Related papers: Cosmological Moduli Dynamics
We study cosmic strings in the complex symmetron model, a scalar-tensor theory with a spontaneously broken local $U(1)$ symmetry in low matter density regions. Using numerical simulations, we show that these strings preferentially attach to…
We make use of the formalism described in a previous paper [Martins {\it et al.} Phys. Rev. D90 (2014) 043518] to address general features of wiggly cosmic string evolution. In particular, we highlight the important role played by poorly…
Results of a general study on the dynamics of cosmological scalar fields with arbitrary potentials are presented. Exact and approximate attractor solutions are found, with applications to quintessence, moduli stabilization and inflation.
String cosmology aims at providing a reliable description of the very early Universe in the regime where standard-model physics is no longer appropriate, and where we can safely apply the basic ingredients of superstring models such as…
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…
These lectures provide an updated pedagogical treatment of the theoretical structure and phenomenology of some basic mechanisms for inflation, along with an overview of the structure of cosmological uplifts of holographic duality. A full…
In string theory the coupling ``constants'' appearing in the low-energy effective Lagrangian are determined by the vacuum expectation values of some (a priori) massless scalar fields (dilaton, moduli). This naturally leads one to expect a…
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…
It is tempting to inflate along one of the many flat directions that arise in supersymmetric theories. The required flatness of the potential to obtain sufficient inflation and to not overproduce density fluctuations occurs naturally.…
We describe an effective theory of a scalar field, motivated by some features expected in the low energy theory of gluodynamics in 3+1 dimensions. The theory describes two propagating massless particles in a certain limit, which we identify…
We argue that strong dynamics at the Planck scale can solve the cosmological moduli problem. We discuss its implications for inflation models, and find that a certain type of multi-field inflation model is required for this mechanism to…
We argue that a generic instability afflicts vacua that arise in theories whose moduli space has large dimension. Specifically, by studying theories with multiple scalar fields we provide numerical evidence that for a generic local minimum…
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 study the phenomenology of a class of models describing modular invariant gaugino condensation in the hidden sector of a low-energy effective theory derived from the heterotic string. Placing simple demands on the resulting observable…
We discuss the physics of moduli (light scalar fields with Planck-suppressed couplings to matter) in the case of low-scale supersymmetry breaking such as gauge mediation. We argue that even if the mechanism of moduli stabilization is…
We build a novel realization of dark bubble cosmology in non-supersymmetric string theory. Among the simplest models in ten dimensions, the type 0'B orientifold is the unique option which yields a scale-separated construction. The resulting…
Typically the moduli fields acquire mass m =C H in the early universe, which shifts the position of the minimum of their effective potential and leads to an excessively large energy density of the oscillating moduli fields at the later…
We derive the explicit form, and discuss some properties of the moduli dependent effective potential arising from M-theory compactified on $M_4 \times X\times S^1 / Z_2 $, when one of the boundaries supports a strongly interacting gauge…
If nature is described by string theory, and if the compactification radius is large (as suggested by the unification of couplings), then the theory is in a regime best described by the low energy limit of $M$-theory. We discuss some…
In string/M-theory with a large compactification radius, some axion-like moduli can be much lighter than the gravitino. Generic moduli in gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking models also have a mass far below the weak scale. Motivated by…