What Would We Learn by Detecting a Gravitational Wave Signal in the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy

@article{Lyth1997WhatWW,
title={What Would We Learn by Detecting a Gravitational Wave Signal in the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy},
author={D. Lyth},
journal={Physical Review Letters},
year={1997},
volume={78},
pages={1861-1863}
}
• D. Lyth
• Published 1997
• Physics
• Physical Review Letters
Inflation generates gravitational waves, which may be observable in the low multipoles of the cosmic microwave background anisotropy but only if the inflaton field variation is at least of order the Planck scale. Such a large variation would imply that the model of inflation cannot be part of an ordinary extension of the standard model, and combined with the detection of the waves it would also suggest that the inflaton field cannot be one of the superstring moduli. Another implication of… Expand
645 Citations

Paper Mentions

Observational signatures of the parametric amplification of gravitational waves during reheating after inflation
• Physics
• 2018
We study the evolution of gravitational waves (GWs) during and after inflation as well as the resulting observational consequences in a Lorentz-violating massive gravity theory with one scalarExpand
Testing the inflationary slow-roll condition with tensor modes
• Physics
• 2019
A major goal of modern cosmology is the detection of $B$-modes in the cosmic microwave background polarization originated from primordial gravitational waves. Their detection not only could provideExpand
Axion inflation with an SU(2) gauge field: detectable chiral gravity waves
A bstractWe study a single field axion inflation model in the presence of an SU(2) gauge field with a small vev. In order to make the analysis as model-independent as possible, we consider anExpand
Optimistic estimation on probing primordial gravitational waves with CMB B-mode polarization
• Physics
• 2017
In the measurements of cosmic microwave background polarizations, three frequency channels are necessary for discriminating the primordial B-modes from the polarized dust and the synchrotronExpand
Prospects for Primordial Gravitational Waves in String Inflation
• Physics
• 2016
Assuming that the early universe had (i) a description using perturbative string theory and its field theory limit (ii) an epoch of slow-roll inflation within a four-dimensional effective fieldExpand
Closed String Thermodynamics and a Blue Tensor Spectrum
• Physics
• 2014
The BICEP-2 team has recently reported the positive detection of cosmic microwave background $B$-mode polarization. Although uncertainties due to galactic dust foregrounds remain, it is aExpand
Gravitational Waves and Scalar Perturbations from Spectator Fields
• Physics
• 2014
The most conventional mechanism for gravitational waves (gw) production during inflation is the amplification of vacuum metric fluctuations. In this case the gw production can be uniquely related toExpand
Signatures of Planck Corrections in a Spiralling Axion Inflation Model
The minimal sub-Planckian axion inflation model accounts for a large scalar-to-tensor ratio via a spiralling trajectory in the field space of a complex field $\Phi$. Here we consider how theExpand
A Minimal Sub-Planckian Axion Inflation Model with Large Tensor-to-Scalar Ratio
We present a minimal axion inflation model which can generate a large tensor-to-scalar ratio while remaining sub-Planckian. The modulus of a complex scalar field $\Phi$ with a $\lambda |\Phi|^4$Expand
The most studied mechanism of inflationary magnetogenesis relies on the time-dependence of the coefficient of the gauge kinetic term $F_{\mu\nu}\,{F}^{\mu\nu}$. Unfortunately, only extremely finelyExpand