Abstract
We present robust constraints on the stochastic gravitational waves (GWs) at
Mpc scales from the CMB data. CMB constraints on GWs are usually characterized
as the tensor-to-scalar ratio, assuming specifically a power-law form of the
primordial spectrum, and are obtained from the angular power spectra of CMB.
Here, we relax the assumption of the power-law form, and consider to what
extent one can constrain a monochromatic GW at shorter wavelengths. Previously,
such a constraint has been derived at the wavelengths larger than the
resolution scale of the CMB measurements, typically above $100$ Mpc (below
$10^-16$ Hz in frequency). However, GWs whose wavelength is much shorter than
$100$ Mpc can imprint a small but non-negligible signal on CMB anisotropies at
observed angular scales, $\ell<1000$. Here, using the CMB temperature,
polarization, and lensing data set, we obtain the best constraints to date at
$10^-16-10^-14$ Hz of the GWs produced before the time of decoupling, which
are tighter than those derived from the astrometric measurements and upper
bounds on extra radiations. In the future, the constraints on GWs at Mpc scales
will be further improved by several orders of magnitude with the precision
$B$-mode measurement on large scales, $\ell<100$.
Description
CMB Constraints on Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background at Mpc scales
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