2,705 research outputs found
Kelvin Probe Spectroscopy of a Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Below 300 mK
A scanning force microscope with a base temperature below 300 mK is used for
measuring the local electron density of a two-dimensional electron gas embedded
in an Ga[Al]As heterostructure. At different separations between AFM tip and
sample, a dc-voltage is applied between the tip and the electron gas while
simultaneously recording the frequency shift of the oscillating tip. Using a
plate capacitor model the local electron density can be extracted from the
data. The result coincides within 10% with the data obtained from transport
measurements.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure
Generalized Assisted Inflation
We obtain a new class of exact cosmological solutions for multi-scalar fields
with exponential potentials. We generalize the assisted inflation solutions
previously obtained, and demonstrate how they are modified when there exist
cross-couplings between the fields, such as occur in supergravity inspired
cosmological models.Comment: 5 page
wormholes and topological charge
I investigate solutions to the Euclidean Einstein-matter field equations with
topology in a theory with a massless periodic scalar
field and electromagnetism. These solutions carry winding number of the
periodic scalar as well as magnetic flux. They induce violations of a
quasi-topological conservation law which conserves the product of magnetic flux
and winding number on the background spacetime. I extend these solutions to a
model with stable loops of superconducting cosmic string, and interpret them as
contributing to the decay of such loops.Comment: 18 pages (includes 6 figs.), harvmac and epsf, CU-TP-62
Slow-roll corrections to inflaton fluctuations on a brane
Quantum fluctuations of an inflaton field, slow-rolling during inflation are
coupled to metric fluctuations. In conventional four dimensional cosmology one
can calculate the effect of scalar metric perturbations as slow-roll
corrections to the evolution of a massless free field in de Sitter spacetime.
This gives the well-known first-order corrections to the field perturbations
after horizon-exit. If inflaton fluctuations on a four dimensional brane
embedded in a five dimensional bulk spacetime are studied to first-order in
slow-roll then we recover the usual conserved curvature perturbation on
super-horizon scales. But on small scales, at high energies, we find that the
coupling to the bulk metric perturbations cannot be neglected, leading to a
modified amplitude of vacuum oscillations on small scales. This is a large
effect which casts doubt on the reliability of the usual calculation of
inflaton fluctuations on the brane neglecting their gravitational coupling.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure
Slow-roll corrections to inflaton fluctuations on a brane
Quantum fluctuations of an inflaton field, slow-rolling during inflation are
coupled to metric fluctuations. In conventional four dimensional cosmology one
can calculate the effect of scalar metric perturbations as slow-roll
corrections to the evolution of a massless free field in de Sitter spacetime.
This gives the well-known first-order corrections to the field perturbations
after horizon-exit. If inflaton fluctuations on a four dimensional brane
embedded in a five dimensional bulk spacetime are studied to first-order in
slow-roll then we recover the usual conserved curvature perturbation on
super-horizon scales. But on small scales, at high energies, we find that the
coupling to the bulk metric perturbations cannot be neglected, leading to a
modified amplitude of vacuum oscillations on small scales. This is a large
effect which casts doubt on the reliability of the usual calculation of
inflaton fluctuations on the brane neglecting their gravitational coupling.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure
O(d,d)-invariance in inhomogeneous string cosmologies with perfect fluid
In the first part of the present paper, we show that O(d,d)-invariance
usually known in a homogeneous cosmological background written in terms of
proper time can be extended to backgrounds depending on one or several
coordinates (which may be any space-like or time-like coordinate(s)). In all
cases, the presence of a perfect fluid is taken into account and the equivalent
duality transformation in Einstein frame is explicitly given. In the second
part, we present several concrete applications to some four-dimensional
metrics, including inhomogeneous ones, which illustrate the different duality
transformations discussed in the first part. Note that most of the dual
solutions given here do not seem to be known in the literature.Comment: 25 pages, no figures, Latex. Accepted for publication in General
Relativity and Gravitatio
Cosmology of Axions and Moduli: A Dynamical Systems Approach
This paper is concerned with string cosmology and the dynamics of multiple
scalar fields in potentials that can become negative, and their features as
(Early) Dark Energy models. Our point of departure is the "String Axiverse", a
scenario that motivates the existence of cosmologically light axion fields as a
generic consequence of string theory. We couple such an axion to its
corresponding modulus. We give a detailed presentation of the rich cosmology of
such a model, ranging from the setting of initial conditions on the fields
during inflation, to the asymptotic future. We present some simplifying
assumptions based on the fixing of the axion decay constant , and on the
effective field theory when the modulus trajectory is adiabatic, and find the
conditions under which these assumptions break down. As a by-product of our
analysis, we find that relaxing the assumption of fixed leads to the
appearance of a new meta-stable de-Sitter region for the modulus without the
need for uplifting by an additional constant. A dynamical systems analysis
reveals the existence of many fixed point attractors, repellers and saddle
points, which we analyse in detail. We also provide geometric interpretations
of the phase space. The fixed points can be used to bound the couplings in the
model. A systematic scan of certain regions of parameter space reveals that the
future evolution of the universe in this model can be rich, containing multiple
epochs of accelerated expansion.Comment: 27 pages, 12 figures, comments welcome, v2 minor correction
Spherical Scalar Field Halo in Galaxies
We study a spherically symmetric fluctuation of scalar dark matter in the
cosmos and show that it could be the dark matter in galaxies, provided that the
scalar field has an exponential potential whose overall sign is negative and
whose exponent is constrained observationally by the rotation velocities of
galaxies. The local space-time of the fluctuation contains a three dimensional
space-like hypersurface with surplus of angle.Comment: 5 REVTeX pages, no figures. Contains important suggestions provided
by the referee. Final version, to appear in Phys. Rev.
On the Realization of Assisted Inflation
We consider conditions necessary for a successful implementation of so-called
assisted inflation. We generalize the applicability of assisted inflation
beyond exponential potentials as originally proposed to include standard
chaotic (\lambda \phi^4 or m^2 \phi^2) models as well. We also demonstrate that
in a purely 4-dimensional theory, unless the assisted sector is in fact
decoupled, the additional fields of the assisted sector actually impede
inflation. As a specific example of an assisted sector, we consider a
5-dimensional KK model for which the extra dimension may be somewhat or much
larger than the inverse Planck scale. In this case, the assisted sector (coming
from a KK compactification) eliminates the need for a fine-tuned quartic
coupling to drive chaotic inflation. This is a general result of models with
one or more "large" extra dimensions.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX fil
Ultraviolet singularities in classical brane theory
We construct for the first time an energy-momentum tensor for the
electromagnetic field of a p-brane in arbitrary dimensions, entailing finite
energy-momentum integrals. The construction relies on distribution theory and
is based on a Lorentz-invariant regularization, followed by the subtraction of
divergent and finite counterterms supported on the brane. The resulting
energy-momentum tensor turns out to be uniquely determined. We perform the
construction explicitly for a generic flat brane. For a brane in arbitrary
motion our approach provides a new paradigm for the derivation of the,
otherwise divergent, self-force of the brane. The so derived self-force is
automatically finite and guarantees, by construction, energy-momentum
conservation.Comment: 41 pages, no figures, minor change
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