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Article Dans Une Revue Physical Review D Année : 2023

Stochastic Gravitational Waves from Post-inflationary Structure Formation

Benedikt Eggemeier
  • Fonction : Auteur
Jens C. Niemeyer
  • Fonction : Auteur
Richard Easther
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

Following inflation, the Universe may pass through an early matter-dominated phase supported by the oscillating inflaton condensate. Initially small fluctuations in the condensate grow gravitationally on subhorizon scales and can collapse to form nonlinear ``inflaton halos''. Their formation and subsequent tidal interactions will source gravitational waves, resulting in a stochastic background in the present Universe. We extend N-body simulations that model the growth and interaction of collapsed structures to compute the resulting gravitational wave emission. The spectrum of this radiation is well-matched by semi-analytical estimates based on the collapse of inflaton halos and their tidal evolution. We use this semi-analytic formalism to infer the spectrum for scenarios where the early matter-dominated phase gives way to a thermalized universe at temperatures as low as $100\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and we discuss the possible experimental opportunities created by this signal in inflationary models in which thermalization takes place long after inflation has completed.

Dates et versions

hal-03898576 , version 1 (14-12-2022)

Identifiants

Citer

Benedikt Eggemeier, Jens C. Niemeyer, Karsten Jedamzik, Richard Easther. Stochastic Gravitational Waves from Post-inflationary Structure Formation. Physical Review D, 2023, 107 (4), pp.043503. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevD.107.043503⟩. ⟨hal-03898576⟩
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