Detection of Early-Universe Gravitational Wave Signatures and Fundamental Physics

Abstract

Detection of a gravitational-wave signal of non-astrophysical origin would be a landmark discovery, potentially providing a significant clue to some of our most basic, big-picture scientific questions about the Universe. In this white paper, we survey the leading early-Universe mechanisms that may produce a detectable signal – including inflation, phase transitions, topological defects, as well as primordial black holes – and highlight the connections to fundamental physics. We review the complementarity with collider searches for new physics, and multimessenger probes of the large-scale structure of the Universe.

Type
Publication
arXiv:2203.07972 [gr-qc, physics:hep-ph, physics:hep-th]