The treatment of first-order phase transitions for standard grand unified theories is shown to break down for models with radiatively induced spontaneous symmetry breaking. It is argued that proper analysis of these transitions which would take place in the early history of the universe can lead to an explanation of the cosmological homogeneity, flatness, and monopole puzzles.

Cosmology for Grand Unified Theories with Radiatively Induced Symmetry Breaking

We investigate the sensitivity of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) to the anisotropies of the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background (SGWB). We first discuss the main astrophysical and cosmological sources of SGWB which are characterized by anisotropies in the GW energy density, and we build a Signal-to-Noise estimator to quantify the sensitivity of LISA to different multipoles. We then perform a Fisher matrix analysis of the prospects of detectability of anisotropic features with LISA for individual multipoles, focusing on a SGWB with a power-law frequency profile. We compute the noise angular spectrum taking into account the specific scan strategy of the LISA detector. We analyze the case of the kinematic dipole and quadrupole generated by Doppler boosting an isotropic SGWB. We find that β ΩGW ∼ 2 × 10-11 is required to observe a dipolar signal with LISA. The detector response to the quadrupole has a factor ∼ 103 β relative to that of the dipole. The characterization of the anisotropies, both from a theoretical perspective and from a map-making point of view, allows us to extract information that can be used to understand the origin of the SGWB, and to discriminate among distinct superimposed SGWB sources.

/pdf/probing-anisotropies-of-the-stochastic-gravitational-wave-3b438jd0.pdf

Probing anisotropies of the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background with LISA

We explore and corroborate, by working out explicit examples, the effectiveness of cross-correlating stochastic gravitational wave background anisotropies with CMB temperature fluctuations as a way to establish the primordial nature of a given gravitational wave signal We consider the case of gravitational wave anisotropies induced by scalar-tensor-tensor primordial non-Gaussianity Our analysis spans anisotropies exhibiting different angular behaviours, including a quadrupolar dependence We calculate the expected uncertainty on the non-linearity parameter $F_{\rm NL}$ obtained as a result of cross-correlation measurements for several proposed experiments such as the ground-based Einstein Telescope, Cosmic Explorer, and the space-based Big-Bang Observer As a benchmark for future survey planning, we also calculate the theoretical, cosmic-variance-limited, error on the non-linearity parameter

Cross-correlations as a Diagnostic Tool for Primordial Gravitational Waves

We consider the possibility that the black-hole (BH) binary detected by LIGO may be a signature of dark matter. Interestingly enough, there remains a window for masses 20M_{⊙}≲M_{bh}≲100M_{⊙} where primordial black holes (PBHs) may constitute the dark matter. If two BHs in a galactic halo pass sufficiently close, they radiate enough energy in gravitational waves to become gravitationally bound. The bound BHs will rapidly spiral inward due to the emission of gravitational radiation and ultimately will merge. Uncertainties in the rate for such events arise from our imprecise knowledge of the phase-space structure of galactic halos on the smallest scales. Still, reasonable estimates span a range that overlaps the 2-53  Gpc^{-3} yr^{-1} rate estimated from GW150914, thus raising the possibility that LIGO has detected PBH dark matter. PBH mergers are likely to be distributed spatially more like dark matter than luminous matter and have neither optical nor neutrino counterparts. They may be distinguished from mergers of BHs from more traditional astrophysical sources through the observed mass spectrum, their high ellipticities, or their stochastic gravitational wave background. Next-generation experiments will be invaluable in performing these tests.

/pdf/did-ligo-detect-dark-matter-29fg340vw6.pdf

Did LIGO Detect Dark Matter

Abstract In this work we analyse in detail the possibility of using small and intermediate-scale gravitational wave anisotropies to constrain the inflationary particle content. First, we develop a phenomenological approach focusing on anisotropies generated by primordial tensor-tensor-scalar and purely gravitational non-Gaussianities. We highlight the quantities that play a key role in determining the detectability of the signal. To amplify the power of anisotropies as a probe of early universe physics, we consider cross-correlations with CMB temperature anisotropies. We assess the size of the signal from inflationary interactions against so-called induced anisotropies. In order to arrive at realistic estimates, we obtain the projected constraints on the non-linear primordial parameter F NL for several upcoming gravitational wave probes in the presence of the astrophysical gravitational wave background. We further illustrate our findings by considering a concrete inflationary realisation and use it to underscore a few subtleties in the phenomenological analysis. 

