No Arabic abstract
We investigate the possibility to induce double peaks of gravitational wave(GW) spectrum from primordial scalar perturbations in inflationary models with three inflection points.Where the inflection points can be generated from a polynomial potential or generated from Higgs like $phi^4$ potential with the running of quartic coupling.In such models, the inflection point at large scales predicts the scalar spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio consistent with current CMB constraints, and the other two inflection points generate two large peaks in the scalar power spectrum at small scales, which can induce GWs with double peaks energy spectrum. We find that for some choices parameters the double peaks spectrum can be detected by future GW detectors, and one of the peaks around $fsimeq10^{-9}sim10^{-8}$Hz can also explain the recent NANOGrav signal. Moreover, the peaks of power spectrum allow for the generation of primordial black holes, which account for a significant fraction of dark matter.
Measuring the primordial power spectrum on small scales is a powerful tool in inflation model building, yet constraints from Cosmic Microwave Background measurements alone are insufficient to place bounds stringent enough to be appreciably effective. For the very small scale spectrum, those which subtend angles of less than 0.3 degrees on the sky, an upper bound can be extracted from the astrophysical constraints on the possible production of primordial black holes in the early universe. A recently discovered observational by-product of an enhanced power spectrum on small scales, induced gravitational waves, have been shown to be within the range of proposed space based gravitational wave detectors; such as NASAs LISA and BBO detectors, and the Japanese DECIGO detector. In this paper we explore the impact such a detection would have on models of inflation known to lead to an enhanced power spectrum on small scales, namely the Hilltop-type and running mass models. We find that the Hilltop-type model can produce observable induced gravitational waves within the range of BBO and DECIGO for integral and fractional powers of the potential within a reasonable number of e-folds. We also find that the running mass model can produce a spectrum within the range of these detectors, but require that inflation terminates after an unreasonably small number of e-folds. Finally, we argue that if the thermal history of the Universe were to accomodate such a small number of e-folds the Running Mass Model can produce Primordial Black Holes within a mass range compatible with Dark Matter, i.e. within a mass range 10^{20}g< M_{BH}<10^{27}g.
BICEP2 has observed a primordial gravitational wave corresponding to the tensor-to-scalar ratio of 0.16. It seems to require a super-Planckian inflationary model. In this paper, we propose a double hybrid inflation model, where the inflaton potential dynamically changes with the evolution of the inflaton fields. During the first phase of inflation over 7 e-folds, the power spectrum can be almost constant by a large linear term in the hybrid potential, which is responsible also for the large tensor-to-scalar ratio. In the second phase of 50 e-folds, the dominant potential becomes dynamically changed to the logarithmic form as in the ordinary supersymmetric hybrid inflation, which is performed by the second inflaton field. In this model, the sub-Planckian field values (~0.9 M_P) can still yield the correct cosmic observations with the sufficient e-folds.
We study gravitational wave production from gauge preheating in a variety of inflationary models, detailing its dependence on both the energy scale and the shape of the potential. We show that preheating into Abelian gauge fields generically leads to a large gravitational wave background that contributes significantly to the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom in the early universe, $N_mathrm{eff}$. We demonstrate that the efficiency of gravitational wave production is correlated with the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$. In particular, we show that efficient gauge preheating in models whose tensor-to-scalar ratio would be detected by next-generation cosmic microwave background experiments ($r gtrsim 10^{-3}$) will be either detected through its contribution to $N_mathrm{eff}$ or ruled out. Furthermore, we show that bounds on $N_mathrm{eff}$ provide the most sensitive probe of the possible axial coupling of the inflaton to gauge fields regardless of the potential.
We show that double inflation is naturally realized in Kahler moduli inflation, which is caused by moduli associated with string compactification. We find that there is a small coupling between the two inflatons which leads to amplification of perturbations through parametric resonance in the intermediate stage of double inflation. This results in the appearance of a peak in the power spectrum of the primordial curvature perturbation. We numerically calculate the power spectrum and show that the power spectrum can have a peak on observationally interesing scales. We also compute the TT-spectrum of CMB based on the power spectrum with a peak and see that it better fits WMAP 7-years data.
The production of a stochastic background of gravitational waves is a fundamental prediction of any cosmological inflationary model. The features of such a signal encode unique information about the physics of the Early Universe and beyond, thus representing an exciting, powerful window on the origin and evolution of the Universe. We review the main mechanisms of gravitational-wave production, ranging from quantum fluctuations of the gravitational field to other mechanisms that can take place during or after inflation. These include e.g. gravitational waves generated as a consequence of extra particle production during inflation, or during the (p)reheating phase. Gravitational waves produced in inflation scenarios based on modified gravity theories and second-order gravitational waves are also considered. For each analyzed case, the expected power-spectrum is given. We discuss the discriminating power among different models, associated with the validity/violation of the standard consistency relation between tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ and tensor spectral index $n_{rm T}$. In light of the prospects for (directly/indirectly) detecting primordial gravitational waves, we give the expected present-day gravitational radiation spectral energy-density, highlighting the main characteristics imprinted by the cosmic thermal history, and we outline the signatures left by gravitational waves on the Cosmic Microwave Background and some imprints in the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe. Finally, current bounds and prospects of detection for inflationary gravitational waves are summarized.