Related papers: Towards a Solution of the Moduli Problems of Strin…
We review some aspects of moduli in string theory. We argue that one should focus on {\it approximate moduli spaces}, and that there is evidence that such spaces exist non-perturbatively. We ask what it would mean for string theory to…
A scenario which overcomes the well-known cosmological overshoot problem associated with stabilizing moduli with steep potentials in string theory is proposed. Our proposal relies on the fact that moduli potentials are very steep and that…
A survey of solutions to the cosmological moduli problem in string theory. The only extant proposal which may work is Intermediate Scale Inflation as proposed by Randall and Thomas. Supersymmetry preserving dynamics which could give large…
An exploratory study of the cosmology of moduli in string theory. Moduli are argued to be natural inflaton fields and lead to a robust inflationary cosmology in which inflation takes place at the top of domain walls. The amplitude of…
We study moduli stabilization by thermal effects in the cosmological context. The implementation of finite temperature, which spontaneously breaks supersymmetry, induces an effective potential at one loop level. At the points where extra…
We address the important issue of stabilizing the dilaton in the context of superstring cosmology. Scalar potentials which arise out of gaugino condensates in string models are generally exponential in nature. In a cosmological setting this…
In this paper, we show how the generic coupling of moduli to the kinetic energy of ordinary matter fields results in a cosmological mechanism that influences the evolution and stability of moduli. As an example, we reconsider the problem of…
We present a modular cosmology scenario where the difficulties encountered in conventional modular cosmology are solved in a self-consistent manner, with definite predictions to be tested by observation. Notably, the difficulty of the…
One proposed solution of the moduli problem of string cosmology requires that the moduli are quite heavy, their decays reheating the universe to temperatures above the scale of nucleosynthesis. In many of these scenarios, the moduli are…
Finding a consistent way to stabilize the various moduli fields which generically appear in string theory compactifications, is essential if string theory is to make contact with the physics we see around us. We present, in this paper, a…
Generically, string models with $N=1$ supersymmetry are not expected to have moduli beyond perturbation theory; stringy non-perturbative effects as well as low energy field-theoretic phenomena such as gluino condensation will lift any flat…
We consider compactifications of type II string theory using exact internal CFT's with central charge $c=9+\epsilon$, $|\epsilon| \ll 1$, leading to an effective potential for the dilaton. For $\epsilon>0$ the potential is positive and the…
The existence of a dilaton (or moduli) with gravitational-strength coupling to matter imposes stringent constraints on the allowed energy scale of cosmic strings, $\eta$. In particular, superheavy gauge strings with $\eta \sim 10^{16} GeV$…
String gas cosmology is an approach towards studying the effects of superstring theory on early universe cosmology which is based on new symmetries and new degrees of freedom of string theory. Within this context, it appears possible to…
We show how non-trivial form fields can induce an effective potential for the dilaton and metric moduli in compactifications of type II string theory and M-theory. For particular configurations, the potential can have a stable minimum. In…
In the context of brane gas cosmology in superstring theory, we show why it is impossible to simultaneously stabilize the dilaton and the radion with a general gas of strings (including massless modes) and D-branes. Although this requires…
Even with recent progress, it is still very much an open question to understand how all compactification moduli are stabilized, since there are several mechanisms. For example, it is possible to generate a scalar potential either…
We exploit the techniques of dynamical systems to study the cosmological evolution of cosmic fundamental strings and effective strings arising from branes wrapped on internal cycles. We also include the whole potential of the volume modulus…
We study cosmological solutions to the low-energy effective action of heterotic string theory including possible leading order $\alpha'$ corrections and a potential for the dilaton. We consider the possibility that including such stringy…
Moduli fields are generally present in superstring--inspired models. They are typically characterized by masses of the order of the supersymmetry breaking scale and by interactions of gravitational strength to ordinary matter. If stable,…