75 research outputs found
On Loops in Inflation II: IR Effects in Single Clock Inflation
In single clock models of inflation the coupling between modes of very
different scales does not have any significant dynamical effect during
inflation. It leads to interesting projection effects. Larger and smaller modes
change the relation between the scale a mode of interest will appear in the
post-inflationary universe and will also change the time of horizon crossing of
that mode. We argue that there are no infrared projection effects in physical
questions, that there are no effects from modes of longer wavelength than the
one of interest. These potential effects cancel when computing fluctuations as
a function of physically measurable scales. Modes on scales smaller than the
one of interest change the mapping between horizon crossing time and scale. The
correction to the mapping computed in the absence of fluctuations is enhanced
by a factor N_e, the number of e-folds of inflation between horizon crossing
and reheating. The new mapping is stochastic in nature but its variance is not
enhanced by N_e.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure; v2: JHEP published version, added minor comments
and reference
A geometric bound on F-term inflation
We discuss a general bound on the possibility to realise inflation in any
minimal supergravity with F-terms. The derivation crucially depends on the
sGoldstini, the scalar field directions that are singled out by spontaneous
supersymmetry breaking. The resulting bound involves both slow-roll parameters
and the geometry of the K\"ahler manifold of the chiral scalars. We analyse the
inflationary implications of this bound, and in particular discuss to what
extent the requirements of single field and slow-roll can both be met in F-term
inflation.Comment: 14 pages, improved analysis, references added, matches published
versio
On Loops in Inflation III: Time Independence of zeta in Single Clock Inflation
Studying loop corrections to inflationary perturbations, with particular
emphasis on infrared factors, is important to understand the consistency of the
inflationary theory, its predictivity and to establish the existence of the
slow-roll eternal inflation phenomena and its recently found volume bound. In
this paper we prove that the zeta correlation function is time-independent at
one-loop level in single clock inflation. While many of the one-loop diagrams
lead to a time-dependence when considered individually, the time-dependence
beautifully cancels out in the overall sum. We identify two subsets of diagrams
that cancel separately due to different physical reasons. The first
cancellation is related to the change of the background cosmology due to the
renormalization of the stress tensor. It results in a cancellation between the
non-1PI diagrams and some of the diagrams made with quartic vertices. The
second subset of diagrams that cancel is made up of cubic operators, plus the
remaining quartic ones. We are able to write the sum of these diagrams as the
integral over a specific three-point function between two very short
wavelengths and one very long one. We then apply the consistency condition for
this three-point function in the squeezed limit to show that the sum of these
diagrams cannot give rise to a time dependence. This second cancellation is
thus a consequence of the fact that in single clock inflation the attractor
nature of the solution implies that a long wavelength zeta perturbation is
indistinguishable from a trivial rescaling of the background, and so results in
no physical effect on short wavelength modes.Comment: 47 pages, 7 figures; v2: JHEP published version, typos and minor
correction
Primordial Black Holes: sirens of the early Universe
Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) are, typically light, black holes which can
form in the early Universe. There are a number of formation mechanisms,
including the collapse of large density perturbations, cosmic string loops and
bubble collisions. The number of PBHs formed is tightly constrained by the
consequences of their evaporation and their lensing and dynamical effects.
Therefore PBHs are a powerful probe of the physics of the early Universe, in
particular models of inflation. They are also a potential cold dark matter
candidate.Comment: 21 pages. To be published in "Quantum Aspects of Black Holes", ed. X.
