Séminaire / Seminar GReCO |
| « Gravitational Waves and Kaluza-Klein Modes from Cosmic Super-Strings » |
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Jean-François Dufaux |
| Cosmic super-strings are fundamental objects of string theory that have a cosmological size and evolve as a network of cosmic strings. They could lead to observational signatures of string theory, notably through gravitational wave (GW) astronomy, if they can be distinguished to some degree from their field theory counterparts. In the first part of this talk, I will revisit the computation of the GW background produced by cosmic (super-)string networks and discuss its essential and distinctive properties. I will discuss the prospects for its detection with ESA's space-based interferometer eLISA/NGO, as well as pulsar timing observations and ground-based interferometers. In the second part of the talk, I will study one specific aspect of cosmic super-strings that may help to distinguish them from field theory cosmic strings: their production of Kaluza-Klein (KK) modes associated with the extra dimensions. I will show that KK emission by cosmic super-strings is relatively independent of the geometry of the internal space and that it is constrained by Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and observations of the diffuse gamma-ray backgrounds. I will discuss the resulting constraints in the parameter space of cosmic super-strings and highlight their complementarity with the regions that can be probed with GW experiments. |
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lundi 20 février 2012 - 11:00 Salle des séminaires Évry Schatzman Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris |
| Pages web du séminaire / Seminar's webpage |