We show that a combination of the simplest $\alpha$-attractors and KKLTI models related to Dp-brane inflation covers most of the area in the ($n_{s}$, $r$) space favored by Planck 2018. Expand abstract.

We show that a combination of the simplest $\alpha$-attractors and KKLTI models related to Dp-brane inflation covers most of the area in the ($n_{s}$, $r$) space favored by Planck 2018. For $\alpha$-attractor models, there are discrete targets $3\alpha=1,2,...,7$, predicting 7 different values of $r = 12\alpha/N^{2}$ in the range $10^{-2} \gtrsim r \gtrsim 10^{-3}$. In the small $r$ limit, $\alpha$-attractors and Dp-brane inflation models describe vertical $\beta$-stripes in the ($n_{s}$, $r$) space, with $n_{s}=1-\beta/N$, $\beta=2, {5\over 3},{8\over 5}, {3\over 2},{4\over 3}$. A phenomenological description of these models and their generalizations can be achieved in the context of pole inflation. Most of the $1\sigma$ area in the ($n_{s}$, $r$) space favored by Planck 2018 can be covered models with $\beta = 2$ and $\beta = 5/3$. Future precision data on $n_s$ may help to discriminate between these models even if the precision of the measurement of $r$ is insufficient for the discovery of gravitational waves produced during inflation.

We propose a new optical configuration for an interferometric gravitational wave detector based on the speedmeter concept using a sloshing cavity. Expand abstract.

We propose a new optical configuration for an interferometric gravitational wave detector based on the speedmeter concept using a sloshing cavity. Speedmeters provide an inherently better quantum-noise limited sensitivity at low frequencies than the currently used Michelson interferometers. We show that a practical sloshing cavity can be added relatively simply to an existing dual-recycled Michelson interferometer such as Advanced LIGO.

Gravitational wave in complementary to collider signals can help to pin down the underlying phase transition dynamics or different patterns. Expand abstract.

Dynamical CP-violating source for electroweak baryogenesis can appear only at finite temperature in the complex two-Higgs doublet model, which might help to alleviate the strong constraints from the electric dipole moment experiments. In this scenario, we study the detailed phase transition dynamics and the corresponding gravitational wave signals in synergy with the collider signals at future lepton colliders. For some parameter spaces, various phase transition patterns can occur, such as the multi-step phase transition and supercooling. Gravitational wave in complementary to collider signals can help to pin down the underlying phase transition dynamics or different patterns.

We compute the gravitational wave energy $E_{\rm rad}$ radiated in head-on collisions of equal-mass, nonspinning black holes in up to $D=8$ dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes for boost velocities $v$ up to about $90\,\%$ of the speed of light. Expand abstract.

We compute the gravitational wave energy $E_{\rm rad}$ radiated in head-on collisions of equal-mass, nonspinning black holes in up to $D=8$ dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes for boost velocities $v$ up to about $90\,\%$ of the speed of light. We identify two main regimes: Weak radiation at velocities up to about $40\,\%$ of the speed of light, and exponential growth of $E_{\rm rad}$ with $v$ at larger velocities. Extrapolation to the speed of light predicts a limit of $12.9\,\%$ $(10.1,~7.7,~5.5,~4.5)\,\%$. of the total mass that is lost in gravitational waves in $D=4$ $(5,\,6,\,7,\,8)$ spacetime dimensions. In agreement with perturbative calculations, we observe that the radiation is minimal for small but finite velocities, rather than for collisions starting from rest. Our computations support the identification of regimes with super Planckian curvature outside the black-hole horizons reported by Okawa, Nakao, and Shibata [Phys.~Rev.~D {\bf 83} 121501(R) (2011)].

We show that the constraints obtained in this way are quite tight, if the dark matter field oscillates freely, whereas they are substantially weakened, if the oscillations are damped by the non-minimal coupling. Expand abstract.

We study the phenomenology associated to non-minimally coupled dark matter. In particular, we consider the model where the non-minimal coupling arises from the formation of relativistic Bose-Einstein condensates in high density regions of dark matter [1]. This non-minimal coupling is of Horndeski type and leads to a local modification of the speed of gravity with respect to the speed of light. Therefore we can constrain the model by using the joint detection of GW170817 and GRB170817A. We show that the constraints obtained in this way are quite tight, if the dark matter field oscillates freely, whereas they are substantially weakened, if the oscillations are damped by the non-minimal coupling.

Gravitational waves from binary neutron star coalescences contain rich information about matter at supranuclear densities encoded by the neutron star equation of state. Expand abstract.

