Related papers: Coupling a Cosmic String to a TQFT
A previous supersymmetric preon scenario for visible matter particles is extended to the dark sector. In addition, the scenario is reformulated as a Double Field Theory (DFT) with four extra dimensions, to avoid a singular Big Bang in…
Flat directions are a generic feature of the scalar potential in supersymmetric gauge field theories. They can arise, for example, from D-terms associated with an extra abelian gauge symmetry. Even when supersymmetry is broken softly, there…
Cosmic strings are topological defects possibly formed in the early Universe, which may be observable due to their gravitational effects on the cosmic microwave background radiation or gravitational wave experiments. To this effect it is…
We consider coupling an ordinary quantum field theory with an infinite number of degrees of freedom to a topological field theory. On R^d the new theory differs from the original one by the spectrum of operators. Sometimes the local…
Recent work on cosmological amplitudes has established reality conditions (derived from unitarity) for general particle-creation processes in flat FLRW cosmologies, in the Bunch-Davies wavefunction. In light of these results, we propose a…
The discovery of an axion-like particle above the QCD line would rule out Grand Unified Theories, including the perturbative heterotic string with the Standard Model embedded in a single $E_8$ factor or $SO(32)$. In this work we study a…
Tachyon condensation in quantum field theory (QFT) plays a central role in models of fundamental interactions and cosmology. Inspired by tower truncation in string field theory, ultraviolet completions were proposed with infinite-derivative…
Axiomatic quantum field theory (QFT) provides a rigorous mathematical foundation for QFT, and it is the basis for proving some important general results, such as the well-known spin-statistics theorem. Free-field QFT meets the axioms of…
An effective quantum field theory (QFT) with a manifest UV/IR connection, so as to be valid for arbitrarily large volumes, can successfully be applied to the cosmological dark energy problem as well as the cosmological constant (CC)…
We consider a class of quantum field theories and quantum mechanics, which we couple to $\mathbb Z_N$ topological QFTs, in order to classify non-perturbative effects in the original theory. The $\mathbb Z_N$ TQFT structure arises naturally…
A generic prediction of string theory is the existence of many axion fields. It has recently been argued that many of these fields should be light and, like the well known QCD axion, lead to observable cosmological consequences. In this…
Cosmic strings are predicted in many models beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. In models which admit strings, a network of strings will inevitably be formed in a phase transition in the early universe and will persist to the…
We study the behaviour and consequences of cosmic string networks in contracting universes. They approximately behave during the collapse phase as a radiation fluids. Scaling solutions describing this are derived and tested against…
The perturbative dynamics of noncommutative field theory (NCFT) is discussed from a point view of string field theory. As in the commutative case it is inevitable to introduce a closed string, which may be described as a bound state of two…
String theory, if it describes nature, is probably strongly coupled. As a result, one might despair of making any statements about the theory. In the framework of a set of clearly spelled out assumptions, we show that this is not…
Cosmic (super)strings offer promising ways to test ideas about the early universe and physics at high energies. While in field theory constructions their tension is usually assumed to be constant (or at most slowly-varying), this is often…
We investigate the cosmological consequences of particle physics theories that admit stable loops of superconducting cosmic string - {\it vortons}. General symmetry breaking schemes are considered, in which strings are formed at one energy…
Performing topological manipulations is a fruitful way to understand global aspects of Quantum Field Theory (QFT). Such modifications are typically controlled by the notion of Topological QFT (TQFT) coupling across different codimensions.…
Cosmic strings, a hot subject in the 1980's and early 1990's, lost its appeal when it was found that it leads to inconsistencies in the power spectrum of the measured cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. However,…
The string axiverse predicts a unique connection between the high scales approachable only through theory and the low energies within reach of experimental verification: a multitude of light, feebly interacting axions. In order to capture…