Ultrahigh frequency primordial gravitational waves beyond the kHz: The case of cosmic strings

Abstract

We investigate gravitational-wave backgrounds (GWBs) of primordial origin that would manifest only at ultra-high frequencies, from kilohertz to 100 gigahertz, and leave no signal at either LIGO, Einstein Telescope, Cosmic Explorer, LISA, or pulsar-timing arrays. We focus on GWBs produced by cosmic strings and make predictions for the GW spectra scanning over high-energy scale (beyond $10^{10}$ GeV) particle physics parameters. Signals from local string networks can easily be as large as the Big Bang nucleosynthesis/cosmic microwave background bounds, with a characteristic strain as high as $10^{-26}$ in the 10 kHz band, offering prospects to probe grand unification physics in the $10^{14}-10^{17}$ GeV energy range. In comparison, GWB from axionic strings is suppressed (with maximal characteristic strain $\sim 10^{-31}$) due to the early matter era induced by the associated heavy axions. We estimate the needed reach of hypothetical futuristic GW detectors to probe such GWB and, therefore, the corresponding high-energy physics processes. Beyond the information of the symmetry-breaking scale, the high-frequency spectrum encodes the microscopic structure of the strings through the position of the UV cutoffs associated with cusps and kinks, as well as potential information about friction forces on the string. The IR slope, on the other hand, reflects the physics responsible for the decay of the string network. We discuss possible strategies for reconstructing the scalar potential, particularly the scalar self-coupling, from the measurement of the UV cutoff of the GW spectrum.