You are here: Home» Events» Seminars

Gravitational Waves and Primordial Black Holes from Topological Defects in the Early Universe

Event Poster

David Dunsky (NYU)

Nov 28, 2023 3:30 PM
 Location: Bell Room
TSI Seminar

Title: Gravitational Waves and Primordial Black Holes from Topological Defects in the Early Universe

Abstract:

Spontaneous symmetry breaking in the early universe often leaves behind relic topological defects such as cosmic strings, domain walls, or magnetic monopoles. These topological defects are massive and can move at relativistic speeds, thereby generating appreciable gravitational waves. In this talk, I will discuss the stochastic gravitational wave background of different topological defects and how detection of such signals can be used to probe the early universe and infer characteristics about the energy scale and pattern of symmetry breaking that generates these defects. Finally, I will discuss how spheroidal domain walls associated with the axion can form around the QCD phase transition. These enclosed domain walls collapse under their own self tension, compressing an enormous amount of energy into a small volume and potentially forming a primordial black hole. For a sufficiently large axion decay constant, there may be an observable gravitational lensing signal at future telescopes.




Upcoming Seminars

MSI and Astro seminars are held on Tuesdays at 3:30 pm on alternating weeks during the fall and winter semesters.

Astro Seminars: feature speakers who discuss topics in astronomy, astrophysics and cosmology. Seminars will be held in the R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103) in the Rutherford Physics Building.

MSI Seminars: feature speakers who discuss topics in astrophysics, planetary science, atmospheric science and astrobiology. Most seminars are held in the MSI conference room at 3550 University. Some seminars are held in the R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103) in the Rutherford Physics Building (to accommodate larger audiences).

Unveiling the Earliest Galaxies and Super-massive Black Holes with JWST

Event Poster

Steven Finkelstein (UT Austin)

Dec 5, 2023 3:30 PM
 Location: Bell Room
TSI Seminar
Read More ⇒

Multifaceted Understanding of Accreting Neutron Stars and Their Environments: An X-ray Polarimetric Focus

Event Poster

Mason Ng (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Dec 7, 2023 3:30 PM
 Location: TSI Conference Room
Special Seminar
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Luis Welbanks (Arizona State University)

Dec 12, 2023 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Nicolas Cowan (TSI & McGill Physics)

Jan 16, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Jan 23, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Tanay Bhandarkar (University of Pennsylvania)

Jan 30, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Duncan Lorimer (University of West Virginia)

Feb 6, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Feb 13, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Eve Vavagiakis (Cornell University)

Feb 20, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Alison Man (UBC)

Feb 27, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Claude-Andre Faucher-Giguere (Northwestern University)

Mar 12, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Anson D’Aloisio (UC Riverside)

Mar 19, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Mar 26, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Johanna Teske (Carnegie)

Apr 2, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Vikram Ravi (Caltech)

Apr 9, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Christine Chen (Space Telescope Science Institute)

Apr 16, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Miles Cranmer (Cambridge and Simons Foundation)

Apr 23, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒

TSI Seminar

Sunshine Menezes (Executive Director at Metcalf Institute)

Apr 30, 2024 3:30 PM
 Seminar Event
Read More ⇒
© 2017-2023 Trottier Space Institute at McGill