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arXiv · 2601.14008

Bounds on Gravitational Wave Production from Unitarity in an Early NEC-Violating Model

Pavel Petrov·Jianing Wang
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Abstract

We study a cosmological scenario featuring an early phase of null energy condition (NEC) violation. Within this framework, we show that perturbative unitarity bounds place strong constraints on both the amplitude and the spectral tilt of primordial gravitational waves. Our analysis is largely insensitive to the detailed realization of the transition between the NEC-violating phase and subsequent cosmological phases, allowing our results to be extended to a broader class of models. Finally, the perturbative unitarity approach employed here is applicable to a wide range of cosmological scenarios.

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Pavel Petrov, Jianing Wang. 2026-01-20. Bounds on Gravitational Wave Production from Unitarity in an Early NEC-Violating Model. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.14008

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