CMB $\mu$ distortion from primordial gravitational waves
  We propose a new mechanism of generating the $\mu$ distortion in cosmic
microwave background (CMB) originated from primordial gravitational waves. Such
$\mu$ distortion is generated by the damping of the temperature anisotropies
through the Thomson scattering, even on scales larger than that of Silk
damping. This mechanism is in sharp contrast with that from the primordial
curvature (scalar) perturbations, in which the temperature anisotropies mainly
decay by Silk damping effects. We estimate the size of the $\mu$ distortion
from the new mechanism, which can be used to constrain the amplitude of
primordial gravitational waves on smaller scales independently from the CMB
anisotropies, giving more wide-range constraint on their spectral index by
combining the amplitude from the CMB anisotropies.
