Related papers: Supergravity, M theory and Cosmology
We present the locally supersymmetric formulation of unimodular gravity theory in D (1\le D \le 11) dimensions, namely supergravity theory with the metric tensor whose determinant is constrained to be unity. In such a formulation, the usual…
Cosmic strings are predicted by many field-theory models, and may have been formed at a symmetry-breaking transition early in the history of the universe, such as that associated with grand unification. They could have important…
We analyze solutions of string theory and supergravity which involve real hyperbolic spaces. Examples of string compactifications are given in terms of hyperbolic coset spaces of finite volume $\Gamma\backslash {\mathbb H}^N$, where…
We examine the consequences of recent developments on Fayet-Iliopoulos (FI) terms for D-term inflationary models. There is currently no known way to couple constant FI terms to supergravity consistently; only field-dependent FI terms are…
Constructing an explicit compactification yielding a metastable de Sitter (dS) vacuum in a UV consistent string theory is an incredibly difficult open problem. Motivated by this issue, as well as the conjecture that all non-supersymmetric…
In the framework of the recently proposed models of massive gravity, defined with respect to a de Sitter reference metric, we obtain new homogeneous and isotropic solutions for arbitrary cosmological matter and arbitrary spatial curvature.…
String theory avoids the ultraviolet infinities that arise in trying to quantize gravity. It is also more predictive than conventional quantum field theory, one aspect of this being the way that it contributed to the emergence of the…
We study the cosmology of a string derived supersymmetric flipped $SU(5)$ model in the context of free-fermionic heterotic constructions that allow full calculability of the effective supergravity in perturbation theory around the fermionic…
We compute the 4--dimensional cosmological constant in string compactifications in which the Standard Model fields live on a non-supersymmetric brane inside a supersymmetric bulk. The cosmological constant receives contributions only from…
Realizing dark energy and the observed de Sitter spacetime in quantum gravity has proven to be obstructed in most every usual approach. We argue that additional degrees of freedom of the left- and right-movers in string theory and a…
Several new results regarding the quantum cosmology of the quadratic gravity theory derived from the heterotic string effective action are presented. After describing techniques for solving the Wheeler-De Witt equation with appropriate…
We review two ways in which smooth cosmological evolution between two de Sitter phases can be obtained from M/string-theory. Firstly, we perform a hyperbolic reduction of massive IIA* theory to D=6 N=(1,1) SU(2)xU(1) gauged de Sitter…
We review various aspects of de Sitter spacetime in string theory: its status as an effective field theory spacetime solution, its relation to the vacuum energy problem in string theory, its (global) holographic definition in terms of two…
In effective supergravity theories following from the superstring, a modulus field can quite naturally set the neccessary initial conditions for successful cosmological inflation to be driven by a hidden sector scalar field. The leading…
We discuss an extended version of electromagnetism in which the usual gauge fixing term is promoted into a physical contribution that introduces a new scalar state in the theory. This new state can be generated from vacuum quantum…
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…
We study effects of the cosmic string in the D-term inflation model on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy. In the D-term inflation model, gauged cosmic string is usually formed, which may significantly affect the CMB…
When the supersymmetric theory contains the ``anomalous" $U(1)$ gauge symmetry with Green-Schwarz anomaly cancellation mechanism in 4 dimensions, its Fayet-Iliopoulos $D$-term generates non-universal scalar masses and the positive…
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,…
D-term inflation is one of the most interesting and versatile models of inflation. It is possible to implement naturally D-term inflation within high energy physics, as for example SUSY GUTs, SUGRA, or string theories. D-term inflation…