PIRSA:25110091

Anisotropic gravitational wave backgrounds from rotating axions

Bodas, A. (2025). Anisotropic gravitational wave backgrounds from rotating axions. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/25110091

Bodas, Arushi. Anisotropic gravitational wave backgrounds from rotating axions. Perimeter Institute, Nov. 25, 2025, https://pirsa.org/25110091 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:25110091,
            doi = {10.48660/25110091},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/25110091},
            author = {Bodas, Arushi},
            keywords = {Particle Physics},
            language = {en},
            title = {Anisotropic gravitational wave backgrounds from rotating axions},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2025},
            month = {nov},
            note = {PIRSA:25110091 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Arushi Bodas University of Chicago

Talk numberPIRSA:25110091
DOI10.48660/25110091
Collection
Talk Type Scientific Series
Subject

Abstract

Gravitational waves (GW) offer a unique window into primordial density perturbations that may differ significantly from the adiabatic fluctuations observed in the CMB and large-scale structure. This raises an exciting prospect of seeing fluctuations of a completely new field from inflation in the anisotropy patterns of GW maps. However, CMB constraints impose an apparent tradeoff between distinctive anisotropy and sizable isotropic signal of such a GW background. I will show that rotating axion-like fields can naturally circumvent this limitation, producing both a strong GW background and large anisotropies within it. I will present the key characteristics of this signal and explore its detection prospects with future GW experiments.