Speaker
Raphael Picard
(Queen Mary University London)
Description
Gravitational waves provide a new observational tool to study the
universe. Second-order cosmological perturbation theory allows to
study gravitational waves sourced by terms quadratic in first order
quantities. For example, so-called scalar induced gravitational waves
are sourced by first order scalar fluctuations and have been studied
extensively. In this presentation I discuss the implications and
possibilities of including tensor fluctuations at first order in the
source term. I will show how the tensor fluctuations change the
spectral energy density of the induced waves, particularly on small
scales. Furthermore, I will discuss my ongoing work focused on resolving the 'divergences' that arise in the spectral density.
Author
Raphael Picard
(Queen Mary University London)
