Related papers: String Cosmology - Large-Field Inflation in String…
A metastable cosmic-string network is a generic consequence of many grand unified theories (GUTs) when combined with cosmic inflation. Metastable cosmic strings are not topologically stable, but decay on cosmic time scales due to pair…
We propose an alternative scenario to cosmic inflation for producing the initial seeds of cosmic structures. The cosmological fluctuations are generated by thermal fluctuation of the energy density of the ideal string gas in three compact…
Pre--big bang models of inflation based on string cosmology produce a stochastic gravitational wave background whose spectrum grows with decreasing wavelength, and which may be detectable using interferometers such as LIGO. We point out…
A brief discussion is presented assessing the achievements and challenges of string phenomenology: the subfield dedicated to study the potential for string theory to make contact with particle physics and cosmology. Building from the well…
These lectures present a brief review of inflationary cosmology, provide an overview of the theory of cosmological perturbations, and then focus on the conceptual problems of the current paradigm of early universe cosmology, thus motivating…
In Chain Inflation the universe tunnels along a series of false vacua of ever-decreasing energy. The main goal of this paper is to embed Chain Inflation in high energy fundamental physics. We begin by illustrating a simple effective…
In this review, a number of approaches to superstring cosmology which make use of key features which distinguish string theory from point particle theories are discussed, with particular emphasis on emergent scenarios. One motivation for…
A sizeable tensor-to-scalar ratio, such as recently claimed by BICEP2, would imply a scale of inflation at the typical scale of supersymmetric grand unification. This could be an accident, or strong support for supersymmetric theories.…
Ultra-light axions ($m_a\lesssim 10^{-18}$eV), motivated by string theory, can be a powerful probe of the energy scale of inflation. In contrast to heavier axions the isocurvature modes in the ultra-light axions can coexist with observable…
The latest Planck results show a power deficit in the temperature anisotropies near $\ell \approx 20$ in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). This observation can hardly be explained within the standard inflationary…
We consider a scenario of cosmological inflation coming from a grand unified theory in higher dimensional orbifold. Flatness of the potential is automatically guaranteed in this orbifold setup thanks to the nonlocality of the Wilson line on…
We show that GUT cosmic strings generically form after inflation if a {\it non-inert} symmetry breaks after inflation; they form irrespectively of the inflationary scenario and in both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric theories.
The observed low-energy values of the $SU(3)\times SU(2)\times U(1)$ gauge couplings, extrapolated via the minimal Standard Model Renormalization Group evolution, hint at the exciting possibility of a Grand Unified Theory (GUT) at $M_U \sim…
In cosmological models where local cosmic strings are formed at the end of a period of inflation, the perturbations are seeded both by the defects and by the quantum fluctuations. In a subset of these models, for example those based on…
Currently favoured extensions of the Standard Model typically contain `flaton fields' defined as fields with large vacuum expectation values (vevs) and almost flat potentials. If a flaton field is trapped at the origin in the early…
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…
String Gas Cosmology is a model of the evolution of the very early universe based on fundamental principles and key new degrees of freedom of string theory which are different from those of point particle field theories. In String Gas…
We analyze all individual cosmic strings of various lengths in a large ensemble of the global cosmic string networks in the post-inflationary scenario, obtained from numerical simulations on a discrete lattice with $N^3 = 4096^3$. A strong…
We investigate the impact of Coleman-Weinberg inflation on the stochastic gravity wave background spectrum emitted by intermediate scale cosmic strings. The string network is partially inflated and re-enters the horizon at later times after…
When Inflation is embedded in a fundamental theory, such as string theory, it typically begins when the Universe is already substantially larger than the fundamental scale [such as the one defined by the string length scale]. This is…