Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Scientific paper
2007-07-23
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
43 pages including 9 figures, based on an invited lecture at the first J.A.Wheeler School on Astrophysical Relativity, June 20
Scientific paper
The authority of J. A. Wheeler in many areas of gravitational physics is immense, and there is a connection with the study of relic gravitational waves as well. I begin with a brief description of Wheeler's influence on this study. One part of the paper is essentially a detailed justification of the very existence of relic gravitational waves, account of their properties related to the quantum-mechanical origin, derivation of the expected magnitude of their effects, and reasoning why they should be detectable in the relatively near future. This line of argument includes the comparison of relic gravitational waves with density perturbations of quantum-mechanical origin, and the severe criticism of methods and predictions of inflationary theory. Another part of the paper is devoted to active searches for relic gravitational waves in cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB). Here, the emphasis is on the temperature-polarization TE cross-correlation function of CMB. The expected numerical level of the correlation, its sign, statistics, and the most appropriate interval of angular scales are identified. Other correlation functions are also considered. The overall conclusion is such that the observational discovery of relic gravitational waves looks like the matter of a few coming years, rather than a few decades.
No associations
LandOfFree
Discovering Relic Gravitational Waves in Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Discovering Relic Gravitational Waves in Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Discovering Relic Gravitational Waves in Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-109375