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In General Relativity, cosmic strings are well known to produce a static, locally flat spacetime with a wedge removed. If the tension exceeds a critical value, the deficit angle becomes larger than $ 2\pi $, leading to a compact exterior…
We argue that, when a theory of gravity and matter is endowed with (classical) conformal symmetry, the fine tuning required to obtain the cosmological constant at its observed value can be significantly reduced. Once tuned, the cosmological…
This is a broad-brush review of how string theory addresses several important questions of gravitational physics. The problem of non-renormalizability is first reviewed, followed by introduction of string theory as an ultraviolet-finite…
It has been pointed out that cosmic string solutions can exist in gauge field theories with broken symmetry even when $\pi _1(G/H)$ is trivial. The stability of such semilocal defects is not guaranteed by topology and depends on dynamical…
The holographic solution is a new exact solution to the Einstein field equations. It describes a compact self-gravitating object with properties similar to a black hole. Its entropy and temperature at infinity are proportional to the…
I discuss some (unconventional) aspects of String Cosmology of relevance to supersymmetric dark matter searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. In particular, I analyse the role of time-dependent dilaton fields in relaxing some…
An inhomogeneous version of pre--Big Bang cosmology emerges, within string theory, from quite generic initial conditions, provided they lie deeply inside the weak-coupling, low-curvature regime. Large-scale homogeneity, flatness, and…
Bianchi-type string cosmology involves generalizations of the FRW backgrounds with three transitive spacelike Killing symmetries, but without any a priori assumption of isotropy in the 3D sections of homogeneity. With emphasis on those…
This article reviews recent developments in the study of universes with a positive cosmological constant in string theory.
We consider braneworld scenarios including the leading correction to the Einstein-Hilbert action suggested by superstring theory, the Gauss-Bonnet term. We obtain and study the complete set of equations governing the cosmological dynamics.…
Talk given at the ``4th Hellenic School on Elementary Particle Physics", Corfu, 2-20 September 1992: The propagation of strings in cosmological space-time backgrounds is reviewed. We show the relation of a special class of cosmological…
In the present work we discuss inflation, dark matter and cosmological evolution in the context of the brane-world scenario. Being string theory inspired, the brane-world models provide corrections to the General Relativity, which is…
The suggestion that there exist causally disconnected universes or sub-universes to explain the values of physical parameters such as the cosmological constant is discussed. A statistical model of the string landscape/topography is…
We determine the most general form of the antisymmetric $H$-field tensor derived from a purely time-dependent potential that is admitted by all possible spatially homogeneous cosmological models in 3+1-dimensional low-energy bosonic string…
We reconsider the general properties of gravitational lensing effects induced by cosmic string systems, taking into account their equation of state and motion equations. We explicitly show that the deflection patterns induced by a string is…
We analyze the classical stability of string cosmologies driven by the dynamics of orientifold planes. These models are related to time-dependent orbifolds, and resolve the orbifold singularities which are otherwise problematic by…
The BRST formalism has played a fundamental role in the construction of bosonic closed string backgrounds, ie. the stringy analogs of classical solutions to the field equations of general relativity. The concept of a string background has…
We study cosmological solutions to the low-energy effective action of heterotic string theory including possible leading order $\alpha'$ corrections and a potential for the dilaton. We consider the possibility that including such stringy…
We present an analytic model specifically designed to address the long standing issue of small scale structure on cosmic string networks. The model is derived from the microscopic string equations, together with a few motivated assumptions.…
We review recent progress in string cosmology, where string dualities are applied so as to obtain complete cosmological evolutions, free of any essential singularities. Two classes of models are analyzed. The first class consists of string…