Bubbles in the Self-Accelerating Universe

We revisit the issue of the stability in the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati model, by considering the nucleation of bubbles of the conventional branch within the self-accelerating branch. We construct an instanton describing this process in the thin wall approximation. On one side of the bubble wall, the bulk consists of the exterior of the brane while on the other side it is the interior. The solution requires the presence of a 2-brane (the bubble wall) which induces the transition. However, we show that this instanton cannot be realized as the thin wall limit of any smooth solution. Once the bubble thickness is resolved, the equations of motion do not allow O(4) symmetric solutions joining the two branches. We conclude that the thin wall instanton is unphysical, and that one cannot have processes connecting the two branches, unless negative tension bubble walls are introduced. This also suggests that the self-accelerating branch does not decay into the conventional branch nucleating bubbles. We comment on other kinds of bubbles that could interpolate between the two branches.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

On the full trispectrum in single field DBI-inflation

We compute the tree-level connected four-point function of the primordial curvature perturbation for a fairly general minimally coupled single field inflationary model, where the inflaton's Lagrangian is a general function of the scalar field and its first derivatives. This model includes K-inflation and DBI-inflation as particular cases. We show that, at the leading order in the slow-roll expansion and in the small sound speed limit, there are two important tree-level diagrams for the trispectrum. One is a diagram where a scalar mode is exchanged and the other is a diagram where the interaction occurs at a point, i.e. a contact interaction diagram. The scalar exchange contribution is comparable to the contact interaction contribution. For the DBI-inflation model, in the so-called equilateral configuration, the scalar exchange trispectrum is maximized when the angles between the four momentum vectors are equal and in this case the amplitude of the trispectrum from the scalar exchange is one order of magnitude higher than the contact interaction trispectrum.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure

Lorentz boost and non-Gaussianity in multi-field DBI-inflation

We show that higher-order actions for cosmological perturbations in the multi-field DBI-inflation model are obtained by a Lorentz boost from the rest frame of the brane to the frame where the brane is moving. We confirm that this simple method provides the same third- and fourth- order actions at leading order in slow-roll and in the small sound speed limit as those obtained by the usual ADM formalism. As an application, we compute the leading order connected four-point function of the primordial curvature perturbation coming from the intrinsic fourth-order contact interaction in the multi-field DBI-inflation model. At the third order, the interaction Hamiltonian arises purely by the boost from the second-order action in the rest frame of the brane. The boost acts on the adiabatic and entropy modes in the same way thus there exists a symmetry between the adiabatic and entropy modes. But at fourth order this symmetry is broken due to the intrinsic fourth-order action in the rest frame and the difference between the Lagrangian and the interaction Hamiltonian. Therefore, contrary to the three-point function, the momentum dependence of the purely adiabatic component and the components including the entropic contributions are different in the four-point function. This suggests that the trispectrum can distinguish the multi-field DBI-inflation model from the single field DBI-inflation model.Comment: 11 pages, no figures, v2:references added. Accepted for publication in PR

On the Rebrightenings of Classical Novae during the Early Phase

We report on the spectral evolution of 6 classical novae, V1186 Sco, V2540 Oph, V4745 Sgr, V5113 Sgr, V458 Vul, and V378 Ser, based on the low-resolution spectra obtained at the Fujii-Bisei Observatory and the Bisei Astronomical Observatory, Japan. In the light curves, these 6 novae show several rebrightenings during the early phase lasting ~10 days after the first maximum in fast novae, and ~100 days in slow novae. The early spectra of all of these novae had emission lines with a P-Cygni profile at the maximum brightness. The absorption component of the P-Cygni profiles then disappeared after the maximum, and reappeared when the novae brightened to the next maximum. We suggest that the re-appearance of the absorption component at the rebrightening is attributable to re-expansion of the photosphere after it once shifts sufficiently inside. From the light curves, we found that the time intervals of the rebrightenings of these 6 novae show a similar systematic trend, which is applicable to all types of novae: fast and slow, and Fe II type and hybrid type. Moreover, we note the difference between the spectra at the rebrightenings during the early phase and at the rebrightening in V2362 Cyg, and at the oscillation during the transition phase in V1494 Aql, which means difference of the physical mechanism of the rebrightening during the early phase and the later oscillations.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in PAS