Related papers: String theory landscape and cosmological constant
For a four dimensional, unitary, diffeomorphism- and scale invariant quantum field theory without higher derivatives and a well defined scale current we argue that scale invariance implies conformal invariance. The proof relies on the…
We investigate the conformal invariant Lagrangian of the self-gravitating U(1) scalar-gauge field and find new features of the model on the time-dependent axially symmetric Bondi-Marder spacetime. By considering the conformal symmetry as…
We discuss time - dependent solutions of the leading order string effective equations for a non-zero central charge deficit and curved maximally symmetric space. Some regular solutions are found for the case of non-trivial antisymmetric…
Trace-free Einstein gravity, in the absence of matter fields and using the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric, is solvable both classically and quantum mechanically. This is achieved by using the conformal time as the time variable and…
A consistency condition of general relativity as an effective field theory in Minkowskian background uniquely fixes the value of the cosmological constant. In two-loop calculations, including the interaction of gravitons with matter fields,…
A four dimensional scalar field theory with quartic and of higher power interactions suffers the triviality issue at the quantum level. This is due to coupling constants that, contrary to the physical expectations, seem to grow without a…
We discuss the construction of boundary contributions to free string field theory actions in the context of the bosonic string. We show that it is generally possible to obtain a well-defined variational principle by adding a simple boundary…
In the framework of an effective field theory of general relativity a model of scalar and vector bosons interacting with the metric field is considered. It is shown in the framework of a two-loop order calculation that for the cosmological…
We derive an explicit, exactly conformally invariant form for the action for the non-abelian Toda field theory. We demonstrate that the conformal invariance conditions, expressed in terms of the $\beta$-functions of the theory, are…
We complement the low-energy gravi-dilaton effective action of string theory with a non-local, general-covariant dilaton potential, and obtain homogeneous solutions describing a non-singular (bouncing-curvature) cosmology. We then compute,…
Starting from an exact (in the Regge slope alpha') functional method for a bosonic stringy sigma-model, we investigate four-dimensional cosmological string solutions in graviton, dilaton and antisymmetric tensor backgrounds, compatible with…
We showed that the principle of nongravitating vacuum energy, when formulated in the first order formalism, solves the cosmological constant problem. The most appealing formulation of the theory displays a local symmetry associated with the…
A supersymmetric approach to string quantum cosmology based on the non-compact, global duality symmetries of the effective action is developed. An N=2 supersymmetric action is derived whose bosonic component is the…
We consider conformally invariant form of the actions in Einstein, Weyl, Einstein-Cartan and Einstein-Cartan-Weyl space in general dimensions($>2$) and investigate the relations among them. In Weyl space, the observational consistency…
A two dimensional matter coupled model of quantum gravity is studied in the Dirac approach to constrained dynamics in the presence of a cosmological constant. It is shown that after partial fixing to the conformal gauge the requirement of a…
General Relativity receives quantum corrections relevant at cosmological distance scales from the conformal scalar degrees of freedom required by the trace anomaly of the quantum stress tensor in curved space. In the theory including the…
After reviewing the $\beta$-function equations for consistent string backgrounds in the $\sigma$-model approach, including metric and antisymmetric tensor, dilaton and tachyon potential, we apply this formalism to WZW models. We…
We compute the cosmological constant in a scale invariant scalar field theory. The gravitational action is also suitably modified to respect scale invariance. Due to scale invariance the theory does not admit a cosmological constant term.…
We first make more precise a recent "Hamiltonian" reformulation of the Hohm-Zwiebach approach to the tree-level, $O(d,d)$-invariant string cosmology equations at all orders in the $\alpha'$ expansion, and recall how it allows to give a…
We explore cosmology with a bounce in Gauss-Bonnet gravity where the Gauss-Bonnet invariant couples to a dynamical scalar field. In particular, the potential and and Gauss-Bonnet coupling function of the scalar field are reconstructed so…