Related papers: Effects of Inflation on a Cosmic String Loop Popul…
Recent cosmic microwave background observations favor low energy scale inflationary models in a closed universe. However, onset of inflation in such models for a closed universe is known to be severely problematic. In particular, such a…
In string theory, the traditional picture of a Universe that emerges from the inflation of a very small and highly curved space-time patch is a possibility, not a necessity: quite different initial conditions are possible, and not…
If the cosmological inflationary scenario took place in the cosmic landscape in string theory, the inflaton, the scalar mode responsible for inflation, would have meandered in a complicated multi-dimensional potential. We show that this…
High-scale string inflationary models are in well-known tension with low-energy supersymmetry. A promising solution involves models where the inflaton is the volume of the extra dimensions so that the gravitino mass relaxes from large…
We propose a cosmological lingering phase for the initial state prior to inflation which would help address the singularity problem of inflation. The universe begins with a constant (Hagedorn) temperature and then transitions into an…
We examine a non-Abelian SUSY $SU(2) \times U(1)$ gauge theory and a SUSY U(1) theory originally used to investigate the microphysics of cosmic strings in supersymmetric theories. We show that both theories automatically include hybrid…
The most important criteria for a successful inflation are to explain the observed temperature anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background radiation, and exiting inflation in a vacuum where it can excite the Standard Model quarks and…
We motivate the study of chiral cosmic strings through a scenario of structure formation which mixes D-term inflation and strings. We then discuss some properties of chiral cosmic strings, and results regarding their evolution and possible…
We investigate the evolution of black holes present during the inflationary epoch, assuming they are dynamically coupled to the cosmological background through a generalized McVittie geometry, such that their gravitational mass scales with…
It is known for a long time that the space time around a spinning cylindrical symmetric compact object such as the cosmic string, show un-physical behavior, i.e., they would possess closed time like curves (CTC). This controversy with…
Constraints on the tension and the abundance of cosmic strings depend crucially on the rate at which they decay into particles and gravitational radiation. We study the decay of cosmic string loops in the Abelian-Higgs model by performing…
I present a brief review of astro-ph/0406099, which argues that there is a limit on the number of efolds of inflation which are observable in a universe which undergoes an eternally accelerated expansion in the future. Such an acceleration…
We examine the effect of perturbative string loops on the cosmological pre-big-bang evolution. We study loop corrections derived from heterotic string theory compactified on a $Z_N$ orbifold and we consider the effect of the all-order loop…
An earlier paper points out that a quantum treatment of the string landscape is necessary. It suggests that the wavefunction of the universe is mobile in the landscape until the universe reaches a meta-stable site with its cosmological…
The cosmic string is a useful probe of the early Universe and may give us a clue to physics at high energy scales where any artificial particle accelerators cannot reach. Although one of the most promising tools is the cosmic microwave…
We demonstrate that the strict upper bounds on the energy scale of inflation and on the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be somewhat relaxed if we assume that - after an initial period of slow rolling when scales probed today in CMB experiments…
This paper represents an in-depth treatment of the chain inflation scenario. We fully determine the evolution of the universe in the model, the necessary conditions in order to have a successful inflationary period, and the matching with…
(Abridged) Does inflation have to happen all in one go? The answer is a resounding no! All cosmological problems can be solved by a sequence of short bursts of cosmic acceleration, interrupted by short epochs of decelerated expansion. The…
In String theory realizations of inflation, the end point of inflation is often brane-anti brane annihilation. We consider the processes of reheating of the Standard Model universe after brane inflation. We identify the channels of inflaton…
Cosmological inflation and topological defects have been considered for a long time, either in disagreement or in competition. On the one hand an inflationary era is required to solve the shortcomings of the hot big bang model, while on the…