Related papers: Old ideas and new twists in string cosmology
The scenario that the Universe contracts towards a big crunch and then undergoes a transition to expanding Universe in envisaged in the quantum string cosmology approach. The Wheeler-De Witt equation is solved exactly for an exponential…
We construct cosmological spacetimes with null Kasner-like singularities as purely gravitational solutions with no other background fields turned on. These can be recast as anisotropic plane-wave spacetimes by coordinate transformations. We…
We investigate Brans-Dicke dilaton gravity theories in 2+1 dimensions. We show that the reduced field equations for solutions with diagonal metric and depending only on one spacetime coordinate have a continuous O(2) symmetry. Using this…
The aim of these lectures is to give an introduction to several topics which lie at the intersection of string theory, gravity theory and gravity phenomenology. One successively reviews: (i) the "membrane" approach to the dissipative…
The interplay between string theory and cosmology is very promising. Since string theory will yield a quantum theory of space-time and unify all forces of nature, it has the potential of addressing many of the conceptual problems of the…
We study the cosmological dynamics of dark energy in a scalar-vector-torsion theory. The vector field is described by the cosmic triad and the scalar field is of the quintessence type with non-minimal coupling to gravity. The coupling to…
We review recent developments in the field of string cosmology with particular emphasis on open problems having to do mainly with geometric asymptotics and singularities. We discuss outstanding issues in a variety of currently popular…
A general framework for studying a large class of cosmological solutions of the low-energy limit of type II string theory and of M-theory, with non-trivial Ramond form fields excited, is presented. The framework is applicable to spacetimes…
A long-standing problem of theoretical physics is the exceptionally small value of the cosmological constant $\Lambda \sim 10^{-120}$ measured in natural Planckian units. Here we derive this tiny number from a toroidal string cosmology…
We provide a detailed analysis of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes in a wide range of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. We apply solution-generating methods to three parametrised classes of scalar-tensor theory which lead naturally to…
The dynamics of the early universe may have been profoundly influenced by spatial anisotropies. A search for such backgrounds in the context of string cosmology has uncovered the existence of an entire class of (spatatially) homogeneous but…
We show that the equations of motion governing the dynamics of strings in a compact internal space can be written as dispersion relations, with a local speed that depends on the velocity and curvature of the string in the large dimensions.…
While the classification of $\alpha'$ corrections of string inspired effective theories remains an unsolved problem, we show how to classify duality invariant $\alpha'$ corrections for purely time-dependent (cosmological) backgrounds. We…
We investigate the cosmological dynamics in a spatially flat Friedmann--Lema\^{\i}tre--Robertson--Walker geometry in scalar-tensor and scalar-torsion theories where the nonminimally coupled scalar field is a complex field. We derive the…
Exact string solutions are presented, where moduli fields are varying with time. They provide examples where a dynamical change of the topology of space is occurring. Some other solutions give cosmological examples where some dimensions are…
We study string dynamics in the early universe. Our motivation is the proposal of Brandenberger and Vafa, that string winding modes may play a key role in decompactifying three spatial dimensions. We model the universe as a homogeneous but…
Scalar-tensor theories are studied in the context of cosmological evolution, where the expansion history of the Universe is reconstructed. It is considered quintessence/phantom models, where inflation and cosmic acceleration are reproduced.…
We study the behaviour and consequences of cosmic string networks in contracting universes. They approximately behave during the collapse phase as a radiation fluids. Scaling solutions describing this are derived and tested against…
We suggest a conformally invariant generalization of string theory to higher-dimensional objects. As such a model, we consider a conformally invariant $\sigma$ model. For this theory, the Hamiltonian formalism is constructed, and the full…
Recent work suggests that fundamental and Dirichlet strings, and their (p,q) bound states, may be observed as cosmic strings. The evolution of cosmic string networks, and therefore their observational signals, depends on what happens when…