On the waterfall behavior in hybrid inflation

We revisit the hybrid inflation model focusing on the dynamics of the waterfall field in an analytical way. It is shown that inflation may last long enough during the waterfall regime for some parameter regions, confirming the claim of Clesse. In this case the scalar spectral index becomes red, and can fall into the best fit range of the WMAP observation.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

Can decaying particle explain cosmic infrared background excess?

Recently the CIBER experiment measured the diffuse cosmic infrared background (CIB) flux and claimed an excess compared with integrated emission from galaxies. We show that the CIB spectrum can be fitted by the additional photons produced by the decay of a new particle. However, it also contributes too much to the anisotropy of the CIB, which is in contradiction with the anisotropy measurements by the CIBER and Hubble Space Telescope.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Supernova Cosmology and the Fine Structure Constant

We study the dependence of the peak luminosity of Type Ia supernovae on the fine structure constant $\alpha$. We find that decreasing (increasing) $\alpha$ enhances (reduces) the luminosity. Future experiments like SNAP could determine the variation of $\alpha$ to a precision of $10^{-2}$.Comment: 6 page

Quintessence Cosmology and Varying α\alpha

If the reported measurements of the time variation of the fine structure constant from observations of distant QSOs are correct, combined with the Oklo limit they would strongly constrain the class of the quintessence potential. If these results prove valid, future satellite experiment (STEP) should measure the induced violation of the weak equivalence principle. Future cosmological observations of nearby (z \siml 0.5) absorption systems would make it clear whether the variation is significant or not.Comment: 7 page