Single-Brane Cosmological Solutions with a Stable Compact Extra Dimension

We consider 5-dimensional cosmological solutions of a single brane. The correct cosmology on the brane, i.e., governed by the standard 4-dimensional Friedmann equation, and stable compactification of the extra dimension is guaranteed by the existence of a non-vanishing \hat{T}^5_5 which is proportional to the 4-dimensional trace of the energy-momentum tensor. We show that this component of the energy-momentum tensor arises from the backreaction of the dilaton coupling to the brane. The same positive features are exhibited in solutions found in the presence of non-vanishing cosmological constants both on the brane (\Lambda_{br}) and in the bulk (\Lambda_B). Moreover, the restoration of the Friedmann equation, with the correct sign, takes place for both signs of $\Lambda_B$ so long as the sign of $\Lambda_{br}$ is opposite $\Lambda_B$ in order to cancel the energy densities of the two cosmological constants. We further extend our single-brane thin-wall solution to allow a brane with finite thickness.Comment: 25 pages, Latex file, no figures, comments added, references updated, final version to appear in Physical Review

Extra Dimensions at the Weak Scale and Deviations from Newtonian Gravity

We consider theories in which the Standard Model gauge fields propagate in extra dimensions whose size is around the electroweak scale. The Standard Model quarks and leptons may either be localized to a brane or propagate in the bulk. This class of theories includes models of Scherk-Schwarz supersymmetry breaking and universal extra dimensions. We consider the problem of stabilizing the volume of the extra dimensions. We find that for a large class of stabilization mechanisms the field which corresponds to fluctuations of the volume remains light even after stabilization, and has a mass in the $10^{-3}$ eV range. In particular this is the case if stabilization does not involve dynamics at scales larger than the cutoff of the higher dimensional Standard Model, and if the effective theory below the compactification scale is four dimensional. The mass of this field is protected against large radiative corrections by the general covariance of the higher dimensional theory and by the weakness of its couplings, which are Planck suppressed. Its couplings to matter mediate forces whose strength is comparable to that of gravity and which can give rise to potentially observable deviations from Newton's Law at sub-millimeter distances. Current experiments investigating short distance gravity can probe extra dimensions too small to be accessible to current collider experiments. In particular for a single extra dimension stabilized by the Casimir energy of the Standard Model fields compactification radii as small as 5 inverse TeV are accessible to current sub-millimeter gravity experiments.Comment: Minor corrections, conclusions unchanged. References adde

Variable-Speed-of-Light Cosmology from Brane World Scenario

We argue that the four-dimensional universe on the TeV brane of the Randall-Sundrum scenario takes the bimetric structure of Clayton and Moffat, with gravitons traveling faster than photons instead, while the radion varies with time. We show that such brane world bimetric model can thereby solve the flatness and the cosmological constant problems, provided the speed of a graviton decreases to the present day value rapidly enough. The resolution of other cosmological problems such as the horizon problem and the monopole problem requires supplementation by inflation, which may be achieved by the radion field provided the radion potential satisfies the slow-roll approximation.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, revised version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Precision Electroweak Data and Unification of Couplings in Warped Extra Dimensions

Warped extra dimensions allow a novel way of solving the hierarchy problem, with all fundamental mass parameters of the theory naturally of the order of the Planck scale. The observable value of the Higgs vacuum expectation value is red-shifted, due to the localization of the Higgs field in the extra dimension. It has been recently observed that, when the gauge fields propagate in the bulk, unification of the gauge couplings may be achieved. Moreover, the propagation of fermions in the bulk allows for a simple solution to potentially dangerous proton decay problems. However, bulk gauge fields and fermions pose a phenomenological challenge, since they tend to induce large corrections to the precision electroweak observables. In this article, we study in detail the effect of gauge and fermion fields propagating in the bulk in the presence of gauge brane kinetic terms compatible with gauge coupling unification, and we present ways of obtaining a consistent description of experimental data, while allowing values of the first Kaluza Klein mode masses of the order of a few TeV.Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures. References adde

