Cosmology with Gravitational Waves
Gravitational Waves (GWs) will become the most powerful tool to explore our Universe from its early epoch until nowadays. The LIGO-Virgo detection of several GW signals has greatly boosted the astrophysical understanding of compact objects, and, at the same time, has given strong constraints on modified-gravity models. The upcoming surge of GW detections by future space-based (LISA, DECIGO, BBO) and ground-based (ET, Cosmic Explorer, LIGO India) will clearly promote GWs at the same level of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Large Scale Structures (LSS) as a tracer to study our Universe. Therefore the detection of GWs propagating through cosmic structures can provide invaluable information on the geometry and content of our Universe. After a brief introduction of the properties of GWs, I will investigate the effect of including perturbations in the estimate of luminosity distances as inferred from gravitational wave observations. Then I will discuss tools and techniques to characterise the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background (SGWB), both of cosmological (e.g inflation, phase transition) and astrophysical origin that might be detected by next generation ground and space-based interferometers.
Friday, 26 February 2021, ore 14:30 — Zoom seminar