Related papers: Light-like Big Bang singularities in string and ma…
These lecture notes introduce the reader to the hot big bang model, cosmological perturbations, gravitational waves, the cosmic microwave background, inflation, the singularity problem, the cosmological constant problem and the cosmology of…
We consider the propagation of classical and quantum strings on cosmological space-times which interpolate from a collapsing phase to an expanding phase. We begin by considering the classical propagation of strings on space-times with…
We briefly review three aspects of string cosmology: (1) the ``stochastic'' approach to the pre-big bang scenario, (2) the presence of chaos in the generic cosmological solutions of the tree-level low-energy effective actions coming out of…
We address the emerging discrepancy between the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis data and standard cosmology, which asks for a bit longer evolution time. If this effect is real, one possible implication (in a framework of brane cosmology model) is…
The smallness of the cosmological constant is one of the basic problems in particle physics and cosmology. Various attempts have been made to explain this mystery, but no satisfactory solution has been found yet. The appearance of extra…
String theory is a quantum theory that reproduces the results of General Relativity at long distances but is completely different at short distances. Mathematically, string theory is based on a very new -- and little understood -- framework…
We study cosmologies based on low-energy effective string theory with higher-order string corrections to a tree-level action and with a modulus scalar field (dilaton or compactification modulus). In the presence of such corrections it is…
We investigate the cosmological consequences of particle physics theories that admit stable loops of superconducting cosmic string - {\it vortons}. General symmetry breaking schemes are considered, in which strings are formed at one energy…
String theory provides the only consistent framework so far that unifies all interactions including gravity. We discuss gravity and cosmology in string theory. Conventional notions from general relativity like geometry, topology etc. are…
We propose a cosmological model that makes a significant step toward solving the coincidence problem of the near similarity at the present of the dark energy and dark matter components. Our cosmology has the following properties: a) among…
We use a method of linearization to study the emergence of the future cosmological singularity characterized by finite value of the cosmological radius. We uncover such singularities that keep Hubble parameter finite while making all higher…
The linear cosmological perturbation theory of an almost homogeneous and isotropic perfect fluid universe is reconsidered and formally simplified by introducing new covariant and gauge-invariant variables with physical interpretations on…
We suggest that for singular rotationally invariant closed string backgrounds which need sources for their support at the origin (in particular, for special plane waves and fundamental strings) certain `trivial' \a'-corrections (which are…
A class of time dependent pp-waves with NS-NS flux in type IIA string theory is considered. The background preserves 1/4 supersymmetry and may provide a toy model of Big Bang cosmology with non trivial flux. At the Big Bang singularity in…
Observations of the cosmic microwave background represent a remarkable source of information for modern cosmology. Besides providing impressive support for the Big Bang model itself, they quantify the overall framework, or background, for…
Cosmic strings are one-dimensional topological defects which could have been formed in the early stages of our Universe. They triggered a lot of interest, mainly for their cosmological implications: they could offer an alternative to…
The main goal of string phenomenology is to find realistic models of particle physics and cosmology within string theory. Dark bubble cosmology is an alternative to string compactifications, where our universe lives on a bubble expanding in…
We consider cosmological particle production in 1+1 dimensional string theory. The process is described most efficiently in terms of anomalies, but we also discuss the explicit mode expansions. In matrix cosmology the usual vacuum ambiguity…
This is a summary of a course given at the Fourth Mexican School on Gravitation and Mathematical Physics on some aspects of PBB cosmology. After introductory remarks the lectures concentrate on some amusing consequences derived from the…
For two decades the hot big-bang model as been referred to as the standard cosmology -- and for good reason. For just as long cosmologists have known that there are fundamental questions that are not answered by the standard cosmology and…