49 research outputs found
The Phantom Bounce: A New Oscillating Cosmology
An oscillating universe cycles through a series of expansions and
contractions. We propose a model in which ``phantom'' energy with
grows rapidly and dominates the late-time expanding phase. The universe's
energy density is so large that the effects of quantum gravity are important at
both the beginning and the end of each expansion (or contraction). The bounce
can be caused by high energy modifications to the Friedmann equation, which
make the cosmology nonsingular. The classic black hole overproduction of
oscillating universes is resolved due to their destruction by the phantom
energy.Comment: Four pages, one figure. V3: version to appear in JCA
Cosmological perturbation spectra from SL(4,R)-invariant effective actions
We investigate four-dimensional cosmological vacuum solutions derived from an
effective action invariant under global SL(n,R) transformations. We find the
general solutions for linear axion field perturbations about homogeneous
dilaton-moduli-vacuum solutions for an SL(4,R)-invariant action and find the
spectrum of super-horizon perturbations resulting from vacuum fluctuations in a
pre big bang scenario. We show that for SL(n,R)-invariant actions with n>3
there exists a regime of parameter space of non-zero measure where all the
axion field spectra have positive spectral tilt, as required if light axion
fields are to provide a seed for anisotropies in the microwave background and
large-scale structure in the universe.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, revtex plus epsf, minor typos corrected, version
to appear in Physical Review
Generating the curvature perturbation at the end of inflation
The dominant contribution to the primordial curvature perturbation may be
generated at the end of inflation. Taking the end of inflation to be sudden,
formulas are presented for the spectrum, spectral tilt and non-gaussianity.
They are evaluated for a minimal extension of the original hybrid inflation
model.Comment: 5 pages. v3: as it will appear in JCA
On the Physical Significance of Infra-red Corrections to Inflationary Observables
Inflationary observables, like the power spectrum, computed at one- and
higher-order loop level seem to be plagued by large infra-red corrections. In
this short note, we point out that these large infra-red corrections appear
only in quantities which are not directly observable. This is in agreement with
general expectations concerning infra-red effects.Comment: 11 pages; LateX file; 5 figures. Some coefficients in Eq.(A6)
corrected; References adde
Non-gaussianity from the inflationary trispectrum
We present an estimate for the non-linear parameter \tau_NL, which measures
the non-gaussianity imprinted in the trispectrum of the comoving curvature
perturbation, \zeta. Our estimate is valid throughout the inflationary era,
until the slow-roll approximation breaks down, and takes into account the
evolution of perturbations on superhorizon scales. We find that the
non-gaussianity is always small if the field values at the end of inflation are
negligible when compared to their values at horizon crossing. Under the same
assumption, we show that in Nflation-type scenarios, where the potential is a
sum of monomials, the non-gaussianity measured by \tau_NL is independent of the
couplings and initial conditions.Comment: 15 pages, uses iopart.sty. Replaced with version accepted by JCAP;
journal reference adde
The inflationary trispectrum
We calculate the trispectrum of the primordial curvature perturbation
generated by an epoch of slow-roll inflation in the early universe, and
demonstrate that the non-gaussian signature imprinted at horizon crossing is
unobservably small, of order tau_NL < r/50, where r < 1 is the tensor-to-scalar
ratio. Therefore any primordial non-gaussianity observed in future microwave
background experiments is likely to have been synthesized by gravitational
effects on superhorizon scales. We discuss the application of Maldacena's
consistency condition to the trispectrum.Comment: 23 pages, 2 diagrams drawn with feynmp.sty, uses iopart.cls. v2,
replaced with version accepted by JCAP. Estimate of maximal tau_NL refined in
Section 5, resulting in smaller numerical value. Sign errors in Eq. (44) and
Eq. (48) corrected. Some minor notational change
Non-Gaussianities in two-field inflation
We study the bispectrum of the curvature perturbation on uniform energy
density hypersurfaces in models of inflation with two scalar fields evolving
simultaneously. In the case of a separable potential, it is possible to compute
the curvature perturbation up to second order in the perturbations, generated
on large scales due to the presence of non-adiabatic perturbations, by
employing the -formalism, in the slow-roll approximation. In this
case, we provide an analytic formula for the nonlinear parameter . We
apply this formula to double inflation with two massive fields, showing that it
does not generate significant non-Gaussianity; the nonlinear parameter at the
end of inflation is slow-roll suppressed. Finally, we develop a numerical
method for generic two-field models of inflation, which allows us to go beyond
the slow-roll approximation and confirms our analytic results for double
inflation.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures. v2, comparison with previous estimates. v3, JCAP
version; Revisions based on Referee's comment, corrected typos, added few eqs
and refs, conclusions unchange
Cosmic Acceleration Driven by Mirage Inhomogeneities
A cosmological model based on an inhomogeneous D3-brane moving in an AdS_5 X
S_5 bulk is introduced. Although there is no special points in the bulk, the
brane Universe has a center and is isotropic around it. The model has an
accelerating expansion and its effective cosmological constant is inversely
proportional to the distance from the center, giving a possible geometrical
origin for the smallness of a present-day cosmological constant. Besides, if
our model is considered as an alternative of early time acceleration, it is
shown that the early stage accelerating phase ends in a dust dominated FRW
homogeneous Universe. Mirage-driven acceleration thus provides a dark matter
component for the brane Universe final state. We finally show that the model
fulfills the current constraints on inhomogeneities.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, IOP style. v2, changed style, minor corrections,
references added, version accepted in Class. Quant. Gra
Black holes and gravitational waves in string cosmology
Pre--big bang models of inflation based on string cosmology produce a
stochastic gravitational wave background whose spectrum grows with decreasing
wavelength, and which may be detectable using interferometers such as LIGO. We
point out that the gravitational wave spectrum is closely tied to the density
perturbation spectrum, and that the condition for producing observable
gravitational waves is very similar to that for producing an observable density
of primordial black holes. Detection of both would provide strong support to
the string cosmology scenario.Comment: 6 pages RevTeX fil
Non-Gaussianities in N-flation
We compute non-Gaussianities in N-flation, a string motivated model of
assisted inflation with quadratic, separable potentials and masses given by the
Marcenko-Pastur distribution. After estimating parameters characterizing the
bi- and trispectrum in the horizon crossing approximation, we focus on the
non-linearity parameter , a measure of the bispectrum; we compute its
magnitude for narrow and broad spreads of masses, including the evolution of
modes after horizon crossing. We identify additional contributions due to said
evolution and show that they are suppressed as long as the fields are evolving
slowly. This renders -flation indistinguishable from simple
single-field models in this regime. Larger non-Gaussianities are expected to
arise for fields that start to evolve faster, and we suggest an analytic
technique to estimate their contribution. However, such fast roll during
inflation is not expected in N-flation, leaving (p)re-heating as the main
additional candidate for generating non-Gaussianities.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, extended references to match version accepted in
JCA