How well do we know the scalar-induced gravitational waves?

Abstract

Gravitational waves sourced by amplified scalar perturbations are a common prediction across a wide range of cosmological models. These scalar curvature fluctuations are inherently nonlinear and typically non-Gaussian. We argue that the effects of non-Gaussianity may not always be adequately captured by an expansion around a Gaussian field, expressed through nonlinear parameters such as f NL . As a consequence, the resulting amplitude of the stochastic gravitational wave background may differ significantly from predictions based on the standard quadratic source model routinely used in the literature.

Topics & Concepts