Testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational waves

Abstract We propose a testable alternative to inflation directly built in a very general class of ultraviolet complete theories of quantum gravity enjoying Weyl invariance. After the latter is spontaneously broken, logarithmic quantum corrections to the action make both the primordial tensor spectru...

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Main Authors: Gianluca Calcagni, Leonardo Modesto
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2024-12-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2024)024
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author Gianluca Calcagni
Leonardo Modesto
author_facet Gianluca Calcagni
Leonardo Modesto
author_sort Gianluca Calcagni
collection DOAJ
description Abstract We propose a testable alternative to inflation directly built in a very general class of ultraviolet complete theories of quantum gravity enjoying Weyl invariance. After the latter is spontaneously broken, logarithmic quantum corrections to the action make both the primordial tensor spectrum (from graviton fluctuations) and the scalar spectrum (from thermal fluctuations) quasi scale invariant. We predict a scalar spectral index n s which only depends on two parameters and is consistent with observations, a tensor index n t = 1 − n s > 0, and, if the fundamental energy scale of the theory Λ* = M Pl is of order of the Planck mass, a tensor-to-scalar ratio r 0.05 ≈ 0.01 detectable by BICEP Array and LiteBIRD in the immediate or near future, respectively, and a blue-tilted stochastic gravitational-wave background observable by DECIGO in the further future. From the observational constraint r 0.05 < 0.036, we also find the lower bound Λ* > 8.5 × 1010 GeV, much stronger than any previous one for this class of theories.
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spelling doaj-art-363aa905a31f43cab4aa717edf99dbfa2025-08-20T01:57:08ZengSpringerOpenJournal of High Energy Physics1029-84792024-12-0120241214110.1007/JHEP12(2024)024Testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational wavesGianluca Calcagni0Leonardo Modesto1Instituto de Estructura de la Materia, CSICDipartimento di Fisica, Università di CagliariAbstract We propose a testable alternative to inflation directly built in a very general class of ultraviolet complete theories of quantum gravity enjoying Weyl invariance. After the latter is spontaneously broken, logarithmic quantum corrections to the action make both the primordial tensor spectrum (from graviton fluctuations) and the scalar spectrum (from thermal fluctuations) quasi scale invariant. We predict a scalar spectral index n s which only depends on two parameters and is consistent with observations, a tensor index n t = 1 − n s > 0, and, if the fundamental energy scale of the theory Λ* = M Pl is of order of the Planck mass, a tensor-to-scalar ratio r 0.05 ≈ 0.01 detectable by BICEP Array and LiteBIRD in the immediate or near future, respectively, and a blue-tilted stochastic gravitational-wave background observable by DECIGO in the further future. From the observational constraint r 0.05 < 0.036, we also find the lower bound Λ* > 8.5 × 1010 GeV, much stronger than any previous one for this class of theories.https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2024)024Cosmological modelsModels of Quantum Gravity
spellingShingle Gianluca Calcagni
Leonardo Modesto
Testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational waves
Journal of High Energy Physics
Cosmological models
Models of Quantum Gravity
title Testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational waves
title_full Testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational waves
title_fullStr Testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational waves
title_full_unstemmed Testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational waves
title_short Testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational waves
title_sort testing quantum gravity with primordial gravitational waves
topic Cosmological models
Models of Quantum Gravity
url https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP12(2024)024
work_keys_str_mv AT gianlucacalcagni testingquantumgravitywithprimordialgravitationalwaves
AT leonardomodesto testingquantumgravitywithprimordialgravitationalwaves