In broad classes of inflationary models the period of accelerated expansion is followed by fragmentation of the inflaton scalar field into localized, long-lived, and massive oscillon excitations. We demonstrate that matter dominance of oscillons, followed by their rapid decay, significantly enhances the primordial gravitational wave (GW) spectrum. These oscillon-induced GWs, sourced by second-order perturbations, are distinct and could be orders of magnitude lower in frequency than the previously considered GWs associated with oscillon formation. We show that detectable oscillon-induced GW signatures establish direct tests independent from cosmic microwave background radiation for regions of parameter space of monodromy, and logarithmic and pure natural (plateau) potential classes of inflationary models, among others. We demonstrate that oscillon-induced GWs in a model based on pure natural inflation could be directly observable with the Einstein Telescope, Cosmic Explorer, and DECIGO. These signatures offer a new route for probing the underlying inflationary physics.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.181002 | DOI Listing |
Phys Rev Lett
October 2024
Sorbonne Université, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, UMR 7095, 98 bis bd Arago, 75014 Paris, France.
Correlation functions of primordial density fluctuations provide an exciting probe of the physics governing the earliest moments of our Universe. However, the standard approach to compute them is technically challenging. Theoretical predictions are therefore available only in restricted classes of theories.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
May 2023
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), UTIAS The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-8583, Japan.
In broad classes of inflationary models the period of accelerated expansion is followed by fragmentation of the inflaton scalar field into localized, long-lived, and massive oscillon excitations. We demonstrate that matter dominance of oscillons, followed by their rapid decay, significantly enhances the primordial gravitational wave (GW) spectrum. These oscillon-induced GWs, sourced by second-order perturbations, are distinct and could be orders of magnitude lower in frequency than the previously considered GWs associated with oscillon formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
February 2023
Center for Astrophysics and Cosmology (CAC), University of Nova Gorica, Nova Gorica, Slovenia.
Instantons, which are nonperturbative solutions to Yang-Mills equations, provide a signal for the occurrence of quantum tunneling between distinct classes of vacua. They can give rise to decays of particles otherwise forbidden. Using data collected at the Pierre Auger Observatory, we search for signatures of such instanton-induced processes that would be suggestive of super-heavy particles decaying in the Galactic halo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Infect Dis
March 2023
Program On Regulation, Therapeutics, And Law (PORTAL), Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Background: Antiretroviral (ARV) medications to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are a major contributor to Medicaid prescription drug spending. Despite having been used for over 3 decades, the first generic ARVs only recently became available, and many newer versions continue to be sold at high prices despite within-class competition. We estimated Medicaid spending on ARVs from 2007 through 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev Lett
February 2021
Laboratoire de Univers et Particules de Montpellier, UMR5299-CNRS, Universite de Montpellier, 34095 Montpellier, France.
The LIGO/Virgo Collaboration has by now observed or constrained the gravitational merger rates of different classes of compact objects. We consider the possibility that the bulk of these mergers are primordial black hole (PBH) mergers of PBHs formed during the QCD epoch making up the entirety of the dark matter. Having shown in a companion paper that mergers due to the initial binary population formed in the early Universe are likely negligible, we compute current merger rates in PBH clusters in which the typical PBH resides.
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