Related papers: Unitarity at Infinity and Topological Holography
A solution to the infinite coupling problem for N=2 conformal supersymmetric gauge theories in four dimensions is presented. The infinitely-coupled theories are argued to be interacting superconformal field theories (SCFTs) with weakly…
We find that general relativity can be naturally free of cosmological singularities. Several nonsingular models are currently available that either assume ad hoc matter contents, or are nonsingular only over a sector of solution space of…
Production of gravitational vacuum defects and their contribution to the energy density of our Universe are discussed. These topological microstructures (defects) could be produced in the result of creation of the Universe from "nothing"…
In a previous paper we proposed a new approach to the beginning of inflation -- a lingering universe. The universe begins in a lingering state with a nearly vanishing Hubble parameter. This calls into question the absolute age of the…
Unimodular gravity addresses the old cosmological constant (CC) problem, explaining why such constant is not at least as large as the largest particle mass scale, but classically it is indistinguishable from ordinary gravity. Conversely,…
We study a theory which generalizes the nonminimal coupling of matter to gravity by including derivative couplings. This leads to several interesting new dynamical phenomena in cosmology. In particular, the range of parameters in which…
We revisit the construction in four-dimensional gauged $Spin(4)$ supergravity of the holographic duals to topologically twisted three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ field theories. Our focus in this paper is to highlight some subtleties…
We discuss the general question of which conformal field theories have dual descriptions in terms of quantum gravity theories on anti-de Sitter space. We analyze in detail the case of a deformed product of n conformal field theories (each…
We study cosmological backgrounds from the point of view of the dS/CFT correspondence and its renormalization group flow extension. We focus on the case where gravity is coupled to a single scalar with a potential. Depending on the latter,…
We present a holographic description of four-dimensional single-scalar inflationary universes in terms of a three-dimensional quantum field theory. The holographic description correctly reproduces standard inflationary predictions in their…
Effective field theories in flat space and in anti-de Sitter space are constrained by causality and unitarity, often in the form of positivity bounds. Similar bounds have been harder to demonstrate in cosmological backgrounds, where the…
We study FRW cosmology for a non-linear modified F(R) Horava-Lifshitz gravity which has a viable convenient counterpart. A unified description of early-time inflation and late-time acceleration is possible in this theory, but the…
The locality of bulk physics at distances below the AdS length is one of the remarkable aspects of AdS/CFT duality, and one of the least tested. It requires that the AdS radius be large compared to the Planck length and the string length.…
In some recent theories including Quantum SuperString theory we encounter duality - it arises due to a non commutative geometry which in effect adds an extra term to the Heiserberg Uncertainity Principle. The result is that the micro world…
Using renormalization-group flow and cosmological constraints on inflation models, we exploit a unique connection between cosmological inflation and the dynamical mass of dark-matter particles in the luminogenesis model, a unification model…
In string theory, the traditional picture of a Universe that emerges from the inflation of a very small and highly curved space-time patch is a possibility, not a necessity: quite different initial conditions are possible, and not…
Quantum field theories of strongly interacting matter sometimes have a useful holographic description in terms of the variables of a gravitational theory in higher dimensions. This duality maps time dependent physics in the gauge theory to…
In the framework of scalar-tensor theories of gravity, we construct a new kind of cosmological model that conflates inflation and ekpyrosis. During a phase of conflation, the universe undergoes accelerated expansion, but with crucial…
We consider perturbative modifications of the Friedmann equations in terms of energy density corresponding to modified theories of gravity proposed as an alternative route to comply with the observed accelerated expansion of the universe.…
This is a review of models of inflation and of their predictions for the primordial non-Gaussianity in the density perturbations which are thought to be at the origin of structures in the Universe. Non-Gaussianity emerges as a key…