Science with the space-based interferometer eLISA. II: gravitational waves from cosmological phase transitions
Abstract
We investigate the potential for the eLISA space-based interferometer to detect the stochastic gravitational wave background produced by strong first-order cosmological phase transitions. We discuss the resulting contributions from bubble collisions, magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, and sound waves to the stochastic background, and estimate the total corresponding signal predicted in gravitational waves. The projected sensitivity of eLISA to cosmological phase transitions is computed in a model-independent way for various detector designs and configurations. By applying these results to several specific models, we demonstrate that eLISA is able to probe many well-motivated scenarios beyond the Standard Model of particle physics predicting strong first-order cosmological phase transitions in the early Universe.
- Publication:
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Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
- Pub Date:
- April 2016
- DOI:
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1512.06239
- Bibcode:
- 2016JCAP...04..001C
- Keywords:
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- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics;
- General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;
- High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
- E-Print:
- 45 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in JCAP, added discussion on noise from galactic binaries and citations