Probing the equation of state of the early Universe with pulsar timing arrays

Abstract

The recently released data by pulsar timing array (PTA) collaborations have amassed substantial evidence corroborating the existence of a stochastic signal consistent with a gravitational-wave background at frequencies around the nanohertz regime. We investigate the situation in which the PTA signal originates from scalar-induced gravitational waves (SIGWs), which serves as a valuable tool to probe the equation of state parameter w during the Universe's early stages. The joint consideration of the PTA data from the NANOGrav 15-year data set, PPTA DR3, and EPTA DR2 yields that w = 0.60+0.32 -0.39 (median + 90% credible interval), indicating a period of condensate domination at the production of SIGWs is allowed by the data. Moreover, the data also supports radiation domination (w = 1/3) within the 90% credible interval. We also impose an upper bound on the reheating temperature that T rh ≲ 0.2 GeV and the constraint on w reveals valuable information on the inflationary potential and the dynamics at the end of inflation.