On the detection of primordial gravitational waves produced in bouncing models

Abstract

It is widely known that bouncing models with a dust hydrodynamical fluid satisfying ${c_s^2=p_d/\rho_d\approx 0}$, where $c_s, p_d, \rho_d$ are the sound velocity, pressure and energy density of the dust fluid, respectively, have almost scale invariant spectrum of scalar perturbations and negligible primordial gravitational waves. We investigate whether adding another fluid with $1/3 < \lambda = p/\rho < 1$, which should dominate near the bounce, can increase the amplitude of gravitational waves in the high frequency regime, turning them detectable in near future observations for such range of frequencies. Indeed, we show that the energy density of primordial gravitational waves is proportional to $k^{2(9\lambda-1)/(1+3\lambda)}$ for wavelengths which become bigger than the Hubble radius when this extra fluid dominates the background. Hence, as $\lambda \to 1$ (an almost stiff matter fluid), the energy density of primordial gravitational waves will increase faster in frequency, turning them potentially detectable at high frequencies. However, there is an extra factor $I_q(\lambda)$ in the amplitude which decreases exponentially with $\lambda$. The net effect of these two contributions turns the energy density of primordial gravitational waves not sufficiently big at high frequencies in order to be detected by present day or near future observations for models which satisfy the nucleosynthesis bounds and is symmetric with respect to the bounce. Hence, symmetric bouncing models where the background is dominated by a dust hydrodynamical fluid with small sound velocity, do not present any significant amount of primordial gravitational waves at any frequency range compatible with observations, even if there are other fields present in the model dominating the bounce phase. Any detection of such waves will then rule out this kind of models.