Stochastic Gravitational Wave Backgrounds from Low-Scale Inflation
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Authors
Nerval, Simran
Date
Type
thesis
Language
eng
Keyword
Inflation , Gravitational Waves , Early Universe Cosmology , Phenomenology
Alternative Title
Abstract
While Big Bang cosmology successfully explains much of the history of our Universe, there are certain features it does not explain, for example the spatial flatness and uniformity of our Universe. One widely studied explanation for these features is cosmological inflation. The objective of this thesis was to simulate the gravitational wave spectra generated by inflaton field configurations oscillating after inflation for E-Model, T-Model, and General Renormalizable Inflection Point Inflation. This thesis shows that these gravitational wave spectra provide access to some inflation models beyond the reach of any planned Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments, such as LiteBIRD, Simons Observatory, and CMB-S4. Specifically, while these experiments will be able to resolve the primordial power spectrum tensor-to-scalar ratio (r) down to 10^(-3), we show that gravitational wave background measurements have the potential to probe certain inflation models for r values down to 10^(-14). Importantly, all the gravitational wave spectra lie in the MHz-GHz frequency range, motivating development of gravitational wave detectors in this range.
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Queen's University's Thesis/Dissertation Non-Exclusive License for Deposit to QSpace and Library and Archives Canada
ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.
Attribution 3.0 United States
ProQuest PhD and Master's Theses International Dissemination Agreement
Intellectual Property Guidelines at Queen's University
Copying and Preserving Your Thesis
This publication is made available by the authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research and may not be copied or reproduced except as permitted by the copyright laws without written authority from the copyright owner.
Attribution 3.0 United States