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High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Title: Double-graviton production from Standard Model plasma
(Submitted on 16 Jan 2024 (v1), last revised 24 Apr 2024 (this version, v2))
Abstract: The thermal plasma filling the early universe generated a stochastic gravitational wave background that peaks in the microwave frequency range today. If the graviton production rate is expressed as a series in a fine-structure constant, $\alpha$, and the temperature over the Planck mass, $T^2_{ } / m_{\rm pl}^2$, then the lowest-order contributions come from single ($\sim \alpha T^2_{ }/m_{\rm pl}^2$) and double ($\sim T^4_{ }/m_{\rm pl}^4$) graviton production via $2\to 2$ scatterings. We show that in the Standard Model, single-graviton production dominates if the maximal temperature is smaller than $4\times 10^{18}_{ }$ GeV. This justifies previous calculations which relied solely on single-graviton production. We mention Beyond the Standard Model scenarios in which the single and double-graviton contributions could be of comparable magnitudes. Finally, we elaborate on what these results imply for the range of applicability of General Relativity as an effective theory.
Submission history
From: Mikko Laine [view email][v1] Tue, 16 Jan 2024 19:00:04 GMT (56kb)
[v2] Wed, 24 Apr 2024 09:15:22 GMT (56kb)
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