5 research outputs found
Accelerating Universes in String Theory via Field Redefinition
We study cosmological solutions in the effective heterotic string theory with
-correction terms in string frame. It is pointed out that the
effective theory has an ambiguity via field redefinition and we analyze
generalized effective theories due to this ambiguity. We restrict our analysis
to the effective theories which give equations of motion of second order in the
derivatives, just as "Galileon" field theory. This class of effective actions
contains two free coupling constants. We find de Sitter solutions as well as
the power-law expanding universes in our four-dimensional Einstein frame. The
accelerated expanding universes are always the attractors in the present
dynamical system.Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures, some additional formulae adde
The Dynamics of Brane-World Cosmological Models
Brane-world cosmology is motivated by recent developments in string/M-theory
and offers a new perspective on the hierarchy problem. In the brane-world
scenario, our Universe is a four-dimensional subspace or {\em brane} embedded
in a higher-dimensional {\em bulk} spacetime. Ordinary matter fields are
confined to the brane while the gravitational field can also propagate in the
bulk, leading to modifications of Einstein's theory of general relativity at
high energies. In particular, the Randall-Sundrum-type models are
self-consistent and simple and allow for an investigation of the essential
non-linear gravitational dynamics. The governing field equations induced on the
brane differ from the general relativistic equations in that there are nonlocal
effects from the free gravitational field in the bulk, transmitted via the
projection of the bulk Weyl tensor, and the local quadratic energy-momentum
corrections, which are significant in the high-energy regime close to the
initial singularity. In this review we discuss the asymptotic dynamical
evolution of spatially homogeneous brane-world cosmological models containing
both a perfect fluid and a scalar field close to the initial singularity. Using
dynamical systems techniques it is found that, for models with a physically
relevant equation of state, an isotropic singularity is a past-attractor in all
orthogonal spatially homogeneous models (including Bianchi type IX models). In
addition, we describe the dynamics in a class of inhomogeneous brane-world
models, and show that these models also have an isotropic initial singularity.
These results provide support for the conjecture that typically the initial
cosmological singularity is isotropic in brane-world cosmology.Comment: Einstein Centennial Review Article: to appear in CJ