Using pulsar timing arrays and the quantum normalization condition to constrain relic gravitational waves

DOI10.1088/0264-9381/31/3/035001MaRDI QIDQ5407860zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Minglei Tong, Wen Zhao, Linzhong Liu, Cheng-Shi Zhao, Tinggao Yang, Y. Zhang

Publication date 8 April 2014

Published in Classical and Quantum Gravity (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1311.7192

zbMATH Keywords

relic gravitational waves in cosmology

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Perturbative methods of renormalization applied to problems in quantum field theory (81T15) Observational and experimental questions in relativity and gravitational theory (83B05) Gravitational waves (83C35) Methods of quantum field theory in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C47) Relativistic cosmology (83F05) Galactic and stellar dynamics (85A05)

Abstract: In the non-standard model of relic gravitational waves (RGWs) generated in the early universe, the theoretical spectrum of is mainly described by an amplitude $r$ and a spectral index $$, the latter usually being determined by the slope of the inflation potential. Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) data have imposed constraints on the amplitude of strain spectrum for a power-law form as a phenomenological model. Applying these constraints to a generic, theoretical spectrum with $r$ and $$ as independent parameters, we convert the PTAs constraint into an upper bound on the index $$, which turns out to be less stringent than those upper bounds from BBN, CMB, and LIGO/VIRGO, respectively. Moreover, it is found that PTAs constrain the non-standard RGWs more stringent than the standard RGWs. If the condition of the quantum normalization is imposed upon a theoretical spectrum of RGWs, $r$ and $$ become related. With this condition, a minimum requirement of the horizon size during inflation is greater than the Planck length results in an upper bound on $$, which is comparable in magnitude to that by PTAs. When both PTAs and the quantum normalization are applied to a theoretical spectrum of RGWs, constraints can be obtained for other cosmic processes of the early universe, such as the reheating, a process less understood observationally so far. The resulting constraint is consistent with the slow-roll, massive scalar inflation model. The future SKA will be able to constrain RGWs further and might even detect RGWs, rendering an important probe to the very early universe.

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Cited in

(9)

• The international pulsar timing array: a galactic scale gravitational wave observatory
• Constraining spacetime deformation based on astrophysical observations from radio pulsars
• The refractive index of relic gravitons
• Cosmological constraints on the amplitude of relic gravitational waves
• Model-independent comparisons of pulsar timings to scalar–tensor gravity
• Relic gravitational waves in the frame of slow-roll inflation with a power-law potential, and their detection
• Adiabatic regularization of power spectrum and stress tensor of relic gravitational wave without low-frequency distortion
• Dark energy, D-branes and pulsar timing arrays
• A nontrivial footprint of standard cosmology in the future observations of low-frequency gravitational waves

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