Brans-Dicke Theory as a Unified Model for Dark Matter - Dark Energy

The Brans-Dicke (BD) theory of gravity is taken as a possible theory of k-essence coupled to gravity. It then has been realized that the BD scalar field does indeed play a role of a k-essence, but in a very unique way which distinguishes it from other k-essence fields studied in the literature. That is, first in the BD scalar field-dominated era when the contribution from this k-essence overwhelms those from other types of matter, the BD theory predicts the emergence of a yet-unknown {\it zero acceleration} epoch which is an intermediate stage acting as a ``crossing bridge'' between the decelerating matter-dominated era and the accelerating phase. Upon realizing this, next, closer study of the effects of this k-essence on the evolutionary behavior of the matter-dominated and the accelerating eras has been performed. The result of the study indicates that the BD scalar field appears to interpolate {\it smoothly} between these two late-time stages by speeding up the expansion rate of the matter-dominated era somewhat while slowing down that of the accelerating phase to some degree. Thus with the newly found BD scalar field-dominated era in between these two, the late-time of the universe evolution appears to be mixed sequence of the three stages.Comment: 25 pages, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc.(MNRAS), in pres

General conditions for scale-invariant perturbations in an expanding universe

We investigate the general properties of expanding cosmological models which generate scale-invariant curvature perturbations in the presence of a variable speed of sound. We show that in an expanding universe, generation of a super-Hubble, nearly scale-invariant spectrum of perturbations over a range of wavelengths consistent with observation requires at least one of three conditions: (1) accelerating expansion, (2) a speed of sound faster than the speed of light, or (3) super-Planckian energy density.Comment: 4 pages, RevTe

The effect of curvature in thawing models

We study the evolution of spatial curvature for thawing class of dark energy models. We examine the evolution of the equation of state parameter, $w_\phi$, as a function of the scale factor $a$, for the case in which the scalar field $\phi$ evolve in nearly flat scalar potential. We show that all such models provide the corresponding approximate analytical expressions for $w_\phi(\Omega_\phi,\Omega_k)$ and $w_\phi(a)$. We present observational constraints on these models.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.

Can We See Lorentz-Violating Vector Fields in the CMB?

We investigate the perturbation theory of a fixed-norm, timelike Lorentz-violating vector field. After consistently quantizing the vector field to put constraints on its parameters, we compute the primordial spectra of perturbations generated by inflation in the presence of this vector field. We find that its perturbations are sourced by the perturbations of the inflaton; without the inflaton perturbation the vector field perturbations decay away leaving no primordial spectra of perturbations. Since the inflaton perturbation does not have a spin-1 component, the vector field generically does not generate any spin-1 ``vector-type'' perturbations. Nevertheless, it will modify the amplitude of both the spin-0 ``scalar-type'' and spin-2 ``tensor-type'' perturbation spectra, leading to violations of the inflationary consistency relationship.Comment: 36 pages, 1 fig, RevTex4, Submitted to PR

Near Scale Invariance with Modified Dispersion Relations

We describe a novel mechanism to seed a nearly scale invariant spectrum of adiabatic perturbations during a non-inflationary stage. It relies on a modified dispersion relation that contains higher powers of the spatial momentum of matter perturbations. We implement this idea in the context of a massless scalar field in an otherwise perfectly homogeneous universe. The couplings of the field to background scalars and tensors give rise to the required modification of its dispersion relation, and the couplings of the scalar to matter result in an adiabatic primordial spectrum. This work is meant to explicitly illustrate that it is possible to seed nearly scale invariant primordial spectra without inflation, within a conventional expansion history.Comment: 7 pages and no figures. Uses RevTeX

Some Aspects of Brane Inflation

The inflaton potential in four-dimensional theory is rather arbitrary, and fine-tuning is required generically. By contrast, inflation in the brane world scenario has the interesting feature that the inflaton potential is motivated from higher dimensional gravity, or more generally, from bulk modes or string theory. We emphasize this feature with examples. We also consider the impact on the spectrum of density perturbation from a velocity-dependent potential between branes in the brane inflationary scenario. It is likely that such a potential can have an observable effect on the ratio of tensor to scalar perturbations.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, references added, minor typos correcte

On A Cosmological Invariant as an Observational Probe in the Early Universe

k-essence scalar field models are usually taken to have lagrangians of the form ${\mathcal L}=-V(\phi)F(X)$ with $F$ some general function of $X=\nabla_{\mu}\phi\nabla^{\mu}\phi$. Under certain conditions this lagrangian in the context of the early universe can take the form of that of an oscillator with time dependent frequency. The Ermakov invariant for a time dependent oscillator in a cosmological scenario then leads to an invariant quadratic form involving the Hubble parameter and the logarithm of the scale factor. In principle, this invariant can lead to further observational probes for the early universe. Moreover, if such an invariant can be observationally verified then the presence of dark energy will also be indirectly confirmed.Comment: 4 pages, Revte

Compact boson stars in K field theories

We study a scalar field theory with a non-standard kinetic term minimally coupled to gravity. We establish the existence of compact boson stars, that is, static solutions with compact support of the full system with self-gravitation taken into account. Concretely, there exist two types of solutions, namely compact balls on the one hand, and compact shells on the other hand. The compact balls have a naked singularity at the center. The inner boundary of the compact shells is singular, as well, but it is, at the same time, a Killing horizon. These singular, compact shells therefore resemble black holes.Comment: Latex, 45 pages, 25 figures, some references and comments adde

Where does Cosmological Perturbation Theory Break Down?

We apply the effective field theory approach to the coupled metric-inflaton system, in order to investigate the impact of higher dimension operators on the spectrum of scalar and tensor perturbations in the short-wavelength regime. In both cases, effective corrections at tree-level become important when the Hubble parameter is of the order of the Planck mass, or when the physical wave number of a cosmological perturbation mode approaches the square of the Planck mass divided by the Hubble constant. Thus, the cut-off length below which conventional cosmological perturbation theory does not apply is likely to be much smaller than the Planck length. This has implications for the observability of "trans-Planckian" effects in the spectrum of primordial perturbations.Comment: 25 pages, uses FeynM

Preheating in Derivatively-Coupled Inflation Models

We study preheating in theories where the inflaton couples derivatively to scalar and gauge fields. Such couplings may dominate in natural models of inflation, in which the flatness of the inflaton potential is related to an approximate shift symmetry of the inflaton. We compare our results with previously studied models with non-derivative couplings. For sufficiently heavy scalar matter, parametric resonance is ineffective in reheating the universe, because the couplings of the inflaton to matter are very weak. If scalar matter fields are light, derivative couplings lead to a mild long-wavelength instability that drives matter fields to non-zero expectation values. In this case however, long-wavelength fluctuations of the light scalar are produced during inflation, leading to a host of cosmological problems. In contrast, axion-like couplings of the inflaton to a gauge field do not lead to production of long-wavelength fluctuations during inflation. However, again because of the weakness of the couplings to the inflaton, parametric resonance is not effective in producing gauge field quanta.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure