We derive efficiency factors for the production of gravitational waves through bubble collisions and plasma-related sources in strong phase transitions, and find the conditions under which the bubble collisions can contribute significantly to the signal. We use lattice simulations to clarify the dependence of the colliding bubbles on their initial state. We illustrate our findings in two examples, the Standard Model with an extra |H| 6 interaction and a classically scale-invariant U (1) B−L extension of the Standard Model. The contribution to the GW spectrum from bubble collisions is found to be negligible in the |H| 6 model, whereas it can play an important role in parts of the parameter space in the scale-invariant U (1) B−L model. In both cases the sound-wave period is much shorter than a Hubble time, suggesting a significant amplification of the turbulence-sourced signal. We find, however, that the peak of the plasma-sourced spectrum is still produced by sound waves with the slower-falling turbulence contribution becoming important off-peak.

What is the maximum possible strength of a first-order electroweak phase transition and the resulting gravitational wave (GW) signal? While naively one might expect that supercooling could increase the strength of the transition to very high values, for strong supercooling the Universe is no longer radiation-dominated and the vacuum energy of the unstable minimum of the potential dominates the expansion, which can jeopardize the successful completion of the phase transition. After providing a general treatment for the nucleation, growth and percolation of broken phase bubbles during a first-order phase transition that encompasses the case of significant supercooling, we study the conditions for successful bubble percolation and completion of the electroweak phase transition in theories beyond the Standard Model featuring polynominal potentials. For such theories, these conditions set a lower bound on the temperature of the transition. Since the plasma cannot be significantly diluted, the resulting GW signal originates mostly from sound waves and turbulence in the plasma, rather than bubble collisions. We find the peak frequency of the GW signal from the phase transition to be generically f 10 −4 Hz. We also study the condition for GW production by sound waves to be long-lasting (GW source active for approximately a Hubble time), showing it is generally not fulfilled in concrete scenarios. Because of this the sound wave GW signal could be weakened, with turbulence setting in earlier, resulting in a smaller overall GW signal as compared to current literature predictions.

We propose in this White Paper a concept for a space experiment using cold atoms to search for ultra-light dark matter, and to detect gravitational waves in the frequency range between the most sensitive ranges of LISA and the terrestrial LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA/INDIGO experiments. This interdisciplinary experiment, called Atomic Experiment for Dark Matter and Gravity Exploration (AEDGE), will also complement other planned searches for dark matter, and exploit synergies with other gravitational wave detectors. We give examples of the extended range of sensitivity to ultra-light dark matter offered by AEDGE, and how its gravitational-wave measurements could explore the assembly of super-massive black holes, first-order phase transitions in the early universe and cosmic strings. AEDGE will be based upon technologies now being developed for terrestrial experiments using cold atoms, and will benefit from the space experience obtained with, e.g., LISA and cold atom experiments in microgravity.KCL-PH-TH/2019-65, CERN-TH-2019-126

Cosmic string networks offer one of the best prospects for detection of cosmological gravitational waves (GWs). The combined incoherent GW emission of a large number of string loops leads to a stochastic GW background (SGWB), which encodes the properties of the string network. In this paper we analyze the ability of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) to measure this background, considering leading models of the string networks. We find that LISA will be able to probe cosmic strings with tensions Gµ O(10 −17 ), improving by about 6 orders of magnitude current pulsar timing arrays (PTA) constraints, and potentially 3 orders of magnitude with respect to expected constraints from next generation PTA observatories. We include in our analysis possible modifications of the SGWB spectrum due to different hypotheses regarding cosmic history and the underlying physics of the string network. These include possible modifications in the SGWB spectrum due to changes in the number of relativistic degrees of freedom in the early Universe, the presence of a non-standard equation of state before the onset of radiation domination, or changes to the network dynamics due to a string inter-commutation probability less than unity. In the event of a detection, LISA's frequency band is wellpositioned to probe such cosmic events. Our results constitute a thorough exploration of the cosmic string science that will be accessible to LISA.

