Related papers: Cosmology of Light Moduli
In addition to spectacular signatures such as black hole superradiance and the rotation of CMB polarization, the plenitude of axions appearing in the string axiverse may have potentially dangerous implications. An example is the…
We show that shape moduli in sub-millimeter extra dimensional scenarios, addressing the gauge hierarchy problem, can dominate the energy density of the universe today. In our scenario, the volume of the extra dimensions is stabilized at a…
The axion is a hypothetical, well-motivated dark-matter particle whose existence would explain the lack of charge-parity violation in the strong interaction. In addition to this original motivation, an `axiverse' of ultra-light axions…
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…
We point out the possibility to detect the low-energy signals of moduli in the superstring theory through the neutrino oscillation. The idea is based on the characteristics that the couplings of moduli are different from matter to matter.…
String theory compactifications may generate many light axion-like particles (ALPs) with weak couplings to electromagnetism. In general, a large number of ALPs may exist, with a linear combination having a potentially observable coupling to…
The possible existence of bulk singlet neutrinos in the scenario with large compactified dimensions and low string scale $M_*$ has important consequences for low-energy observables. We demonstrate that intergenerational mass splitting and…
Inflationary string cosmology backgrounds can amplify perturbations in a more efficient way than conventional inflationary backgrounds, because the perturbation amplitude may grow - instead of being constant - outside the horizon. If not…
We revisit astrophysical constraints on models with an ultra-light gravitino, in particular extending the analysis to more general models and the case of R-parity breaking. These constraints allow to restrict the value of the gravitino mass…
It has been suggested that cosmological dark matter may include a population of vortons (meaning small centrifugally stabilised cosmic string loops) as an outcome of (non-standard) electroweak symmetry breaking. The implications for this…
We show that gravitinos produced by decays of a supersymmetry breaking scalar field (the pseudo-moduli field) can naturally explain the observed abundance of dark matter in a certain class of the gauge mediation models. We study the decay…
A consistent theory of supersymmetry breaking must have a hidden sector, an observable sector, and must be embedded in a locally supersymmetric theory which arises from string theory. For phenomenological reasons it must also transmit…
When moduli roll in the early universe, all physical scales - including string tensions - simultaneously evolve. The dynamics of cosmic string loops with time-varying tension can produce cosmic string loop trackers in which most of the…
Effective field theory of dark matter fluid on large scales predicts the presence of viscosity of the order of $10^{-6} H_0 M_P^2$. It has been shown that this magnitude of viscosities can resolve the discordance between large scale…
String theory suggests the simultaneous presence of many ultralight axions possibly populating each decade of mass down to the Hubble scale 10^-33eV. Conversely the presence of such a plenitude of axions (an "axiverse") would be evidence…
Light dark matter is a compelling experimental target in light of stringent constraints on heavier WIMPs. However, for a sub-MeV WIMP, the universe is sufficiently well understood at temperatures below 10 MeV that there is no room for it to…
We address the cosmological moduli/gravitino problems and the issue of too little thermal but excessive non-thermal dark matter from the decays of moduli. The main examples we study are the G2-MSSM models arising from M theory…
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…
Many well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of new light species that may have been produced in the early universe. Prominent examples include axions, sterile neutrinos, gravitinos, dark photons, and more. The…
We study the cosmology of general massive gravity theories with five propagating degrees of freedom. This large class of theories includes both the case with a residual Lorentz invariance as the cases with simpler rotational invariance. We…