COSMOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF SCALE-INVARIANT GRAVITY-WAVES

The evolution of scale-invariant gravity waves from the early universe is analyzed using an equation of state which smoothly interpolates between the radiation-dominated era and the present matter-dominated era. We find that for large wave numbers the standard scale-invarant wave function for the gravity wave severely underestimates the actual amplitude of the gravity wave. Moreover, there is a definite shift in the temporal phase of the gravity wave as it crosses the radiation-matter phase transition. The tenser-induced anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background and the present spectral energy density of the gravity wave is then calculated, and compared with previous work. It is found that the phase shift has a significant effect on the power spectrum of the CMB.