Cosmological Non-Linearities as an Effective Fluid

The universe is smooth on large scales but very inhomogeneous on small scales. Why is the spacetime on large scales modeled to a good approximation by the Friedmann equations? Are we sure that small-scale non-linearities do not induce a large backreaction? Related to this, what is the effective theory that describes the universe on large scales? In this paper we make progress in addressing these questions. We show that the effective theory for the long-wavelength universe behaves as a viscous fluid coupled to gravity: integrating out short-wavelength perturbations renormalizes the homogeneous background and introduces dissipative dynamics into the evolution of long-wavelength perturbations. The effective fluid has small perturbations and is characterized by a few parameters like an equation of state, a sound speed and a viscosity parameter. These parameters can be matched to numerical simulations or fitted from observations. We find that the backreaction of small-scale non-linearities is very small, being suppressed by the large hierarchy between the scale of non-linearities and the horizon scale. The effective pressure of the fluid is always positive and much too small to significantly affect the background evolution. Moreover, we prove that virialized scales decouple completely from the large-scale dynamics, at all orders in the post-Newtonian expansion. We propose that our effective theory be used to formulate a well-defined and controlled alternative to conventional perturbation theory, and we discuss possible observational applications. Finally, our way of reformulating results in second-order perturbation theory in terms of a long-wavelength effective fluid provides the opportunity to understand non-linear effects in a simple and physically intuitive way.Comment: 84 pages, 3 figure

The Ekpyrotic Universe: Colliding Branes and the Origin of the Hot Big Bang

We propose a cosmological scenario in which the hot big bang universe is produced by the collision of a brane in the bulk space with a bounding orbifold plane, beginning from an otherwise cold, vacuous, static universe. The model addresses the cosmological horizon, flatness and monopole problems and generates a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of density perturbations without invoking superluminal expansion (inflation). The scenario relies, instead, on physical phenomena that arise naturally in theories based on extra dimensions and branes. As an example, we present our scenario predominantly within the context of heterotic M-theory. A prediction that distinguishes this scenario from standard inflationary cosmology is a strongly blue gravitational wave spectrum, which has consequences for microwave background polarization experiments and gravitational wave detectors.Comment: 67 pages, 4 figures. v2,v3: minor corrections, references adde

Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities

A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in 2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the $B$-factories and CLEO-c flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality, precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b}, and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K. Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D. Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A. Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair

Pyrotechnic Universe

One of the central points of the ekpyrotic cosmological scenario based on Horava-Witten theory is that we live on a negative tension brane. However, the tension of the visible brane is positive in the usual HW phenomenology with stronger coupling on the hidden brane, both for standard and non-standard embedding. To make ekpyrotic scenario realistic one must solve the problem of the negative cosmological constant on the visible brane and fine-tune the bulk brane potential with an accuracy of $10^{-50}$. In terms of a canonically normalized scalar field $\phi$ describing the position of the brane, this potential must take a very unusual form $V(\phi)\sim e^{-{5000 \phi\over M_p}}$. We describe the problems which appear when one attempts to obtain this potential in string theory. The mechanism for the generation of density perturbations in this scenario is not brane-specific; it is a particular limiting case of the mechanism of tachyonic preheating. Unlike inflation, this mechanism exponentially amplifies not only quantum fluctuations, but also initial inhomogeneities. As a result, to solve the homogeneity problem in this scenario, one would need the branes to be parallel to each other with an accuracy better than $10^{-60}$ on a scale $10^{30}$ times greater than the distance between the branes. Thus, at present, inflation remains the only robust mechanism that produces density perturbations with a flat spectrum and simultaneously solves all major cosmological problems.Comment: 35 pages, 2 figs. The issue of the brane tension is clarified and a new Appendix explaining constraints on the parameters is adde