
Could COBE DMR be detecting the imprint from a spectrum of gravitational waves generated during inflation? The conventional inflationary prediction had been that the cosmic microwave anisotropy is dominated by energy density fluctuations generated during inflation and that the gravitational waves contribute negligibly. In this paper, we report on recent work (in collaboration with R. Davis, H. Hodges, and M. Turner) that has shown that the conventional wisdom may be wrong; specifically, gravitational waves may dominate the anisotropy in inflationary models where the spectrum of perturbations deviates significantly from scale invariance (e.g., extended and power-law inflation models and extreme versions of chaotic inflation). If gravitational waves do dominate at the large-angular scales measured by COBE DMR, the expectation and interpretation of anisotropies on small-angular scales is profoundly altered. Invited Paper for Proceedings of the Journees Relativistes, Amsterdam, May 14-16, 1992
15 pages, UPR-0543T
Astrophysics (astro-ph), FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics
Astrophysics (astro-ph), FOS: Physical sciences, Astrophysics
| selected citations These citations are derived from selected sources. This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | 9 | |
| popularity This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network. | Average | |
| influence This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically). | Top 10% | |
| impulse This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network. | Average |
