456 research outputs found
Warming up brane-antibrane inflation
We show that, in constructions with additional intersecting D-branes,
brane-antibrane inflation may naturally occur in a warm regime, such that
strong dissipative effects damp the inflaton's motion, greatly alleviating the
associated eta-problem. We illustrate this for D3-antiD3 inflation in flat
space with additional flavor D7-branes, where for both a Coulomb-like or a
quadratic hybrid potential a sufficient number of e-folds may be obtained for
perturbative couplings and O(10-10^4) branes. This is in clear contrast with
the corresponding cold scenarios, thus setting the stage for more realistic
constructions within fully stabilized compactifications. Such models
generically predict a negligible amount of tensor perturbations and
non-gaussianity f_NL \sim O(10).Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; version to be published in Physical Review
Brane-Antibrane Backreaction in Axion Monodromy Inflation
We calculate the interaction potential between D5 and anti-D5 branes wrapping
distant but homologous 2-cycles. The interaction potential is logarithmic in
the separation radius and does not decouple at infinity. We show that
logarithmic backreaction is generic for 5-branes wrapping distant but
homologous 2-cycles, and we argue that this destabilises models of axion
monodromy inflation involving NS5 brane-antibrane pairs in separate warped
throats towards an uncontrolled region.Comment: 12 page
Reheating the Universe After Multi-Field Inflation
We study in detail (p)reheating after multi-field inflation models with a
particular focus on N-flation. We consider a variety of different couplings
between the inflatons and the matter sector, including both quartic and
trilinear interactions with a light scalar field. We show that the presence of
multiple oscillating inflatons makes parametric resonance inefficient in the
case of the quartic interactions. Moreover, perturbative processes do not
permit a complete decay of the inflaton for this coupling. In order to recover
the hot big bang, we must instead consider trilinear couplings. In this case we
show that strong nonperturbative preheating is possible via multi-field
tachyonic resonance. In addition, late-time perturbative effects do permit a
complete decay of the condensate. We also study the production of gauge fields
for several prototype couplings, finding similar results to the trilinear
scalar coupling. During the course of our analysis we develop the mathematical
theory of the quasi-periodic Mathieu equation, the multi-field generalization
of the Floquet theory familiar from preheating after single field inflation. We
also elaborate on the theory of perturbative decays of a classical inflaton
condensate, which is applicable in single-field models also.Comment: 46+1 pages, 19 figure
Fisher Equation for a Decaying Brane
We consider the inhomogeneous decay of an unstable D-brane. The dynamical
equation that describes this process (in light-cone time) is a variant of the
non-linear reaction-diffusion equation that first made its appearance in the
pioneering work of (Luther and) Fisher and appears in a variety of natural
phenomena.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Inhomogeneous tachyon condensation
We investigate the spacetime-dependent condensation of the tachyon in
effective field theories. Previous work identified singularities in the field
which appear in finite time: infinite gradients at the kinks, and (in the
eikonal approximation) caustics near local minima. By performing a perturbation
analysis, and with numerical simulations, we demonstrate and explain key
features of the condensation process: perturbations generically freeze, and
minima develop singular second derivatives in finite time (caustics). This last
has previously been understood in terms of the eikonal approximation to the
dynamics. We show explicitly from the field equations how this approximation
emerges, and how the caustics develop, both in the DBI and BSFT effective
actions. We also investigate the equation of state parameter of tachyon matter
showing that it is small, but generically non-zero. The energy density tends to
infinity near field minima with a charateristic profile. A proposal to regulate
infinities by modifying the effective action is also studied. We find that
although the infinities at the kinks are successfully regularised in the
time-dependent case, caustics still present.Comment: 4 figures,19p
Analysis of scalar perturbations in cosmological models with a non-local scalar field
We develop the cosmological perturbations formalism in models with a single
non-local scalar field originating from the string field theory description of
the rolling tachyon dynamics. We construct the equation for the energy density
perturbations of the non-local scalar field in the presence of the arbitrary
potential and formulate the local system of equations for perturbations in the
linearized model when both simple and double roots of the characteristic
equation are present. We carry out the general analysis related to the
curvature and entropy perturbations and consider the most specific example of
perturbations when important quantities in the model become complex.Comment: LaTeX, 25 pages, 1 figure, v2: Subsection 3.2 and Section 5 added,
references added, accepted for publication in Class. Quant. Grav. arXiv admin
note: text overlap with arXiv:0903.517
DSR as an explanation of cosmological structure
Deformed special relativity (DSR) is one of the possible realizations of a
varying speed of light (VSL). It deforms the usual quadratic dispersion
relations so that the speed of light becomes energy dependent, with preferred
frames avoided by postulating a non-linear representation of the Lorentz group.
The theory may be used to induce a varying speed of sound capable of generating
(near) scale-invariant density fluctuations, as discussed in a recent Letter.
We identify the non-linear representation of the Lorentz group that leads to
scale-invariance, finding a universal result. We also examine the higher order
field theory that could be set up to represent it
Towards a Resolution of the Cosmological Singularity in Non-local Higher Derivative Theories of Gravity
One of the greatest problems of standard cosmology is the Big Bang
singularity. Previously it has been shown that non-local ghostfree
higher-derivative modifications of Einstein gravity in the ultra-violet regime
can admit non-singular bouncing solutions. In this paper we study in more
details the dynamical properties of the equations of motion for these theories
of gravity in presence of positive and negative cosmological constants and
radiation. We find stable inflationary attractor solutions in the presence of a
positive cosmological constant which renders inflation {\it geodesically
complete}, while in the presence of a negative cosmological constant a cyclic
universe emerges. We also provide an algorithm for tracking the super-Hubble
perturbations during the bounce and show that the bouncing solutions are free
from any perturbative instability.Comment: 38 pages, 6 figures. V2: Added: a word to the title, clarifications,
an appendix, many references. To appear in JCA
New Sources of Gravitational Waves during Inflation
We point out that detectable inflationary tensor modes can be generated by
particle or string sources produced during inflation, consistently with the
requirements for inflation and constraints from scalar fluctuations. We show
via examples that this effect can dominate over the contribution from quantum
fluctuations of the metric, occurring even when the inflationary potential
energy is too low to produce a comparable signal. Thus a detection of tensor
modes from inflation does not automatically constitute a determination of the
inflationary Hubble scale.Comment: 32 pages, 1 figure. v2: JCAP published version; some overestimates
corrected; main results unchange
Possible Enhancement of High Frequency Gravitational Waves
We study the tensor perturbations in a class of non-local, purely
gravitational models which naturally end inflation in a distinctive phase of
oscillations with slight and short violations of the weak energy condition. We
find the usual generic form for the tensor power spectrum. The presence of the
oscillatory phase leads to an enhancement of gravitational waves with
frequencies somewhat less than 10^{10} Hz.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures, LaTeX.2
- …