Role of spatial curvature in the primordial gravitational wave power spectrum

Abstract

This paper investigates the effects of nonvanishing spatial curvature on the propagation of primordial gravitational waves produced during inflation. In particular, we consider tensor perturbations over a homogeneous and isotropic background, and describe the propagation of gravitational waves in the de Sitter phase with spatially curved geometries. We thus derive the expression of the primordial power spectrum at the horizon crossing, in the case of open and closed universes. Then, we analyze how tensor modes propagate in the post-inflationary era, showing the evolution of transfer functions in the radiation and matter epochs, as well as the matching conditions in the intermediate regime. To account for the intrinsic nature of different relativistic species, we also explore the corrections to the standard behavior of the radiation energy density. For this purpose, we introduce the effective number of degrees of freedom of relativistic particles contributing to the primordial energy and entropy densities. Under the subhorizon approximation, we obtain the spectral energy density of relic gravitational waves in terms of the curvature density parameter. Finally, we discuss the capability of present and future experiments to detect the primordial gravitational wave signal at different frequency regimes.