Renormalization Group Approach to Generalized Cosmological models

We revisit here the problem of generalized cosmology using renormalization group approach. A complete analysis of these cosmologies, where specific models appear as asymptotic fixed-points, is given here along with their linearized stability analysis.Comment: 10 pages, to appear in the International Journal of Theoretical Physic

Transpacific Transport of Ozone Pollution and the Effect of Recent Asian Emission Increases on Air Quality in North America: An Integrated Analysis Using Satellite, Aircraft, Ozonesonde, and Surface Observations

We use an ensemble of aircraft, satellite, sonde, and surface observations for April–May 2006 (NASA/INTEX-B aircraft campaign) to better understand the mechanisms for transpacific ozone pollution and its implications for North American air quality. The observations are interpreted with a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem). OMI NO2 satellite observations constrain Asian anthropogenic NOx emissions and indicate a factor of 2 increase from 2000 to 2006 in China. Satellite observations of CO from AIRS and TES indicate two major events of Asian transpacific pollution during INTEX-B. Correlation between TES CO and ozone observations shows evidence for transpacific ozone pollution. The semi-permanent Pacific High and Aleutian Low cause splitting of transpacific pollution plumes over the Northeast Pacific. The northern branch circulates around the Aleutian Low and has little impact on North America. The southern branch circulates around the Pacific High and some of that air impacts western North America. Both aircraft measurements and model results show sustained ozone production driven by peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN) decomposition in the southern branch, roughly doubling the transpacific influence from ozone produced in the Asian boundary layer. Model simulation of ozone observations at Mt. Bachelor Observatory in Oregon (2.7 km altitude) indicates a mean Asian ozone pollution contribution of 9±3 ppbv to the mean observed concentration of 54 ppbv, reflecting mostly an enhancement in background ozone rather than episodic Asian plumes. Asian pollution enhanced surface ozone concentrations by 5–7 ppbv over western North America in spring 2006. The 2000–2006 rise in Asian anthropogenic emissions increased this influence by 1–2 ppbv.Earth and Planetary SciencesEngineering and Applied Science

Brane World Cosmology with Gauss-Bonnet Interaction

We study a Randall-Sundrum model modified by a Gauss-Bonnet interaction term. We consider, in particular, a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric on the brane and analyse the resulting cosmological scenario. It is shown that the usual Friedmann equations are recovered on the brane. The equation of state relating the enery density and the pressure is uniquely determined by the matching conditions. A cosmological solution with negative pressure is found.Comment: 9 pages, revtex styl

Precision Primordial 4^4He Measurement with CMB Experiments

Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are two major pillars of cosmology. Standard BBN accurately predicts the primordial light element abundances ($^4$He, D, $^3$He and $^7$Li), depending on one parameter, the baryon density. Light element observations are used as a baryometers. The CMB anisotropies also contain information about the content of the universe which allows an important consistency check on the Big Bang model. In addition CMB observations now have sufficient accuracy to not only determine the total baryon density, but also resolve its principal constituents, H and $^4$He. We present a global analysis of all recent CMB data, with special emphasis on the concordance with BBN theory and light element observations. We find $\Omega_{B}h^{2}=0.025+0.0019-0.0026$ and $Y_{p}=0.250+0.010-0.014$ (fraction of baryon mass as $^4$He) using CMB data alone, in agreement with $^4$He abundance observations. With this concordance established we show that the inclusion of BBN theory priors significantly reduces the volume of parameter space. In this case, we find $\Omega_{B}h^2=0.0244+0.00137-0.00284$ and $Y_p = 0.2493+0.0006-0.001$. We also find that the inclusion of deuterium abundance observations reduces the $Y_p$ and $\Omega_{B}h^2$ ranges by a factor of $\sim$2. Further light element observations and CMB anisotropy experiments will refine this concordance and sharpen BBN and the CMB as tools for precision cosmology.Comment: 7 pages, 3 color figures made minor changes to bring inline with journal versio

M-Theory Moduli Space and Cosmology

We conduct a systematic search for a viable string/M-theory cosmology, focusing on cosmologies that include an era of slow-roll inflation, after which the moduli are stabilized and the Universe is in a state with an acceptably small cosmological constant. We observe that the duality relations between different cosmological backgrounds of string/M-theory moduli space are greatly simplified, and that this simplification leads to a truncated moduli space within which possible cosmological solutions lie. We review some known challenges to four dimensional models in the "outer", perturbative, region of moduli space, and use duality relations to extend them to models of all of the (compactified) perturbative string theories and 11D supergravity, including brane world models. We conclude that cosmologies restricted to the outer region are not viable, and that the most likely region of moduli space in which to find realistic cosmology is the "central", non-perturbative region, with coupling and compact volume both of order unity, in string units.Comment: 42 pages, 3 figure

Transdimensional physics and inflation

Within the framework of a five-dimensional brane world with a stabilized radion, we compute the cosmological perturbations generated during inflation and show that the perturbations are a powerful tool to probe the physics of extra dimensions. While we find that the power spectrum of scalar perturbations is unchanged, we show that the existence of the fifth dimension is imprinted on the spectrum of gravitational waves generated during inflation. In particular, we find that the tensor perturbations receive a correction proportional to $(HR)^2$, where $H$ is the Hubble expansion rate during inflation and $R$ is the size of the extra dimension. We also generalize our findings to the case of several extra dimensions as well as to warped geometries.Comment: RevTeX file, 30 pages, 1 figure. Final version to appear in PR

Cosmological evolution of general scalar fields in a brane-world cosmology

We study the cosmology of a general scalar field and barotropic fluid during the early stage of a brane-world where the Friedmann constraint is dominated by the square of the energy density. Assuming both the scalar field and fluid are confined to the brane, we find a range of behaviour depending on the form of the potential. Generalising an approach developed for a standard Friedmann cosmology, in \cite{delaMacorra:1999ff}, we show that the potential dependence $V(\phi)$ can be described through a parameter $\lambda \equiv -\sqrt{2} m_5^{3/2} V'/(\sqrt{H}V)$, where $m_5$ is the 5-dimensional Planck mass, $H$ is the Hubble parameter and $V' \equiv \frac{dV}{d\phi}$. For the case where $\lambda$ asymptotes to zero, we show that the solution exhibits stable inflationary behaviour. On the other hand if it approaches a finite constant, then $V(\phi) \propto \frac{1}{\phi^2}$. For $\lambda \to \infty$ asymptotically, we find examples where it does so both with and without oscillating. In the latter case, the barotropic fluid dominates the scalar filed asymptotically. Finally we point out an interesting duality which leads to identical evolution equations in the high energy $\rho^2$ dominated regime and the low energy $\rho$ dominated regime.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Inflation and Braneworlds: Degeneracies and Consistencies

Scalar and tensor perturbations arising in an inflationary braneworld scenario driven by a single scalar field are considered, where the bulk on either side of the brane corresponds to Anti-de Sitter spaces with different cosmological constants. A consistency relation between the two spectra is derived and found to have an identical form to that arising in standard single-field inflation based on conventional Einstein gravity. The dS/CFT correspondence may provide further insight into the origin of this degeneracy. Possible ways of lifting such a degeneracy are discussed.Comment: 10 page

Psychosocial Treatment of Children in Foster Care: A Review

A substantial number of children in foster care exhibit psychiatric difficulties. Recent epidemiologi-cal and historical trends in foster care, clinical findings about the adjustment of children in foster care, and adult outcomes are reviewed, followed by a description of current approaches to treatment and extant empirical support. Available interventions for these children can be categorized as either symptom-focused or systemic, with empirical support for specific methods ranging from scant to substantial. Even with treatment, behavioral and emotional problems often persist into adulthood, resulting in poor functional outcomes. We suggest that self-regulation may be an important mediat-ing factor in the appearance of emotional and behavioral disturbance in these children

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