Related papers: Elements of String Cosmology
Within two specific string cosmology scenarios --differing in the way the pre- and post-big bang phases are joined-- we compute the size and spectral slope of various types of cosmologically amplified quantum fluctuations that arise in…
We investigate time-dependent spherically symmetric solutions of the four-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-axion-dilaton system, with the dilaton coupling that occurs in low-energy effective heterotic string theory. A class of…
We review the existence, formation and properties of cosmic strings in string theory, the wide variety of observational techniques that are being employed to detect them, and the constraints that current observations impose on string theory…
String theory in two-dimensional spacetime illuminates two main threads of recent development in string theory: (1) Open/closed string duality, and (2) Tachyon condensation. In two dimensions, many aspects of these phenomena can be explored…
The role of anisotropic components on the dark energy and the dynamics of the universe is investigated. An anisotropic dark energy fluid with different pressures along different spatial directions is assumed to incorporate the effect of…
We comment on the relation between string theory and empirical science, grounding our discussion in cosmology, a subject with increasingly precise data in which this connection operates at several levels. It is important to take into…
The study of general two dimensional models of gravity allows to tackle basic questions of quantum gravity, bypassing important technical complications which make the treatment in higher dimensions difficult. As the physically important…
I discuss some (unconventional) aspects of String Cosmology of relevance to supersymmetric dark matter searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. In particular, I analyse the role of time-dependent dilaton fields in relaxing some…
Gravitational waves from extreme gravity events such as the coalescence of two black holes in a binary system fill our observable universe, bearing with them the underlying theory of gravity driving their process. One compelling alternative…
The gravitational properties of cosmic strings in the Randall-Sundrum brane world scenario are investigated. Using a gauge in which the brane remains straight, the leading order corrections to the metric on the brane are determined. In…
The topic of cosmic strings provides a bridge between the physics of the very small and the very large. They are predicted by some unified theories of particle interactions. If they exist, they may help to explain some of the largest-scale…
In string gas cosmology, extra dimensions are stabilised by a gas of strings. In the matter-dominated era, competition between matter pushing the extra dimensions to expand and the string gas pulling them back can lead to oscillations of…
This is a set of lectures on the gauge/string duality and non-critical strings, with a particular emphasis on the discretized, or matrix model, approach. After a general discussion of various points of view, I describe the recent…
We consider F-strings with arbitrary configurations in the Minkowski directions of a higher-dimensional spacetime, which also wrap and spin around $S^1$ subcycles of constant radius in an arbitrary internal manifold, and determine the…
The cosmological constant is an unexplained until now phenomena of nature that requires an explanation through string effects. The apparent discrepancy between theory and experiment is enourmous and has already been explained several times…
This paper discusses the gravitational scattering of a straight, infinitely long test cosmic string by a black hole. We present numerical results that probe the two-dimensional parameter space of impact parameter and initial velocity and…
The decay of the string perturbative vacuum into our present cosmological state is associated to the transition from a phase of growing curvature and growing dilaton, to a phase of decreasing curvature and frozen dilaton. The possible…
This paper deals with the geometry of supermassive cosmic strings. We have used an approach that enforces the spacetime of cosmic strings to also satisfy the conservation laws of a cylindric gravitational topological defect, that is a…
Extreme 4-dimensional dilaton black holes embedded into 10-dimensional geometry are shown to be dual to the gravitational waves in string theory. The corresponding gravitational waves are the generalization of pp-fronted waves, called…
We propose to uncover the signature of a stringy era in the primordial Universe by searching for a prominent peak in the relic graviton spectrum. This feature, which in our specific model terminates an $\omega^3$ increase and initiates an…