Related papers: The Graceful Exit Problem in String Cosmology
We present some exact scalar potentials for the dimensionally reduced theory and examine the possibility of obtaining accelerating 4d cosmology from String/M-theory, more generally, hyperbolic and flux compactification. In the hyperbolic…
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 discuss the main cosmological implications of considering string-loop effects and a potential for the dilaton in the lowest order string effective action. Our framework is based on the effective model arising from regarding homogeneous…
We present a phase-space analysis of cosmology containing multiple scalar fields with a positive or negative cross-coupling exponential potential. We show that there exist power-law kinetic-potential-scaling solutions for a sufficiently…
The most important criteria for a successful inflation are to explain the observed temperature anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background radiation, and exiting inflation in a vacuum where it can excite the Standard Model quarks and…
We conduct a systematic search for a viable string/M-theory cosmology, focusing on cosmologies that include an era of slow-roll inflation, after which the moduli are stabilized and the Universe is in a state with an acceptably small…
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…
Attempts to connect string theory with astrophysical observation are hampered by a jargon barrier, where an intimidating profusion of orientifolds, Kahler potentials, etc. dissuades cosmologists from attempting to work out the astrophysical…
The string $\alpha^\prime$-correction to the usual Einstein action comprises a Gauss-Bonnet integrand multiplied by non-trivial functions of the modulus field $\chi$ and/or the dilaton field $\phi$. We discuss how the presence of such terms…
We introduce a Wheeler-De Witt approach to quantum cosmology based on the low-energy string effective action, with an effective dilaton potential included to account for non-perturbative effects and, possibly, higher-order corrections. We…
Inflationary models, especially those with plateau-type potentials, are consistent with the cosmological data, but inflation itself does not resolve the initial singularity. This singularity is resolved, for example, by the idea of the…
Thermal inflation was proposed as a mechanism to dilute the density of cosmological moduli. Thermal inflation is driven by a complex scalar field possessing a large vacuum expectation value and a very flat potential, called a `flaton'. Such…
We present analytic cosmological solutions in a model of two-dimensional dilaton gravity with back reaction. One of these solutions exhibits a graceful exit from the inflationary to the FRW phase and is nonsingular everywhere. A duality…
We consider, in five dimensions, the effective action from heterotic string which includes quantum gravity corrections up to (a')^2. The expansion, in the string frame, is in terms of |a'R|, where R is the scalar curvature and uses the…
We address the important issue of stabilizing the dilaton in the context of superstring cosmology. Scalar potentials which arise out of gaugino condensates in string models are generally exponential in nature. In a cosmological setting this…
We construct gravitational modifications that go beyond Horndeski, namely theories with extended nonminimal derivative couplings, in which the coefficient functions depend not only on the scalar field but also on its kinetic energy. Such…
In dilaton gravity theories, we consider a string-like topological defect formed during U(1) gauge symmetry-breaking phase transition in the early Universe, and far from the cosmic string we have vacuum solutions of the generalized Einstein…
This thesis is dedicated to the study of inflationary scenarios based on string theory. Inflation is a brief period of accelerated expansion in the very early Universe which gives natural explanations for problems of the Standard Big Bang…
We present exact inhomogeneous and anisotropic cosmological solutions of low-energy string theory containing dilaton and axion fields. The spacetime metric possesses cylindrical symmetry. The solutions describe ever-expanding universes with…
Singularity-free cosmological solutions may be obtained from the string action at tree level if the dimension of the space-time is greater than 10 and if brane configurations are taken into account. The behaviour of the dilaton field in…