Related papers: Cosmic String constraints from WMAP and the South …

Cosmic strings are linear concentrations of energy that may be formed at phase transitions in the very early universe. At one time they were thought to provide a possible origin for the density inhomogeneities from which galaxies eventually…

Motivated by the morphological measures in assessing the geometrical and topological properties of a generic cosmological stochastic field, we propose an extension of the weighted morphological measures, specifically the $n$th conditional…

Quantum fluctuations during inflation may be responsible for temperature anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Observations of CMB anisotropies can be used to falsify many currently popular models. In this paper we discuss…

Inflationary models within string theory exhibit unusual scalar field dynamics involving non-minimal kinetic terms and generically referred to as k-inflation. In this situation, the standard slow-roll approach used to determine the behavior…

Axion strings are horizon-size topological defects that may be produced in the early Universe. Ultra-light axion-like particles may form strings that persist to temperatures below that of big bang nucleosynthesis. Such strings have been…

We review applications of string theory to cosmology, from primordial times to the present-day accelerated expansion. Starting with a brief overview of cosmology and string compactifications, we discuss in detail moduli stabilisation,…

We construct supersymmetric unified models which automatically lead to a period of inflation. The models all involve a U(1) symmetry which does not belong to the MSSM. We consider three different types of models depending on whether this…

The detection of a stochastic background of long-wavelength gravitational waves (tensors) in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy would be an invaluable probe of the high energy physics of the early universe. Unfortunately a…

We examine variations in the equation of state of the cosmic string portion of the cosmological fluid which lead to perturbations of the background matter density. These fluctuations in the equation of state are due to variations in the…

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…

Because cosmic superstrings generically form junctions and gauge theoretic strings typically do not, junctions may provide a signature to distinguish between cosmic superstrings and gauge theoretic cosmic strings. In cosmic microwave…

Recent observations opened up a new window on the inflationary model building. As it was firstly reported by the WMAP data, there may be some indications of statistical anisotropy on the CMB map, although the statistical significance of…

Observational Cosmology has indeed made very rapid progress in recent years. The ability to quantify the universe has largely improved due to observational constraints coming from structure formation Measurements of CMB anisotropy and, more…

We discuss the cosmological implications of the new constraints on the power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy derived from a new high resolution analysis of the MAXIMA-1 measurement (Lee et al. 2001). The power…

String/M theory inspires an uncertainty relation between space and time which deviates from general relativity. It is possible to explore this deviation from cosmological observations, in particular from the CMB fluctuation spectrum. This…

We review the relevant 10+ parameters associated with inflation and matter content; the relation between LSS and primary and secondary CMB anisotropy probes; COBE constraints on energy injection; current anisotropy band-powers which…

D-term inflation is one of the most interesting and versatile models of inflation. It is possible to implement naturally D-term inflation within high energy physics, as for example SUSY GUTs, SUGRA, or string theories. D-term inflation…

We re-examine the constraints on the cosmic string tension from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and matter power spectra, and also from limits on a stochastic background of gravitational waves provided by pulsar timing. We discuss the…

Cosmic superstrings are expected to be formed at the end of brane inflation, within the context of brane-world cosmological models inspired from string theory. By studying properties of cosmic suprestring networks, and comparing their…

In the context of the pre-big bang scenario the large-scale CMB anisotropy can be seeded by a primordial background of very light (or massless) axion fluctuations. In that case the slope of the temperature anisotropy spectrum, allowed by…