Imprints of Cosmic Phase Transition in Inflationary Gravitational Waves

Understand

We discuss the effects of cosmic phase transition on the spectrum of primordial gravitational waves generated during inflation.

• The energy density of the scalar condensation responsible for the phase transition may become sizable at the epoch of phase transition, which significantly affects the evolution of the universe.
• As a result, the amplitudes of the gravitational waves at high frequency modes are suppressed.
• Thus the gravitational wave spectrum can be a probe of phase transition in the early universe.