Related papers: String Cosmology: from the Early Universe to Today
String theory provides the only consistent framework so far that unifies all interactions including gravity. We discuss gravity and cosmology in string theory. Conventional notions from general relativity like geometry, topology etc. are…
I propose a reinterpretation of cosmic dark matter in which a rigid network of cosmic strings formed at the end of inflation. The cosmic strings fulfill three functions: At recombination they provide an accretion mechanism for virializing…
Cosmic inflation is the cornerstone of modern cosmology. In particular, following the Planck mission reports presented in 2015 regarding cosmic microwave background (CMB), there is an increasing interest in searching for inflaton candidates…
We study the relationship between static p-brane solitons and cosmological solutions of string theory or M-theory. We discuss two different ways in which extremal p-branes can be generalised to non-extremal ones, and show how wide classes…
We present a type IIB 4D string model with stabilised moduli which is able to describe the history of the universe from inflation to quintessence. The underlying Calabi-Yau volume is controlled by two moduli which are stabilised by…
In this talk I will discuss the role of finite temperature quantum corrections in string cosmology and show that they can lead to a stabilization mechanism for the volume moduli. I will show that from the higher dimensional perspective this…
String theory avoids the ultraviolet infinities that arise in trying to quantize gravity. It is also more predictive than conventional quantum field theory, one aspect of this being the way that it contributed to the emergence of the…
The Pre-Big Bang cosmology inspired generations of cosmologists in attempts to cure the initial Big Bang singularity using a fundamental length scale as proposed by String Theory. The existence of a phase of collapse/inflation with…
We compute the amount of inflation required to solve the horizon problem of cosmology in the pre-big-bang scenario. First we give a quick overview of string cosmology as developed by Veneziano and collaborators. Then we show that the amount…
Thermal inflation was proposed as a mechanism to dilute the density of cosmological moduli. Thermal inflation is driven by a complex scalar field possessing a large vacuum expectation value and a very flat potential, called a `flaton'. Such…
The "central" region of moduli space of M- and string theories is where the string coupling is about unity and the volume of compact dimensions is about the string volume. Here we argue that in this region the non-perturbative potential…
We show how two simple modifications to the standard cosmic string scenario for structure formation compare to the recently released Boomerang data set. Namely we consider pure string closed models and mixed models where both inflation and…
These notes provide a brief introduction to modern cosmology, focusing primarily on theoretical issues. Some attention is paid to aspects of potential interest to students of string theory, on both sides of the two-way street of…
Aspects of superstring cosmology are reviewed with an emphasis on the cosmological implications of duality symmetries in the theory. The string effective actions are summarized and toroidal compactification to four dimensions reviewed.…
Cosmic strings are generic cosmological predictions of many extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics, such as a $U(1)^\prime$ symmetry breaking phase transition in the early universe or remnants of superstring theory. Unlike…
We argue that string theory has all the ingredients to provide us with candidates for the cold dark matter and explain the current acceleration of our Universe. In any generic string compactification the dilaton plays an important role as…
For suitable cosmological backgrounds, thermal fluctuations of a gas of strings can generate a scale-invariant spectrum of cosmological fluctuations without requiring a phase of inflationary expansion. We highlight the key points of this…
We comment on the relation between string theory and empirical science, grounding our discussion in cosmology, a subject with increasingly precise data in which this connection operates at several levels. It is important to take into…
We consider inflationary cosmology in the context of string compactifications with multiple throats. In scenarios where the warping differs significantly between throats, string and Kaluza-Klein physics can generate potentially observable…
We review physical motivations, phenomenological consequences, and open problems of the so-called pre-big bang scenario in superstring cosmology.