Related papers: Density perturbations in the Ekpyrotic Universe an…
In cosmological models where local cosmic strings are formed at the end of a period of inflation, the perturbations are seeded both by the defects and by the quantum fluctuations. In a subset of these models, for example those based on…
We present a minimal model for the Universe evolution fully extracted from effective String Theory. This model is by its construction close to the standard cosmological evolution, and it is driven selfconsistently by the evolution of the…
Combining intervals of ekpyrotic (ultra-slow) contraction with a (non-singular) classical bounce naturally leads to a novel cyclic theory of the universe in which the Hubble parameter, energy density and temperature oscillate periodically,…
The low-energy limit of string theory contains additional gravitational degrees of freedom, a skew-symmetric tensor $B$-field and a scalar dilaton, that are not present in general relativity. Together with the metric, these three fields are…
The asymptotic behaviour of two classes of scalar field cosmological models are studied using the theory of dynamical systems: general relativistic Bianchi models containing matter and a scalar field with an exponential potential and a…
We study cosmological perturbations in a universe with only one matter component described by a triplet of fields. Configuration of these fields is the same as for body coordinates of a solid, and they enter the matter Lagrangian only…
A four-dimensional universe, arising from a flux compactification of Type IIB string theory, contains scalar fields with a potential determined by topological and geometric parameters of the internal -hidden- dimensions. We show that…
We construct a string-inspired nonsingular cosmological scenario in which an inflaton field is driven up the potential before the graceful exit by employing a low-energy string effective action with an orbifold compactification. This sets…
Assuming that the early universe had (i) a description using perturbative string theory and its field theory limit (ii) an epoch of slow-roll inflation within a four-dimensional effective field theory and a hierarchy of scales $M_{inf} <…
Fibre inflation is a specific string theory construction based on the Large Volume Scenario that produces an inflationary plateau. We outline its relation to $\alpha$-attractor models for inflation, with the cosmological sector originating…
We use the present observed number density of large X-ray clusters to constrain the amplitude of matter density perturbations induced by cosmic strings on the scale of $8 h^{-1}$Mpc ($\sigma_8$), in both open cosmologies and flat models…
We study a possible origin of the anomalous suppression of the power spectrum at large angular scales in the cosmic microwave background within the framework of explicit string inflationary models where inflation is driven by a closed…
We discuss the semi-classical perturbation spectra produced in the massless fields of the low energy string action in a pre big bang type scenario. Axion fields may possess an almost scale-invariant spectrum on large scales dependent upon…
A gauge-invariant, linear cosmological perturbation theory of an almost homogeneous and isotropic universe with dynamically evolving Newton constant G and cosmological constant $\Lambda$ is presented. The equations governing the evolution…
Recently a Hamiltonian formulation for the evolution of the universe dominated by multiple oscillatory scalar fields was developed by the present author and was applied to the investigation of the evolution of cosmological perturbations on…
Inflationary cosmology is the leading explanation of the very early universe. Many different models of inflation have been constructed which fit current observational data. In this work theoretical and numerical methods for constraining the…
We examine the effect of spatial curvature in the pre-big-bang inflationary model suggested by string theory. We study $O(\alpha ')$ corrections and we show that, independently of the initial curvature, they lead to a phase of exponential…
We propose a new method for identifying new physics imprints on present observational data in cosmology whereby signatures of string theory are clearly distinguished from imprints of possible features on the inflaton potential. Our method…
In this work we study the imprints of a primordial cosmic string on inflationary power spectrum. Cosmic string induces two distinct contributions on curvature perturbations power spectrum. The first type of correction respects the…
In this thesis, consisting of two main parts, we study observational signatures of cosmic (super)strings in the context of D-brane inflation and properties of scalar perturbations on generic homogeneous inflating backgrounds. In the first…