Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-21-1998

Publication Title

Physical Review Letters

Department

Department of Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

The breaking of an approximate discrete symmetry, the final stages of a first order phase transition, or a postinflationary biased probability distribution for scalar fields are possible cosmological scenarios characterized by the presence of unstable domain wall networks. Combining analytical and numerical techniques, we show that the nonspherical collapse of these domains can be a powerful source of gravitational waves. We compute their contribution to the stochastic background of gravitational radiation and explore their observability by present and future gravitational wave detectors.

DOI

10.1103/PhysRevLett.81.5497

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