No Arabic abstract
The sensitivity achievable by a pair of VIRGO detectors to stochastic and isotropic gravitational wave backgrounds produced in pre-big-bang models is discussed in view of the development of a second VIRGO interferometer. We describe a semi-analytical technique allowing to compute the signal-to-noise ratio for (monotonic or non-monotonic) logarithmic energy spectra of relic gravitons of arbitrary slope. We apply our results to the case of two correlated and coaligned VIRGO detectors and we compute their achievable sensitivities. We perform our calculations both for the usual case of minimal string cosmological scenario and in the case of a non-minimal scenario where a long dilaton dominated phase is present prior to the onset of the ordinary radiation dominated phase. In this framework, we investigate possible improvements of the achievable sensitivities by selective reduction of the thermal contributions (pendulum and pendulums internal modes) to the noise power spectra of the detectors. Since a reduction of the shot noise does not increase significantly the expected sensitivity of a VIRGO pair (in spite of the relative spatial location of the two detectors) our findings support the experimental efforts directed towards a substantial reduction of thermal noise.
We discuss the possibility of producing a significant fraction of dark matter in the form of primordial black holes in the context of the pre-big bang inflationary scenario. We take into account, to this purpose, the enhancement of curvature perturbations possibly induced by a variation of the sound-speed parameter $c_s$ during the string phase of high-curvature inflation. After imposing all relevant observational constraints, we find that the considered class of models is compatible with the production of a large amount of primordial black holes in the mass range relevant to dark matter, provided the sound-speed parameter is confined in a rather narrow range of values, $0.003 < c_s < 0.01$.
We revisit a collapsing pre-big-bang model of the universe to study with detail the non-perturbative quantum dynamics of the dispersal scalar field whose dynamics becomes from the dynamical foliation of test massless scalar field $phi$ on a 5D Riemann-flat metric, such that the extra space-like coordinate is noncompact. The important result here obtained is that the evolution of the system, which is described thorough the equation of state has the unique origin in the quantum contributions of the effective 4D scalar field.
There are no reasons why the energy spectra of the relic gravitons, amplified by the pumping action of the background geometry, should not increase at high frequencies. A typical example of this behavior are quintessential inflationary models where the slopes of the energy spectra can be either blue or mildly violet. In comparing the predictions of scenarios leading to blue and violet graviton spectra we face the problem of correctly deriving the sensitivities of the interferometric detectors. Indeed, the expression of the signal-to-noise ratio not only depends upon the noise power spectra of the detectors but also upon the spectral form of the signal and, therefore, one can reasonably expect that models with different spectral behaviors will produce different signal-to-noise ratios. By assuming monotonic (blue) spectra of relic gravitons we will give general expressions for the signal-to-noise ratio in this class of models. As an example we studied the case of quintessential gravitons. The minimum achievable sensitivity to $h^2_{0} Omega_{GW}$ of different pairs of detectors is computed, and compared with the theoretical expectations.
In the light of the recent results concerning CMB observations and GW detection we address the question of whether it is possible, in a self-consistent inflationary framework, to simultaneously generate a spectrum of scalar metric perturbations in agreement with Planck data and a stochastic background of primordial gravitational radiation compatible with the design sensitivity of aLIGO/Virgo and/or eLISA. We suggest that this is possible in a string cosmology context, for a wide region of the parameter space of the so-called pre-big bang models. We also discuss the associated values of the tensor-to-scalar ratio relevant to the CMB polarization experiments. We conclude that future, cross-correlated results from CMB observations and GW detectors will be able to confirm or disprove pre-big bang models and -- in any case -- will impose new significant constraints on the basic string theory/cosmology parameters.
The production of a background of super-horizon curvature perturbations with the appropriate (red) spectrum needed to trigger the cosmic anisotropies observed on large scales is associated, in the context of pre-big bang inflation, with a phase of growing string coupling. The extension towards the past of such a phase is not limited in time by the dynamical backreaction of the quantum perturbations of the cosmological geometry and of its sources. A viable, slightly red spectrum of scalar perturbations can thus be the output of an asymptotic, perturbative regime which is well compatible with an initial string-vacuum state satisfying the postulate of Asymptotic Past Triviality.