Gravitational waves from binary neutron star coalescences contain rich information about matter at supranuclear densities encoded by the neutron star equation of state. We can measure the equation of state by analyzing the tidal interactions between neutron stars, which is quantified by the tidal deformability. Multiple merger events are required to probe the equation of state over a range of neutron star masses. The more events included in the analysis, the stronger the constraints on the equation of state. In this paper, we build on previous work to explore the constraints that LIGO and Virgo are likely to place on the neutron star equation of state by combining the first forty binary neutron star detections, a milestone we project to be reached during the first year of accumulated design-sensitivity data. We carry out Bayesian inference on a realistic mock dataset of binaries to obtain posterior distributions for neutron star tidal parameters. In order to combine posterior samples from multiple observations, we employ a random forest regressor, which allows us to efficiently interpolate the likelihood distribution. Assuming a merger rate of 1540 Gpc$^{-3}$ yr$^{-1}$ and a LIGO-Virgo detector network operating for one year at the sensitivity of the third-observation run, plus an additional eight months of design sensitivity, we find that the radius of a 1.4 $M_\odot$ neutron star can be constrained to $\sim 10$% at 90% confidence. At the same time, the pressure at twice the nuclear saturation density can be constrained to $\sim 45$ % at 90% confidence.

Gravitational waves (GWs) provide an excellent opportunity to test the gravity in the strong gravitational fields. Expand abstract.

Gravitational waves (GWs) provide an excellent opportunity to test the gravity in the strong gravitational fields. In this article, we calculate the waveform of GWs, produced by the coalescence of compact binaries, in the general ghost-free parity-violating gravities. By comparing the two circular polarization modes, we find the effects of amplitude birefringence and velocity birefringence of GWs caused by the parity violation in gravity, which are explicitly presented in the GW waveforms by the amplitude and phase modifications respectively. Combining the two modes, we obtain the GW waveforms in the Fourier domain, and find that the deviations from those in General Relativity are dominated by effects of velocity birefringence of GWs.

Left-right symmetry at high energy scales is a well-motivated extension of the Standard Model. Expand abstract.

Left-right symmetry at high energy scales is a well-motivated extension of the Standard Model. In this paper we consider a typical minimal scenario in which it gets spontaneously broken by scalar triplets. Such a realization has been scrutinized over the past few decades chiefly in the context of collider studies. In this work we take a complementary approach and investigate whether the model can be probed via the search for a stochastic gravitational wave background induced by the phase transition in which $SU(3)_C \times SU(2)_L \times SU(2)_R \times U(1)_{B-L}$ is broken down to the Standard Model gauge symmetry group. A prerequisite for gravitational wave production in this context is a first-order phase transition, the occurrence of which we find in a significant portion of the parameter space. Although the produced gravitational waves are typically too weak for a discovery at any current or future detector, upon investigating correlations between all relevant terms in the scalar potential, we have identified values of parameters leading to observable signals. This indicates that, given a certain moderate fine-tuning, the minimal left-right symmetric model with scalar triplets features another powerful probe which can lead to either novel constraints or remarkable discoveries in the near future. Let us note that some of our results, such as the full set of thermal masses, have to the best of our knowledge not been presented before and might be useful for future studies, in particular in the context of electroweak baryogenesis.

We study the strong first order electroweak phase transition (SFOEWPT) with the $SO(6)/SO(5)$ composite Higgs model, whose scalar sector contains one Higgs doublet and one real singlet. Expand abstract.

We study the strong first order electroweak phase transition (SFOEWPT) with the $SO(6)/SO(5)$ composite Higgs model, whose scalar sector contains one Higgs doublet and one real singlet. Six benchmark models are built with fermion embeddings in $\textbf{1}$, $\textbf{6}$, and $\textbf{15}$ of $SO(6)$. We show that SFOEWPT cannot be triggered under the minimal Higgs potential hypothesis, which assumes the scalar potential is dominated by the form factors from the lightest composite resonances. To get a SFOEWPT, the contributions from local operators induced by physics above the cutoff scale are needed. We take the $\textbf{6}+\textbf{6}$ model as an example to investigate the gravitational waves prediction and the related collider phenomenology.

We here present the first analytic effective fly-by (EFB) waveforms designed to accurately capture the burst of gravitational radiation from the closest approach of highly eccentric compact binaries. Expand abstract.

We here present the first analytic effective fly-by (EFB) waveforms designed to accurately capture the burst of gravitational radiation from the closest approach of highly eccentric compact binaries. The waveforms are constructed by performing a re-summation procedure on the well-known Fourier series representation of the two-body problem at leading post-Newtonian order. This procedure results in two models: one in the time-domain, and one in the Fourier domain, which makes use of the stationary phase approximation. We discuss the computational efficiency of both these models, and validate the time domain model against numerical waveforms. We further show how to use these individual waveforms to detect a repeated burst source.