/pdf/testing-the-early-universe-with-anisotropies-of-the-c5d31ll0.pdf

Testing the early universe with anisotropies of the gravitational wave background

We study primordial non-gaussianity in supersolid inflation. The dynamics of supersolid is formulated in terms of an effective field theory based on four scalar fields with a shift symmetric action minimally coupled with gravity. In the scalar sector, there are two phonon-like excitations with a kinetic mixing stemming from the completely spontaneous breaking of diffeomorphism. In a squeezed configuration, fNL of scalar perturbations is angle dependent and not proportional to slow-roll parameters showing a blunt violation of the Maldacena consistency relation. Contrary to solid inflation, the violation persists even after an angular average and generically the amount of non-gaussianity is significant. During inflation, non-gaussianity in the TSS and TTS sector is enhanced in the same region of the parameters space where the secondary production of gravitational waves is sizeable enough to enter in the sensitivity region of LISA, while the scalar fNL is still within the current experimental limits.

/pdf/primordial-non-gaussianity-in-supersolid-inflation-3nds9alft8.pdf

Primordial non-Gaussianity in supersolid inflation

Inflation driven by a generic self-gravitating medium is an interesting alternative to study the impact of spontaneous spacetime symmetry breaking during a quasi de-Sitter phase, in particular the 4-dimensional diffeomorphism invariance of GR is spontaneously broken down to $ISO(3)$. The effective description is based on four scalar fields that describe the excitations of a supersolid. There are two phonon-like propagating scalar degrees of freedom that mix non-trivially both at early and late times and, after exiting the horizon, give rise to non-trivial correlations among the different scalar power spectra. The non-linear structure of the theory allows a secondary gravitational waves production during inflation, efficient enough to saturate the present experimental bound and with a blue-tilted spectral index.

/pdf/boosting-gws-in-supersolid-inflation-27kyftiot3.pdf

Boosting GWs in Supersolid Inflation

We study primordial non-gaussianity in supersolid inflation. The dynamics of supersolid is formulated in terms of an effective field theory based on four scalar fields with a shift symmetric action minimally coupled with gravity. In the scalar sector, there are two phonon-like excitations with a kinetic mixing stemming from the completely spontaneous breaking of diffeomorphism. In a squeezed configuration, $f_{\text{NL}}$ of scalar perturbations is angle dependent and not proportional to slow-roll parameters showing a blunt violation of the Maldacena consistency relation. Contrary to solid inflation, the violation persists even after an angular average and generically the amount of non-gaussianity is significant. During inflation, non-gaussianity in the TSS and TTS sector is enhanced in the same region of the parameters space where the secondary production of gravitational waves is sizeable enough to enter in the sensitivity region of LISA, while the scalar $f_{\text{NL}}$ is still within the current experimental limits.

/pdf/primordial-non-gaussianity-in-supersolid-inflation-45qtju95es.pdf

Primordial Non-Gaussianity in Supersolid Inflation

Inflation driven by a generic self-gravitating medium is an interesting alternative to study the impact of spontaneous spacetime symmetry breaking during a quasi de-Sitter phase, in particular the 4-dimensional diffeomorphism invariance of GR is spontaneously broken down to I SO(3). The effective description is based on four scalar fields that describe the excitations of a supersolid. There are two phonon-like propagating scalar degrees of freedom that mix non-trivially both at early and late times and, after exiting the horizon, give rise to non-trivial correlations among the different scalar power spectra. The non-linear structure of the theory allows a secondary gravitational waves production during inflation, efficient enough to saturate the present experimental bound and with a blue-tilted spectral index.

/pdf/boosting-gws-in-supersolid-inflation-4mf1j1ot56.pdf

Boosting GWs in supersolid inflation

We study the dynamics of inflation driven by an adiabatic self-gravitating medium, extending the previous works on fluid and solid inflation. Such a class of media comprises perfect fluids, zero and finite temperature solids. By using an effective field theory description, we compute the power spectrum for the scalar curvature perturbation of constant energy density hypersurface $\zeta$ and the comoving scalar curvature perturbation ${\cal R}$ in the case of slow-roll, super slow-roll and $w$-media inflation, an inflationary phase with $w$ constant in the range $-1 <w <-1/3$. A similar computation is done for the tensor modes. Adiabatic media are characterized by intrinsic entropy perturbations that can give a significant contribution to the power spectrum and can be used to generate the required seed for primordial black holes. For such a media, the Weinberg theorem is typically violated and on super horizon scales neither $\zeta$ nor ${\cal R}$ are conserved and moreover $\zeta \neq {\cal R}$. Reheating becomes crucial to predict the spectrum of the imprinted primordial perturbations. We study how the difference between $\zeta$ and ${\cal R}$ during inflation gives rise to relative entropic perturbations in $\Lambda$CDM.

Marco Celoria

Papers

Primordial non-Gaussianity in supersolid inflation

Boosting GWs in Supersolid Inflation

Primordial Non-Gaussianity in Supersolid Inflation

Boosting GWs in supersolid inflation

Adiabatic media inflation