Chiral Primordial Gravitational Waves from a Lifshitz Point

Abstract

We study primordial gravitational waves produced during inflation in quantum gravity at a Lifshitz point proposed by Ho${\rm\check{r}}$ava. Assuming power-counting renormalizability, foliation preserving diffeomorphism invariance, and the condition of detailed balance, we show that primordial gravitational waves are circularly polarized due to parity violation. The chirality of primordial gravitational waves is a quite robust prediction of quantum gravity at a Lifshitz point which can be tested through observations of cosmic microwave background radiation and stochastic gravitational waves.