Fundamental physics with gravitational waves
Abstract:
The field of gravitational-wave astronomy has seen rapid and impressive progress since the first direct detection of gravitational waves in 2015; and yet the exciting journey has just begun. In the coming decades, gravitational waves will continue to expand their role as an indispensable tool for astrophysics and cosmology and advance to a primary probe of fundamental physics in the 21st century. In light of these prospects, this lecture series will highlight some of the new physics---either originating from modifications of general relativity or extensions of the standard model of particle physics---that we may discover in the gravitational-wave sky. We will first discuss the possibility to test general relativity with gravitational waves and then turn to particle cosmology and possible sources of gravitational waves in the early Universe. In particular, we will consider primordial gravitational waves from cosmic inflation, first-order phase transitions, and topological defects, as well as gravitational waves associated with the production of primordial black holes.