Related papers: The moduli problem at the perturbative level
We analyze an inflationary model in which part of the power in density perturbations arises due to particle production. The amount of particle production is modulated by an auxiliary field. Given an initial gradient for the auxiliary field,…
Cosmological issues of the gravitino production by the decay of a heavy scalar field $X$ are examined, assuming that the damped coherent oscillation of the scalar once dominates the energy of the universe. The coupling of the scalar field…
Modular cosmology is plagued by overproduction of unwanted relics, gravitinos and especially moduli, at relatively low energy scales. Thermal inflation provides a compelling solution to this moduli problem, but invalidates most baryogenesis…
We compute the power spectrum of super-horizon curvature perturbations generated during a late period of thermal inflation, taking into account fluctuation-dissipation effects resulting from the scalar flaton field's interactions with the…
We consider the amplification of electromagnetic quantum vacuum fluctuations induced by the presence of metric perturbations at the end of inflation. We obtain the amplitude of the corresponding magnetic fields on super-Hubble scales and…
In the framework of axion-gauge fields models, primordial gravitational wave perturbations could be generated during the inflationary epoch from not only the quantum fluctuation of gravitons but also the dynamics of hidden gauge fields…
Generic constraints on dark photons are generally presented assuming they have Stueckelberg masses. These constraints are strengthened if instead the mass is due to the Higgs mechanism and the dark Higgs is light. First, we show that under…
It was recently pointed out that the fundamental Planck mass could be close to the TeV scale with the observed weakness of gravity at long distances being due the existence of new sub-millimeter spatial dimensions. In this picture the…
We estimate the cosmological abundance of a modulus field that has dilatonic couplings to gauge fields, paying particular attention to thermal corrections on the modulus potential. We find that a certain amount of the modulus coherent…
Modular invariance is a striking symmetry in string theory, which may keep stringy corrections under control. In this paper, we investigate a phenomenological consequence of the modular invariance, assuming that this symmetry is preserved…
The radial mode of n extra compact dimensions (the radion, b) can cause inflation in theories where the fundamental gravity scale, M, is smaller than the Planck scale M_P. For radion potentials V(b) with a simple polynomial form, to get the…
The amount of late decaying massive particles (e.g., gravitinos, moduli) produced in the evaporation of primordial black holes (PBHs) of mass $\Mbh\la10^9 $g is calculated. Limits imposed by big-bang nucleosynthesis on the abundance of…
We study a model of inflation with multiple pseudo-scalar fields coupled to a $U(1)$ gauge field through Chern-Simons interactions. Because of parity violating interactions, one polarization of the gauge field is amplified yielding to…
The prediction of a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of curvature and tensor fluctuations is among the main features of cosmic inflation. The current measurements of the primordial fluctuations in the cosmic microwave background (CMB)…
Moduli fields with Planck-suppressed couplings to light species are common in string compactifications. Decays of these moduli can reheat the universe at a late time and produce dark matter non-thermally. For generic moduli fields motivated…
We propose new classes of inflation models based on the modular symmetry, where the modulus field $\tau$ serves as the inflaton. We establish a connection between modular inflation and modular stabilization, wherein the modulus field rolls…
Cosmological constraints on moduli, whose coupling to matter is stronger than Planck mass suppressed coupling, are derived. In particular, moduli are considered to be produced by oscillating loops of cosmic strings and constraints are…
We study primordial density perturbations generated by the late decay of a curvaton field whose decay rate may be modulated by the local value of another isocurvature field, analogous to models of modulated reheating at the end of…
The QCD axion solves the strong CP problem and represents an attractive particle candidate for cold dark matter (CDM). However, quantum fluctuations of the axion field during inflation easily result in large CDM isocurvature perturbations…
In theories of axion dark matter with large axion decay constant, temperature variations in the CMB are extremely sensitive to perturbations in the initial axion field, allowing one to place a lower bound on the total amount of inflation.…