB Polarization

Daniel Baumann
(
- Harvard U., Phys. Dept. and
- Harvard U. and
- Princeton U.
)
,
Mark G. Jackson
(
- Fermilab and
- Leiden U.
)
,
Peter Adshead
(
- Yale U.
)
,
Alexandre Amblard
(
- UC, Irvine
)
,
Amjad Ashoorioon
(
- Michigan U.
)

et al.

- AIP Conf.Proc. 1141 (2009) 1, 10-120
•
e-Print:
- 0811.3919
•
DOI:
- 10.1063/1.3160885

Gravitational waves from cosmological compact binaries

Raffaella Schneider
(
- Rome U. and
- INFN, Rome
)
,
Valeria Ferrari
(
- Rome U. and
- INFN, Rome
)
,
Sabino Matarrese
(
- Padua U. and
- INFN, Padua and
- Garching, Max Planck Inst.
)
,
Simon F. Portegies Zwart
(
- Boston U.
)

- Mon.Not.Roy.Astron.Soc. 324 (2001) 797
•
e-Print:
- astro-ph/0002055
•
DOI:
- 10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04217.x

Quantum Fluctuations and a Nonsingular Universe

- JETP Lett. 33 (1981) 532-535,
- Pisma Zh.Eksp.Teor.Fiz. 33 (1981) 549-553

Fluctuations in the New Inflationary Universe

Alan H. Guth
(
- MIT, LNS
)
,
S.Y. Pi
(
- Harvard U. and
- New Hampshire U.
)

- Phys.Rev.Lett. 49 (1982) 1110-1113,
- In *Abbott, L.F. (ed.), Pi, S.Y. (ed.): Inflationary cosmology*, 231-234
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.49.1110

Constraints on Generalized Inflationary Cosmologies

L.F. Abbott
(
- Brandeis U.
)
,
Mark B. Wise
(
- Caltech
)

- Nucl.Phys.B 244 (1984) 541-548
•
DOI:
- 10.1016/0550-3213(84)90329-8

Dynamics of Phase Transition in the New Inflationary Universe Scenario and Generation of Perturbations

Alexei A. Starobinsky
(
- Landau Inst.
)

- Phys.Lett.B 117 (1982) 175-178,
- Phys. Lett. B117 ( 1982) 175-178
•
DOI:
- 10.1016/0370-2693(82)90541-X

Relic gravitational waves produced after preheating

S.Y. Khlebnikov
(
- Purdue U.
)
,
I.I. Tkachev
(
- Ohio State U. and
- Moscow, INR
)

- Phys.Rev.D 56 (1997) 653-660
•
e-Print:
- hep-ph/9701423
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.56.653

Stochastic gravitational wave production after inflation

Richard Easther
(
- Yale U.
)
,
Eugene A. Lim
(
- Yale U.
)

- JCAP 04 (2006) 010
•
e-Print:
- astro-ph/0601617
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/1475-7516/2006/04/010

Gravitational Wave Production At The End Of Inflation

- Phys.Rev.Lett. 99 (2007) 221301
•
e-Print:
- astro-ph/0612294
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.221301

Gravitational Waves From the End of Inflation: Computational Strategies

- Phys.Rev.D 77 (2008) 103519
•
e-Print:
- 0712.2991
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.77.103519

Gravity Waves from Tachyonic Preheating after Hybrid Inflation

Jean-Francois Dufaux
(
- Madrid, IFT
)
,
Gary Felder
(
- Smith Coll.
)
,
Lev Kofman
(
- Canadian Inst. Theor. Astrophys.
)
,
Olga Navros
(
- North Carolina U.
)

- JCAP 03 (2009) 001
•
e-Print:
- 0812.2917
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/1475-7516/2009/03/001

Theory and Numerics of Gravitational Waves from Preheating after Inflation

- Phys.Rev.D 76 (2007) 123517
•
e-Print:
- 0707.0875
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.76.123517

A stochastic background of gravitational waves from hybrid preheating

- Phys.Rev.Lett. 98 (2007) 061302
•
e-Print:
- astro-ph/0701014
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.061302

A Gravitational Wave Background from Reheating after Hybrid Inflation

- Phys.Rev.D 77 (2008) 043517
•
e-Print:
- 0707.0839
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.77.043517

Stochastic Backgrounds of Gravitational Waves from Cosmological Sources: Techniques and Applications to Preheating

- Phys.Rev.D 78 (2008) 063541
•
e-Print:
- 0805.3570
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.78.063541

Thermal Inflation and the Gravitational Wave Background

Richard Easther
(
- Yale U.
)
,
John T. Giblin, Jr.
(
- Yale U.
)
,
Eugene A. Lim
(
- Columbia U. and
- ISCAP, New York
)
,
Wan-Il Park
(
- KAIST, Taejon
)
,
Ewan D. Stewart
(
- KAIST, Taejon
)

- JCAP 05 (2008) 013
•
e-Print:
- 0801.4197
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/1475-7516/2008/05/013

Gravitational waves from first order cosmological phase transitions

- Phys.Rev.Lett. 69 (1992) 2026-2029,
- Phys. Rev. Lett. 69 (1992) 2026-2029 and Fermilab Batavia - FERMILAB-Pub-91-333 (92/05,rec.Aug.) 10 p
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.2026

Gravitational radiation from first order phase transitions

Marc Kamionkowski
(
- Princeton, Inst. Advanced Study
)
,
Arthur Kosowsky
(
- Fermilab and
- Chicago U. and
- Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr. and
- Chicago U., EFI
)
,
Michael S. Turner
(
- Fermilab and
- Chicago U. and
- Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr. and
- Chicago U., EFI
)

- Phys.Rev.D 49 (1994) 2837-2851
•
e-Print:
- astro-ph/9310044
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.49.2837

Gravitational radiation from cosmological turbulence

- Phys.Rev.D 66 (2002) 024030
•
e-Print:
- astro-ph/0111483
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevD.66.024030

A Nearly Scale Invariant Spectrum of Gravitational Radiation from Global Phase Transitions

- Phys.Rev.Lett. 100 (2008) 131302
•
e-Print:
- 0712.0778
•
DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.131302

Gravitational waves from self-ordering scalar fields

Elisa Fenu
(
- Geneva U., Dept. Theor. Phys.
)
,
Daniel G. Figueroa
(
- Madrid, Autonoma U. and
- Madrid, IFT
)
,
Ruth Durrer
(
- Geneva U., Dept. Theor. Phys.
)
,
Juan Garcia-Bellido
(
- Madrid, Autonoma U. and
- Madrid, IFT and
- CERN
)

- JCAP 10 (2009) 005
•
e-Print:
- 0908.0425
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/1475-7516/2009/10/005

The stochastic gravitational wave background from turbulence and magnetic fields generated by a first-order phase transition

Chiara Caprini
(
- Saclay, SPhT
)
,
Ruth Durrer
(
- Geneva U., Dept. Theor. Phys.
)
,
Geraldine Servant
(
- Saclay, SPhT and
- CERN
)

- JCAP 12 (2009) 024
•
e-Print:
- 0909.0622
•
DOI:
- 10.1088/1475-7516/2009/12/024

1-25 of 49
1
2
25 / page