2006/12/31 by Richard Easther, John T. Giblin, John T. Giblin Jr +1 · 3 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.99.221301
published as Phys.Rev.Lett.99:221301,2007 · 4 pages, Revtex, 2 figures. v2 References added, discussion clarified and improved. v3 further clarification, typo regarding source corrected. Basic results unchanged
arxiv created 2007/09/20 · openalex publication_date 2007/11/26 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
We consider gravitational wave production due to parametric resonance at the end of inflation, or "preheating." This leads to large inhomogeneities that source a stochastic background of gravitational waves at scales inside the comoving Hubble horizon at the end of inflation. We confirm that the present amplitude of these gravitational waves need not depend on the inflationary energy scale. We analyze an explicit model where the inflationary energy scale is approximately 109 GeV, yielding a signal close to the sensitivity of Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory and Big Bang Observer. This signal highlights the possibility of a new observational "window" into inflationary physics and provides significant motivation for searches for stochastic backgrounds of gravitational waves in the Hz to GHz range, with an amplitude on the order of Omegagw(k)h2 approximately 10-11.