Stochastic background of gravitational waves "tuned" by $f(R)$ gravity

Abstract

The cosmological background of gravitational waves can be tuned by Extended Theories of Gravity. In particular, it can be shown that assuming a generic function $f(R)$ of the Ricci scalar $R$ gives a parametric approach to control the evolution and the production mechanism of gravitational waves in the early Universe.Comment: 5 pages, to appear in the Proceedings of the 3rd Stueckelberg Workshop, July 2008, Pescara - Ital