1,716 research outputs found
Exploring a string-like landscape
We explore inflationary trajectories within randomly-generated
two-dimensional potentials, considered as a toy model of the string landscape.
Both the background and perturbation equations are solved numerically, the
latter using the two-field formalism of Peterson and Tegmark which fully
incorporates the effect of isocurvature perturbations. Sufficient inflation is
a rare event, occurring for only roughly one in potentials. For models
generating sufficient inflation, we find that the majority of runs satisfy
current constraints from WMAP. The scalar spectral index is less than 1 in all
runs. The tensor-to-scalar ratio is below the current limit, while typically
large enough to be detected by next-generation CMB experiments and perhaps also
by Planck. In many cases the inflationary consistency equation is broken by the
effect of isocurvature modes.Comment: 24 pages with 8 figures incorporated, matches version accepted by
JCA
Brane Inflation and the Overshoot Problem
We investigate recent claims that brane inflation solves the overshoot
problem through a combination of microphysical restrictions on the phase space
of initial conditions and the existence of the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI)
attractor in regimes where the slow-roll attractor does not apply. Carrying out
a comprehensive analysis of the parameter space allowed by the latest advances
in brane inflation model-building, we find that these restrictions are
insufficient to solve the overshoot problem. The vast majority of the phase
space of initial conditions is still dominated by overshoot trajectories. We
present an analytic proof that the brane-inflationary attractor must be close
to the slow-roll limit, and update the predictions for observables such as
non-Gaussianity, cosmic string tension and tensor modes.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, matches version published in PRD. Minor
clarifications, references adde
Seeing motion and apparent motion
In apparent motion experiments, participants are presented with what is in fact a succession of two brief stationary stimuli at two different locations, but they report an impression of movement. Philosophers have recently debated whether apparent motion provides evidence in favour of a particular account of the nature of temporal experience. I argue that the existing discussion in this area is premised on a mistaken view of the phenomenology of apparent motion and, as a result, the space of possible philosophical positions has not yet been fully explored. In particular, I argue that the existence of apparent motion is compatible with an account of the nature of temporal experience that involves a version of direct realism. In doing so, I also argue against two other claims often made about apparent motion, viz. that apparent motion is the psychological phenomenon that underlies motion experience in the cinema, and that apparent motion is subjectively indistinguishable from real motion
Novel colours and the content of experience
I propose a counterexample to naturalistic representational theories of phenomenal character. The counterexample is generated by experiences of novel colours reported by Crane and Piantanida. I consider various replies that a representationalist might make, including whether novel colours could be possible colours of objects and whether one can account for novel colours as one would account for binary colours or colour mixtures. I argue that none of these strategies is successful and therefore that one cannot fully explain the nature of the phenomenal character of perceptual experiences using a naturalistic conception of representation
Cosmological Landscape From Nothing: Some Like It Hot
We suggest a novel picture of the quantum Universe -- its creation is
described by the {\em density matrix} defined by the Euclidean path integral.
This yields an ensemble of universes -- a cosmological landscape -- in a mixed
state which is shown to be dynamically more preferable than the pure quantum
state of the Hartle-Hawking type. The latter is dynamically suppressed by the
infinitely large positive action of its instanton, generated by the conformal
anomaly of quantum fields within the cosmological bootstrap (the
self-consistent back reaction of hot matter). This bootstrap suggests a
solution to the problem of boundedness of the on-shell cosmological action and
eliminates the infrared catastrophe of small cosmological constant in Euclidean
quantum gravity. The cosmological landscape turns out to be limited to a
bounded range of the cosmological constant . The domain is ruled out by the
back reaction effect which we analyze by solving effective Euclidean equations
of motion. The upper cutoff is enforced by the quantum effects of vacuum energy
and the conformal anomaly mediated by a special ghost-avoidance renormalization
of the effective action. They establish a new quantum scale
which is determined by the coefficient of the topological Gauss-Bonnet term in
the conformal anomaly. This scale is realized as the upper bound -- the
limiting point of an infinite sequence of garland-type instantons which
constitute the full cosmological landscape. The dependence of the cosmological
constant range on particle phenomenology suggests a possible dynamical
selection mechanism for the landscape of string vacua.Comment: Final version, to appear in JCA
Accelerating universe emergent from the landscape
We propose that the existence of the string landscape suggests the universe
can be in a quantum glass state, where an extremely large viscosity is
generated, and long distance dynamics slows down. At the same time, the short
distance dynamics is not altered due to the separation of time scales. This
scenario can help to understand some controversies in cosmology, for example
the natural existence of slow roll inflation and dark energy in the landscape,
the apparent smallness of the cosmological constant. We see also that moduli
stabilization is no longer necessary. We further identify the glass transition
point, where the viscosity diverges, as the location of the cosmic horizon. We
try to reconstruct the geometry of the accelerating universe from the structure
of the landscape, and find that the metric should have an infinite jump when
crossing the horizon. We predict that the static coordinate metric for dS space
breaks down outside the horizon.Comment: 20 pages, no figures, harvma
Reconnection of Non-Abelian Cosmic Strings
Cosmic strings in non-abelian gauge theories naturally gain a spectrum of
massless, or light, excitations arising from their embedding in color and
flavor space. This opens up the possibility that colliding strings miss each
other in the internal space, reducing the probability of reconnection. We study
the topology of the non-abelian vortex moduli space to determine the outcome of
string collision. Surprisingly we find that the probability of classical
reconnection in this system remains unity, with strings passing through each
other only for finely tuned initial conditions. We proceed to show how this
conclusion can be changed by symmetry breaking effects, or by quantum effects
associated to fermionic zero modes, and present examples where the probability
of reconnection in a U(N) gauge theory ranges from 1/N for low-energy
collisions to one at higher energies.Comment: 25 Pages, 3 Figures. v2: comment added, reference adde
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