Related papers: No-Go theorems for ekpyrosis from ten-dimensional …
Some recent studies based on numerical relativity simulations claim that slow contraction/ekpyrosis is strongly preferred over inflation as the smoothing mechanism that brought the universe into the homogeneous, isotropic and flat state we…
We consider flux compactification of type II string theory with local sources on SU(3)-structure manifolds. By adding pseudo-calibrated anti-$Dp$-branes wrapped on supersymmetric cycles we generalize all existing models so that the…
We perform a systematic analysis of generic string flux compactifications, making use of Exceptional Generalized Geometry (EGG) as an organizing principle. In particular, we establish the precise map between fluxes, gaugings of maximal 4d…
We derive the most general flux-induced superpotential for N=1 M-theory compactifications on seven-dimensional manifolds with SU(3) structure. Imposing the appropriate boundary conditions, this result applies for heterotic M-theory. It is…
We study flux compactifications of 10d type II supergravities to 4d Minkowski space-time, supported by parallel orientifold Op-planes with 3 $\leq$ p $\leq$ 8. With some restrictions, the 4d Ricci scalar can be written as a negative sum of…
We consider the cosmological role of the scalar fields generated by the compactification of 11-dimensional Einstein gravity on a 7D elliptic twisted torus, which has the attractive features of giving rise to a positive semi-definite…
For the Ekpyrotic universe, the entropic mechanisms with minimal couplings, which have been used to generate nearly scale invariant primordial perturbations, was proved to be unstable. To overcome this difficulty, some non-minimal coupling…
The scalar field is considered to have dominated the early Universe. One subtle yet crucial requirement of this assumption is that the solution must be highly stable, i.e., indifferent to any initial conditions because there are no favored…
Some aspects of string compactifications with non-geometric fluxes are revisited in the light of recent progress in double field theory. After rederiving the general form of these fluxes, we consider the proposed flux induced…
This thesis analyses gauged supergravities in various dimensions and their possible origin from compactifications of string theory. In the effective description the fluxes appear in the theory as deformation parameters generating a…
We explore in detail the prospects of obtaining a four-dimensional de Sitter universe in classical supergravity models with warped and time-independent extra dimensions, presenting explicit cosmological solutions of the $(4+n)$-dimensional…
We present a new mechanism for slow-roll inflation based on higher dimensional supersymmetric gauge theory compactified to four dimensions with twisted (supersymmetry breaking) boundary conditions. These boundary conditions lead to a…
We extend the KKLT approach to moduli stabilization by including the dilaton and the complex structure moduli into the effective supergravity theory. Decoupling of the dilaton is neither always possible nor necessary for the existence of…
Since the building-blocks of supersymmetric models include chiral superfields containing pairs of effective scalar fields, a two-field approach is particularly appropriate for models of inflation based on supergravity. In this paper, we…
In the context of realizing de-Sitter vacua and the slow-roll inflation, several no-go conditions have been found in the framework of type IIA (generalized) flux compactifications. In this article, using our recently proposed $T$-dual…
We investigate de Sitter solutions of $\mathcal{N}=1$ supergravity with an F-term scalar potential near a no-scale Minkowski point, as they may in particular arise from flux compactifications in string theory. We show that a large class of…
We investigate cosmological solutions of eleven dimensional supergravity compactified on a squashed seven manifold. The effective action for the four dimensional theory contains scalar fields describing the size and squashing of the…
We consider type IIB flux compactifications on six-dimensional SU(2)-structure manifolds with O5- and O7-planes. These six-dimensional spaces allow not only for F_3 and H_3 fluxes but also for F_1 and F_5 fluxes. We derive the…
In this paper, we use a known duality between expanding and contracting cosmologies to construct a dual of the inflationary flow hierarchy applicable to contracting cosmologies such as Ekpyrotic and Cyclic models. We show that the…
Models of geometric flows pertaining to $\mathcal{R}^2$ scale invariant (super) gravity theories coupled to conformally invariant matter fields are investigated. Related to this work are supersymmetric scalar manifolds that are isomorphic…