Related papers: Numerical Black Hole Interiors and String Cosmolog…
We discuss the properties of the gas of primordial `stringy' black holes possibly formed in the high-curvature phase preceding the bouncing transition to the phase of standard cosmological evolution. We show that the regime dominated by…
In general relativity black holes can be formed from regular initial data that do not contain a black hole already. The space of regular initial data for general relativity therefore splits naturally into two halves: data that form a black…
We consider a phenomenological modification of the Pre Big Bang scenario using ideas from the resolution of curvature singularities in Loop Quantum Cosmology. We show that non-perturbative Loop modifications to the dynamics, arising from…
The beautiful scenario of pre-big-bang cosmology is appealling not only because it is more or less derived from string theory, but also because it separates clearly the problem of the initial conditions for the universe from that of high…
In this contribution we present an overview of our work on the numerical simulation of the perturbation of a black hole space-time by incoming gravitational waves. The formulation we use is based on Friedrich's general conformal equations…
We complement the low-energy gravi-dilaton effective action of string theory with a non-local, general-covariant dilaton potential, and obtain homogeneous solutions describing a non-singular (bouncing-curvature) cosmology. We then compute,…
We study the method for generating the initial data of black hole systems in Gauss-Bonnet (GB) gravity. The initial data are assumed to be momentarily static and conformally flat. Although the equation for the conformal factor is highly…
The equations of motion and junction conditions for a gravi-dilaton brane world scenario are studied in the string frame. It is shown that they allow Kasner-like solutions on the brane, which makes the dynamics of the brane very similar to…
We study charged black hole solutions in Einstein-Maxwell-Gauss-Bonnet theory with the dilaton field which is the low-energy effective theory of the heterotic string. The spacetime is $D$-dimensional and assumed to be static and plane…
The asymptotic structure of the gravitational field of isolated systems has been analyzed in great detail in the case when the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ is zero. The resulting framework lies at the foundation of research in diverse…
We analyse numerically the onset of pre-big bang inflation in an inhomogeneous, spherically symmetric Universe. Adding a small dilatonic perturbation to a trivial (Milne) background, we find that suitable regions of space undergo…
The virtual black hole phenomenon, which has been observed previously in specific models, is established for generic 2D dilaton gravity theories with scalar matter. The ensuing effective line element can become asymptotically flat only for…
Fine-tuning generic but smooth spherically-symmetric initial data for general relativity to the threshold of dynamical black hole formation creates arbitrarily large curvatures, mediated by a universal self-similar solution that acts as an…
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)…
In this paper we examine the classical evolution of a cosmological model derived from the low-energy tree-level limit of a generic string theory. The action contains the metric, dilaton, central charge and an antisymmetric tensor field. We…
Gravitational perturbations which are present in any realistic stellar collapse to a black hole, die off in the exterior of the hole, but experience an infinite blueshift in the interior. This is believed to lead to a slowly contracting…
In dilaton gravity theories, we consider a string-like topological defect formed during U(1) gauge symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early Universe, and far from the cosmic string we have vacuum solutions of the generalized Einstein…
This is a contracted version of a series of lectures for graduate and undergraduate students given at the {\sl "VI Seminario Nazionale di Fisica Teorica"} (Parma, September 1997), at the Second Int. Conference {\sl "Around VIRGO"} (Pisa,…
A rather simple and non-technical exposition of our new approach to {\em Time, Quantum Physics, Black-Hole dynamics}, and {\em Cosmology}, based on non-critical string theory, is provided. A new fundamental principle, the {\em Procrustean…
A review is attempted of physical motivations, theoretical and phenomenological aspects, as well as outstanding problems, of the pre-big bang scenario in string cosmology.