Calmet (Springer, 2014
Delayed Treatment with Systemic (S)-Roscovitine Provides Neuroprotection and Inhibits In Vivo CDK5 Activity Increase in Animal Stroke Models
Although quite challenging, neuroprotective therapies in ischemic stroke remain an interesting strategy to counter mechanisms of ischemic injury and reduce brain tissue damage. Among potential neuroprotective drug, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) inhibitors represent interesting therapeutic candidates. Increasing evidence indisputably links cell cycle CDKs and CDK5 to the pathogenesis of stroke. Although recent studies have demonstrated promising neuroprotective efficacies of pharmacological CDK inhibitors in related animal models, none of them were however clinically relevant to human treatment.In the present study, we report that systemic delivery of (S)-roscovitine, a well known inhibitor of mitotic CDKs and CDK5, was neuroprotective in a dose-dependent manner in two models of focal ischemia, as recommended by STAIR guidelines. We show that (S)-roscovitine was able to cross the blood brain barrier. (S)-roscovitine significant in vivo positive effect remained when the compound was systemically administered 2 hrs after the insult. Moreover, we validate one of (S)-roscovitine in vivo target after ischemia. Cerebral increase of CDK5/p25 activity was observed 3 hrs after the insult and prevented by systemic (S)-roscovitine administration. Our results show therefore that roscovitine protects in vivo neurons possibly through CDK5 dependent mechanisms.Altogether, our data bring new evidences for the further development of pharmacological CDK inhibitors in stroke therapy
The everpresent eta-problem: knowledge of all hidden sectors required
We argue that the eta-problem in supergravity inflation cannot be solved
without knowledge of the ground state of hidden sectors that are
gravitationally coupled to the inflaton. If the hidden sector breaks
supersymmetry independently, its fields cannot be stabilized during
cosmological evolution of the inflaton. We show that both the subsequent
dynamical mixing between sectors as well as the lightest mass of the hidden
sector are set by the scale of supersymmetry breaking in the hidden sector. The
true cosmological eta-parameter arises from a linear combination of the
lightest mode of the hidden sector with the inflaton. Generically, either the
true eta deviates considerably from the na\"ive eta implied by the inflaton
sector alone, or one has to consider a multifield model. Only if the lightest
mass in the hidden sector is much larger than the inflaton mass and if the
inflaton mass is much larger than the scale of hidden sector supersymmetry
breaking, is the effect of the hidden sector on the slow-roll dynamics of the
inflaton negligible.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures; v2, published version, minor adjustments to the
introduction, minor corrections to section 2.2 for improved clarity,
references adde
EFT beyond the horizon: stochastic inflation and how primordial quantum fluctuations go classical
We identify the effective theory describing inflationary super-Hubble scales and show it to be a special case of effective field theories appropriate to open systems. Open systems allow information to be exchanged between the degrees of freedom of interest and those that are integrated out, such as for particles moving through a fluid. Strictly speaking they cannot in general be described by an effective lagrangian; rather the appropriate `low-energy' limit is instead a Lindblad equation describing the evolution of the density matrix of the slow degrees of freedom. We derive the equation relevant to super-Hubble modes of quantum fields in near-de Sitter spacetimes and derive two implications. We show the evolution of the diagonal density-matrix elements quickly approaches the Fokker-Planck equation of Starobinsky's stochastic inflationary picture. This provides an alternative first-principles derivation of this picture's stochastic noise and drift, as well as its leading corrections. (An application computes the noise for systems with a sub-luminal sound speed.) We argue that the presence of interactions drives the off-diagonal density-matrix elements to zero in the field basis. This shows why the field basis is the `pointer basis' for the decoherence of primordial quantum fluctuations while they are outside the horizon, thus allowing them to re-enter as classical fluctuations, as assumed when analyzing CMB data. The decoherence process is efficient, occurring after several Hubble times even for interactions as weak as gravitational-strength. Crucially, the details of the interactions largely control only the decoherence time and not the nature of the final late-time stochastic state, much as interactions can control the equilibration time for thermal systems but are largely irrelevant to the properties of the resulting equilibrium state
Female Institutional Directors on Boards and Firm Value
The aim of this research is to examine what impact female institutional directors on boards have on corporate performance. Previous research shows that institutional female directors cannot be considered as a homogeneous group since they represent investors who may or may not maintain business relations with the companies on whose corporate boards they sit. Thus, it is not only the effect of female institutional directors as a whole on firm value that has been analysed, but also the impact of pressure-resistant female directors, who represent institutional investors (investment, pension and mutual funds) that only invest in the company, and do not maintain a business relation with the firm. We hypothesize that there is a non-linear association, specifically quadratic, between institutional and pressure-resistant female directors on boards and corporate performance. Our results report that female institutional directors on boards enhance corporate performance, but when they reach a certain threshold on boards (11.72 %), firm value decreases. In line with female institutional directors, pressure-resistant female directors on boards also increase firm value, but only up to a certain figure (12.71 % on boards), above which they have a negative impact on firm performance. These findings are consistent with an inverted U-shaped relationship between female institutional directors and pressure-resistant female directors and firm performance
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