Abstract
We reexamine the stochastic gravitational wave background resulting from inflation and its effect on the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). Measurement by the Cosmic Background Explorer satellite of a CMBR quadrupole anisotropy places an upper limit on the vacuum energy during inflation of ≊5× GeV. Gravitational waves from inflation could produce the entire observed signal if the vacuum energy during inflation was as small as 1.5× GeV at the 95% confidence level. This coincides with recent estimates of grand unification scales inferred from renormalization-group arguments, for Supersymmetric grand unified theories. Further tests of this possibility are examined, based on analyzing the energy density associated with gravitational waves from inflation.
- Received 7 May 1992
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.69.869
©1992 American Physical Society