Opening of New Windows to the Early Universe by Means of Multi-Messenger Astronomy (Brief Review)

Abstract

The current situation in cosmology and particle physics, which are two closely related fields of fundamental physics, is unique. The Standard Model of particle physics excellently reproduces all existing experimental data except for neutrino oscillations. Similarly, the comparison of the standard cosmological model with astronomical observations indicates that we well understand the evolution of the Universe from its “birth” to the present. However, to understand mechanisms of numerous cosmological phenomena, it is certainly necessary to go beyond the Standard Model. These are primarily the problems of dark matter and dark energy, generation of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe, and the mechanism of inflation expansion. The problem of the appearance of cosmic magnetic fields and the recent problem of the existence of massive black holes whose number in the Universe is much larger than the expected values are among less known, but also very important problems in conventional cosmology and astrophysics. To understand and possibly solve these problems, it is very important to provide deep insight into the Universe and to obtain data on physical processes at the early stages of the cosmological evolution. Multi-messenger observations involving all possible messengers (“windows”) provide a powerful tool for this. In addition to conventional detection of electromagnetic radiation in all bands and all types of cosmic rays, the observations of gravitational waves have recently opened a new window. A complex analysis of information obtained from various astronomical data has been performed in our works supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 20-42-09010 “Opening of New Windows to the Early Universe by Means of Multi-Messenger Astronomy”). In particular, the characteristics of cosmic magnetic fields and possible mechanisms of their appearance have been studied and the observed manifestations of primary black holes have been examined using the data on gravitational waves observed at the LIGO/Virgo/KAGRA interferometers.