Stochastic background of gravitational waves from cosmological sources

Understand

Gravitational waves (GW) can constitute a unique probe of the primordial universe.

• In many cases, the characteristic frequency of the emitted GW is directly related to the energy scale at which the GW source is operating in the early universe.
• Consequently, different GW detectors can probe different energy scales in the evolution of the universe.
• After a general introduction on the properties of a GW stochastic background of primordial origin, some examples of cosmological sources are presented, which may lead to observable GW signals.