Related papers: A Wrinkle in Coleman - De Luccia
We describe here how the late time behavior of the decaying states, which is predicted to deviate from an exponential form, while normally of insignificant consequence, may have important cosmological implications in the case of false…
KKLT give a mechanism to generate de Sitter vacua in string theory. And recently, the scenario, {\em landscape}, is suggested to explain the problem of the cosmological constant. In this scenario, the cosmological constant is a de Sitter…
We discuss systematic approaches to the classification of string/M theory vacua, and physical questions this might help us resolve. To this end, we initiate the study of ensembles of effective Lagrangians, which can be used to precisely…
Motivated in part by string theory, we consider a modification of the LambdaCDM cosmological model in which the dark matter has a long-range scalar force screened by light particles. Scalar forces can have interesting effects on structure…
We study spatial variations of the fine-structure constant in the presence of static straight cosmic strings in the weak-field approximation in Einstein gravity. We work in the context of a generic Bekenstein-type model and consider a gauge…
Quantum vacuum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field in empty space seem not to produce observable effects over the motion of a charged test particle. However, when a change in the background vacuum state is implemented, as for instance…
It has been argued recently that string theory effects qualitatively modify the effective black hole geometry experienced by modes with radial momentum of order $1/\sqrt{\alpha'}$. At tree level, these $\alpha'$-effects can be explicitly…
The space of four dimensional string and $M$ theory vacua with non-Abelian gauge symmetry, chiral fermions and unbroken supersymmetry beyond the electroweak scale appears to be a disconnected space whose different components represent…
Beginning with a review of the arguments leading to the so-called c=1 barrier in the continuum formulation of noncritical string theory, the pathology is then exhibited in a discretized version of the theory, formulated through dynamical…
We discuss the decay of axion walls bounded by strings and present numerical simulations of the decay process. In these simulations, the decay happens immediately, in a time scale of order the light travel time, and the average energy of…
Exact solutions of the Einstein field equations with cosmic string and space varying cosmological constant, viz., $\Lambda= \Lambda(r)$, in the energy-momentum tensors are presented. Three cases have been studied: where variable…
Within the general framework of Liouville string theory, we construct a model for quantum D-brane fluctuations in the space-time background through which light closed-string states propagate. The model is based on monopole and vortex…
In this work, we study the effects of stringy corrections on the low energy effective action derived from heterotic string theory beyond its supergravity approximation. Compactifying the ten dimensional theory with these stringy corrections…
We study false vacuum decay for a gauged complex scalar field in a polynomial potential with nearly degenerate minima. Radiative corrections to the profile of the nucleated bubble as well as the full decay rate are computed in the planar…
In a pioneering paper on the role of gravity on false vacuum decay, Coleman and De Luccia showed that a strong gravitational field can stabilize the false vacuum, suppressing the formation of true vacuum bubbles. This result is obtained for…
We initiate a study on various cosmological imprints of string axions whose scalar potentials have plateau regions. In such cases, we show that a delayed onset of oscillation generically leads to a parametric resonance instability. In…
We consider the role of quantum effects in the non-perturbative decay of non-abelian string with orientational moduli in non-supersymmetric D=4 gauge theory. To this aim the effective action in the $CP(N-1)$ model on a disc at large N has…
Kachru, Kallosh, Linde, & Trivedi recently constructed a four-dimensional de Sitter compactification of IIB string theory, which they showed to be metastable in agreement with general arguments about de Sitter spacetimes in quantum gravity.…
Implications of string-string dualities to cosmological string vacua are discussed. Cosmological vacua of classical string theories comprise of disjoint classses mapped one another by scale-factor T-duality. Each classes are, however,…
Under the hypothesis that the cosmological constant vanishes in the true ground state with lowest possible energy density, we argue that the observed small but finite vacuum-like energy density can be explained if we consider a theory with…