Related papers: Cosmological Moduli Problem from Thermal Effects
We consider a recent model with sub-millimeter sized extra dimensions, where the field that determines the size of the extra dimensions (the radion) also acts as an inflaton. The radion is also a stable modulus, and its coherent…
Nonlinearities in a realistic axion field potential may play an important role in the cosmological dynamics. In this paper we use the Boltzmann code CLASS to solve the background and linear perturbations evolution of an axion field and…
Scalar and tensorial cosmological perturbations generated in warm inflationary scenarios whose matter-radiation fluid is endowed with a viscous pressure are considered. Recent observational data from the WMAP experiment are employed to…
We investigate the cosmological perturbation of two-scalar field model during the reheating phase after inflation. Using the exact solution of the perturbation in long-wavelength limit, which is expressed in terms of the background…
In cosmological scenarios with thermal inflation, extra eras of moduli matter domination, thermal inflation and flaton matter domination exist between primordial inflation and the radiation domination of Big Bang nucleosynthesis. During…
We analyse the cosmological evolution of a generalised axion-like field that drives the late-time acceleration of the Universe. This model can exhibit tracking behaviour, which alleviates the coincidence problem. The cosmological…
The conventional misalignment mechanism for scalar dark matter depends on the initial field value, which governs the oscillation amplitude and present-day abundance. We present a mechanism by which a feeble (Planck-suppressed) coupling of…
A generic feature of string compactifications is the presence of many scalar fields, called moduli. Moduli are usually displaced from their post-inflationary minimum during inflation. Their relaxation to the minimum could lead to the…
Axions are very light, very weakly interacting particles postulated more than 30 years ago in the context of the Standard Model of particle physics. Their existence could explain the missing dark matter of the universe. However, despite…
The early universe according to the big bang and the grand unified theories is discussed. The shortcomings of big bang are summarized together with their resolution by inflationary cosmology. Inflation, the subsequent oscillation and decay…
We study a particular version of the theory of cosmological $\alpha$-attractors with $\alpha=1/3$, in which both the dilaton (inflaton) field and the axion field are light during inflation. The kinetic terms in this theory originate from…
Low energy effective actions arising from string theory typically contain many scalar fields, some with a very complicated potential and others with no potential at all. The evolution of these scalars is of great interest. Their late time…
After introducing gauge-invariant cosmological perturbation theory we give an improved set of governing equations for multiple fluids including energy transfer. Having defined adiabatic and entropic perturbations we derive the…
We point out that ultralight scalar dark matter that modulates neutrino masses can be significantly thermal damped by cosmic neutrinos in the early universe. This dissipative effect arises as a backreaction from the neutrinos which are…
We generalize previous work on inhomogeneous pre-big bang cosmology by including the effect of non-trivial moduli and antisymmetric-tensor/axion fields. The general quasi-homogeneous asymptotic solution---as one approaches the big bang…
We discuss cosmological constraints on a dark scalar particle mixing with the Standard Model Higgs boson. We pay particular attention to the dark scalar production process when the reheating temperature of the Universe is very low, which…
We review some aspects of moduli in string theory. We argue that one should focus on {\it approximate moduli spaces}, and that there is evidence that such spaces exist non-perturbatively. We ask what it would mean for string theory to…
We study cosmological models involving scalar fields coupled to radiation and discuss their effect on the redshift evolution of the cosmic microwave background temperature, focusing on links with varying fundamental constants and dynamical…
In supersymmetric theories a field can develop a vacuum expectation value $M \gg 10^3\,{\rm GeV}$, even though its mass $m$ is of order $10^2$ to $10^3\,{\rm GeV}$. The finite temperature in the early Universe can hold such a field at zero,…
We investigate the spectrum of gravitational waves arising from primordial inflation in the presence of a string-theoretical higher curvature correction, specifically, the Gauss-Bonnet coupling term for the inflaton (modulus) field. We show…