Probing the scale of new physics by Advanced LIGO/VIRGO

We show that if the new physics beyond the standard model is associated with a first-order phase transition around 10(7)-10(8) GeV, the energy density stored in the resulting stochastic gravitational waves and the corresponding peak frequency are within the projected final sensitivity of the advanced LIGO/VIRGO detectors. We discuss some possible new physics scenarios that could arise at such energies, and in particular, the consequences for Peccei-Quinn and supersymmetry breaking scales.