We outline the experimental concept and key scientific capabilities of AION (Atom Interferometer Observatory and Network), a proposed experimental programme using cold strontium atoms to search for ultra-light dark matter, to explore gravitational waves in the mid-frequency range between the peak sensitivities of the LISA and LIGO/Virgo/ KAGRA/INDIGO/Einstein Telescope/Cosmic Explorer experiments, and to probe other frontiers in fundamental physics. AION would complement other planned searches for dark matter, as well as probe mergers involving intermediate-mass black holes and explore early-universe cosmology. AION would share many technical features with the MAGIS experimental programme, and synergies would flow from operating AION in a network with this experiment, as well as with other atom interferometer experiments such as MIGA, ZAIGA and ELGAR. Operating AION in a network with other gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO, Virgo and LISA would also offer many synergies.

Many motivated extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of cosmic strings. Gravitational waves originating from the dynamics of the resulting cosmic string network have the ability to probe many otherwise inaccessible properties of the early universe. In this study we show how the spectrum of gravitational waves from a cosmic string network can be used to test the equation of state of the early universe prior to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). We also demonstrate that current and planned gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO, LISA, DECIGO/BBO, and ET/CE have the potential to detect signals of a non-standard pre-BBN equation of state and evolution of the early universe (e.g., early non-standard matter domination or kination domination) or new degrees of freedom active in the early universe beyond the sensitivity of terrestrial collider experiments and cosmic microwave background measurements. by reheating to a very hot radiation phase with temperature T TeV, which then cooled adiabatically until giving way to the recent matter and dark energy phases. We refer to this scenario, with only radiation domination (RD) over many orders of magnitude in temperature between reheating and the matter epoch, as the standard cosmology [11]. While this assumption is made frequently (and often implicitly), it has not been tested directly. Furthermore, non-standard cosmological scenarios with an extended period of domination by something other than radiation between inflation and BBN have strong motivation from many perspectives, including dark matter, axions, string compactification, reheating, and baryogenesis [10,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Testing the paradigm of pre-BBN cosmology is therefore of great significance in advancing our understanding of the universe.Gravitational waves (GWs) may provide a means of looking back in time beyond the BBN epoch and probing the universe in its very early stages [10,[27][28][29]. The observation of binary mergers by the LIGO/Virgo collaboration has already given further support to the ΛCDM cosmology [30], although -and this is important to the motivation of this work -the GWs observed were created only relatively recently. Opportunity to look even further back in time with GWs arises because, in contrast to photons, GWs freestream throughout the entire history of the cosmos. Indeed, GWs emitted as far back as inflation could potentially be detected by LIGO/Virgo [31] or proposed future detectors such as LISA [32], BBO/DECIGO [33], the Einstein Telescope (ET) [34, 35], and Cosmic Explorer (CE) [36].A stable and predictable source of primordial GWs is needed if they are to be used to test very early cosmology. Two promising and well-motivated potential sources are cosmic strings [37][38][39][40] and primordial inflation [41][42][43]. The application of inflationary GWs to probe the expansion history of the universe was studied in Refs. [44][45][46][47] and for non-standard histories in Refs. [48][49][50][51]. However, current limits from CM...

No abstract

It is commonly assumed that the energy density of the Universe was dominated by radiation between reheating after inflation and the onset of matter domination 54,000 years later. While the abundance of light elements indicates that the Universe was radiation dominated during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), there is scant evidence that the Universe was radiation dominated prior to BBN. It is therefore possible that the cosmological history was more complicated, with deviations from the standard radiation domination during the earliest epochs. Indeed, several interesting proposals regarding various topics such as the generation of dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry, gravitational waves, primordial black holes, or microhalos during a nonstandard expansion phase have been recently made. In this paper, we review various possible causes and consequences of deviations from radiation domination in the early Universe -taking place either before or after BBN -and the constraints on them, as they have been discussed in the literature during the recent years.