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Large-scale structure (LSS) analysis in galaxy surveys is a powerful cosmological probe but is limited by tracer bias, which can obscure underlying information and weaken parameter constraints. Existing methods either model bias or restrict…
The possibility to detect cosmic strings -- topological defects of early Universe, by means of wave effects in gravitational lensing is discussed. To find the optimal observation conditions, we define the hyperbolic-shaped Fresnel…
Recently it has been shown that string gas cosmology, an alternative model of the very early universe which does not involve a period of cosmological inflation, can give rise to an almost scale invariant spectrum of metric perturbations.…
We present a critical review and summary of String Gas Cosmology. We include a pedagogical derivation of the effective action starting from string theory, emphasizing the necessary approximations that must be invoked. Working in the…
Testing theories of hierarchical structure formation requires estimating the distribution of galaxy morphologies and its change with redshift. One aspect of this investigation involves identifying galaxies with disturbed morphologies (e.g.,…
We develop a method of constraining the cosmic string tension $G\mu$ which uses the Canny edge detection algorithm as a means of searching CMB temperature maps for the signature of the Kaiser-Stebbins effect. We test the potential of this…
Motivated in part by string theory, we consider the idea that the standard LambdaCDM cosmological model might be modified by the effect of a long-range scalar dark matter interaction. The variant of this widely-discussed notion considered…
Recent Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations indicate that the temperature anisotropies arise from quantum fluctuations in the inflationary scenario. In the simplest inflationary models, the distribution of CMB temperature…
Recently, multiple pulsar timing array collaborations have presented compelling evidence for a stochastic signal at nanohertz frequencies, potentially originating from cosmic strings. Cosmic strings are linear topological defects that can…
We motivate a relation between dark energy and the scale of new physics in weakly coupled string theory. This mixing between infrared and ultraviolet physics leads to a unique corner for real-world phenomenology: barring fine-tunings, we…
We discuss the four-dimensional target-space interpretation of bosonic strings based on gauged WZW models, in particular of those based on the non-compact coset space $SL(2,{\bf R})\times SO(1,1)^2 /SO(1,1)$. We show that these theories…
If the Universe underwent a cosmic phase transition, it may have left behind a network of cosmic strings. When these strings arise from the breaking of a gauge symmetry, their decay produces a significant stochastic background of…
Cosmic birefringence -- the rotation of the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons as they travel to the Earth -- is a smoking gun for axion-like particles (ALPs) that interact with the photon. It has recently been…
We present a method for reducing cosmological data to constraints on the amplitudes of modes of the dark energy density as a function of redshift. The modes are chosen so that (1) one of them has constant density and (2) the others are…
We investigate the power of wavelet techniques in detecting non-Gaussianity in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We use the method to discriminate between an inflationary and a cosmic strings model using small simulated patches of the…
The information content of the minimum spanning tree (MST), used to capture higher-order statistics and information from the cosmic web, is compared to that of the power spectrum for a $\nu\Lambda$CDM model. The measurements are made in…
Understanding of the signatures of cosmic string networks is limited by a large uncertainty in the sizes at which cosmic string loops form. We review cosmic string network evolution, and the gravitational signatures, with emphasis on this…
The mean spectrum and burst statistics of gravitational waves produced by a cosmological population of cosmic string loops are estimated using analytic approximations, calibrated with earlier simulations. Formulas are derived showing the…
We constrain the cosmological density of cosmic string loops using two observational signatures -- gravitational microlensing and the Kaiser-Stebbins effect. Photometry from RXTE and CoRoT space missions and pulsar timing from Parkes Pulsar…
String cosmology models predict a relic background of gravitational wave produced during the dilaton-driven inflation. It's spectrum is most likely to be detected by ground gravitational wave laser interferometers (IFOs), like LIGO, Virgo,…