Probing the Scale of New Physics by Advanced LIGO/VIRGO

Abstract

We show that if the new physics beyond the Standard Model is associated with a first-order phase transition around $10^7-10^8$ GeV, the energy density stored in the resulting stochastic gravitational waves and the corresponding peak frequency are within the projected final sensitivity of the advanced LIGO/VIRGO detectors. We discuss some possible new physics scenarios that could arise at such energies, and in particular, the consequences for Peccei-Quinn and supersymmetry breaking scales.

Comments: 8 pages, 1 figure; version to appear in Phys. Rev. D