Related papers: Destruction of Fermion Zero Modes on Cosmic String…
We discuss some aspects of string cosmology with an emphasis on the role played by the dilaton. A cosmological scenario based on the assumption that all spatial dimensions are periodic so that winding modes play an important role is…
This PhD thesis discusses the internal structure of topological defects, and branes in extra-dimensions, carrying fermionic currents. The general framework in which these objects may appear is presented in the first part while the second…
We investigate dissipation-induced p-wave paired states of fermions in two dimensions and show the existence of spatially separated Majorana zero modes in a phase with vanishing Chern number. We construct an explicit and natural model of a…
We generalize the Jackiw-Rebbi-Hasenfratz-'t Hooft construction of fermions from bosons to demonstrate the fermionic nature of certain bound states involving SU(N) instantons in even spatial dimensions and SO(N) instantons in $8k+1$ spatial…
The spectrum of the fermion zero modes in the vicinity of the vortex with fractional winding number is discussed. This is inspired by the observation of the 1/2 vortex in high-temperature superconductors (Kirtley, et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76…
One of the main virtues of string gas cosmology is that it resolves cosmological singularities. Since the Universe can be approximated by a locally asymptotically de Sitter spacetime by the end of the inflationary era, a singularity theorem…
We study the zero energy modes that arise in an unusual vortex configuration involving both the kinetic energy and an appropriate mass term in a model which exhibits birefringent Dirac fermions as its low energy excitations. We find the…
We study the effect of higher-curvature terms in the string low-energy effective actions on the cosmological solutions of the theory, up to corrections quartic in the curvatures, for the bosonic and heterotic strings as well as the type II…
We review applications of string theory to cosmology, from primordial times to the present-day accelerated expansion. Starting with a brief overview of cosmology and string compactifications, we discuss in detail moduli stabilisation,…
The cosmological constant is an unexplained until now phenomena of nature that requires an explanation through string effects. The apparent discrepancy between theory and experiment is enourmous and has already been explained several times…
We study the axion strings with the electroweak gauge flux in the DFSZ axion model and show that these strings, called the electroweak axion strings, can exhibit superconductivity without fermionic zero modes. We construct three types of…
We consider new cosmological solutions with a collapsing, an intermediate and an expanding phase. The boundary between the expanding (collapsing) phase and the intermediate phase is seen by comoving observers as a cosmological past (future)…
Cosmic strings are topological defects arising in a variety of cosmological scenarios, as the Universe undergoes symmetry-breaking phase transitions, whose discovery would offer valuable insight into the high-energy physics that shaped the…
We investigate some classical aspects of fundamental strings via numerical experiments. In particular, we study the thermodynamics of a string network within a toroidal universe, as a function of string energy density and space…
P-term potentials can give rise to Nielsen-Olesen or semi-local cosmic strings. We present a general analysis of these cosmic strings where we derive the Bogomol'nyi equations and field profiles for both types of string and discuss their…
The interaction of defects can lead to a phenomenon of erasure. During this process, a lower-dimensional object gets absorbed and dissolved by a higher-dimensional one. The phenomenon is very general and has a wide range of implications,…
We propose an experimental setup for detecting a Majorana zero mode consisting of a spinless quantum dot coupled to the end of a p-wave superconducting nanowire. The Majorana bound state at the end of the wire strongly influences the…
In this paper we discuss once more the zero mode contribution to the vacuum energy density. We show that a careful treatment of the zero modes leads to the conclusion that domain walls may be ferromagnetic, and could generate a magnetic…
We present an exact solution of superstring theory that interpolates in time between an initial type 0 phase and a final phase whose physics is exactly that of the bosonic string. The initial theory is deformed by closed-string tachyon…
Exact time-dependent solutions of c=1 string theory are described using the free fermion formulation. One such class of solutions describes draining of the Fermi sea and has a spacetime interpretation as closed string tachyon condensation.…