Related papers: The Cosmological Constant Problem and Inflation in…
Loop quantum cosmology provides a nice solution of avoiding the big bang singularity through a big bounce mechanism in the high energy region. In loop quantum cosmology an inflationary universe is emergent after the big bounce, no matter…
In spite of its great phenomenological success, current models of scalar field-driven inflation suffer from important unresolved conceptual issues. New fundamental physics will be required to address these questions. String theory is a…
Following a suggestion by Gasperini and Veneziano, that String Cosmology can be reconciled with Inflation and, hence, with the Standard Big Bang, we display an analytical solution which possesses four interesting properties: (1) it is…
The evolution of a scalar field is explored taking into account the presence of a background fluid in a positively curved Universe in the framework of loop quantum cosmology. Though the mechanism that provides the initial conditions for…
In this review I consider several different issues related to inflation. I will begin with the wave function of the Universe. This issue is pretty old, but recently there were some new insights based on the theory of the self-reproducing…
String theory gives rise to various mechanisms to generate primordial inflation, of which ``brane inflation'' is one of the most widely considered. In this scenario, inflation takes place while two branes are approaching each other, and the…
We consider the eternal inflation scenario of the slow-roll/chaotic type with the additional element of an objective collapse of the wave function. The incorporation of this new agent to the traditional inflationary setting might represent…
This paper extends the recent investigation of the string theory landscape in hep-th/0605266, where it was found that the decay rate of dS vacua to a collapsing space with a negative vacuum energy can be quite large. The parts of space that…
A mechanism for suppressing the cosmological constant is developed, based on an analogy with a superconducting phaseshift in which free fermions coupled perturbatively to a weak gravitational field are in an unstable false vacuum state. The…
Inflation is now a basic ingredient of the modern cosmology. After reviewing the basic characteristics of inflation, we briefly discuss inflation in string and brane theories, focusing on the problem of the exit from inflation in these…
Towards the end of the brane inflationary epoch in the brane world, cosmic strings (but not texture, domain walls or monopoles) are copiously produced during brane collision. These cosmic strings are D$p$-branes with $(p-1)$ dimensions…
The Pre-Big Bang cosmology inspired generations of cosmologists in attempts to cure the initial Big Bang singularity using a fundamental length scale as proposed by String Theory. The existence of a phase of collapse/inflation with…
Attempts to connect string theory with astrophysical observation are hampered by a jargon barrier, where an intimidating profusion of orientifolds, Kahler potentials, etc. dissuades cosmologists from attempting to work out the astrophysical…
It has been proposed that the geometry of an extra dimension could automatically adjust itself to compensate for an arbitrary energy density on the 3-D brane which we are presumed to inhabit, such that a static solution to Einstein's…
The chaotic inflationary model of the early universe, proposed by Linde is explored in the brane world considering matter described by a minimally coupled self interacting scalar field. We obtain cosmological solutions which admit evolution…
In this paper we consider inflation as a probe of new physics near the string or Planck scale. We discuss how new physics can be captured by the choice of vacuum, and how this leads to modifications of the primordial spectrum as well as the…
The Quantum cosmology with Born-Infeld(B-I) type scalar field is considered. In the extreme limits of small cosmological scale factor the wave function of the universe can also be obtained by applying the methods developed by…
We point out that $\Lambda$CDM cosmology has an ignored assumption. That is, the $\Lambda$ component of the universe moves synchronously with ordinary matters on Hubble scales. If cosmological constant is vacuum energy, this assumption may…
Although the cosmological constant has primarily cosmological consequences, its smallness poses one of the basic problems in particle physics. Various attempts have been made to explain this mystery, but no satisfactory solution has been…
We propose a novel scenario to explain the small cosmological constant (CC) by a finely tuned inflaton potential. The tuned shape is stable under radiative corrections, and our setup is technically natural. The peculiar po- tential…