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arXiv · 1702.04293

Hypermagnetic knots and gravitational radiation at intermediate frequencies

Abstract

The maximally gyrotropic configurations of the hypermagnetic field at the electroweak epoch can induce a stochastic background of relic gravitational waves with comoving frequencies ranging from the $\mu$Hz to the kHz. Using two complementary approaches we construct a physical template family for the emission of the gravitational radiation produced by the hypermagnetic knots. The current constraints and the presumed sensitivities of the advanced wide-band interferometers (both terrestrial and space-borne) are combined to infer that the lack of observations at intermediate frequencies may invalidate the premise of baryogenesis models based (directly or indirectly) on the presence of gyrotropic configurations of the hypermagnetic field at the electroweak epoch. Over the intermediate frequency range the spectral energy density of the gravitational waves emitted by the hypermagnetic knots at the electroweak scale can exceed the inflationary signal even by nine orders of magnitude without affecting the standard bounds applicable on the stochastic backgrounds of gravitational radiation. The signal of hypermagnetic knots can be disambiguated, at least in principle, since the the produced gravitational waves are polarized.

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Massimo Giovannini. 2017-02-14. Hypermagnetic knots and gravitational radiation at intermediate frequencies. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6382/aa75c5

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