Towards Resolution of Hierarchy Problems in a Cosmological Context

A cosmological scenario is proposed, which simultaneously solves the mass hierarchy and the small dark energy problem. In the present scenario an effective gravity mass scale (inverse of the Newton's constant) increases during the inflationary period. The small cosmological constant or the dark energy density in the present universe is dynamically realized by introducing two, approximately O(2) symmetric dilatons, taking the fundamental mass scale at TeV.Comment: 12 pages, no figur

Quantum anti-Zeno effect without wave function reduction

We study the measurement-induced enhancement of the spontaneous decay (called quantum anti-Zeno effect) for a two-level subsystem, where measurements are treated as couplings between the excited state and an auxiliary state rather than the von Neumann's wave function reduction. The photon radiated in a fast decay of the atom, from the auxiliary state to the excited state, triggers a quasi-measurement, as opposed to a projection measurement. Our use of the term "quasi-measurement" refers to a "coupling-based measurement". Such frequent quasi-measurements result in an exponential decay of the survival probability of atomic initial state with a photon emission following each quasi-measurement. Our calculations show that the effective decay rate is of the same form as the one based on projection measurements. What is more important, the survival probability of the atomic initial state which is obtained by tracing over all the photon states is equivalent to the survival probability of the atomic initial state with a photon emission following each quasi-measurement to the order under consideration. That is because the contributions from those states with photon number less than the number of quasi-measurements originate from higher-order processes.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure

The Mass, Normalization and Late Time behavior of the Tachyon Field

We study the dynamics of the tachyon field $T$. We derive the mass of the tachyon as the pole of the propagator which does not coincide with the standard mass given in the literature in terms of the second derivative of $V(T)$ or $Log[V(T)]$. We determine the transformation of the tachyon in order to have a canonical scalar field $\phi$. This transformation reduces to the one obtained for small $\dot T$ but it is also valid for large values of $\dot T$. This is specially interesting for the study of dark energy where $\dot T\simeq 1$. We also show that the normalized tachyon field $\phi$ is constrained to the interval $T_2\leq T \leq T_1$ where $T_1,T_2$ are zeros of the original potential $V(T)$. This results shows that the field $\phi$ does not know of the unboundedness of $V(T)$, as suggested for bosonic open string tachyons. Finally we study the late time behavior of tachyon field using the L'H\^{o}pital rule.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Nonthermal Supermassive Dark Matter

We discuss several cosmological production mechanisms for nonthermal supermassive dark matter and argue that dark matter may be elementary particles of mass much greater than the weak scale. Searches for dark matter should not be limited to weakly interacting particles with mass of the order of the weak scale, but should extend into the supermassive range as well.Comment: 11 page LaTeX file. No major changes. Version accepted by PR

Cosmic microwave background: polarization and temperature anisotropies from symmetric structures

I consider the case of anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) from one single ordered perturbation source, or seed, existing well before decoupling between matter and radiation. Such structures could have been left by high energy symmetries breaking in the early universe. I focus on the cases of spherical and cylindrical symmetry of the seed. I give general analytic expressions for the polarization and temperature linear perturbations, factoring out of the Fourier integral the dependence on the photon propagation direction and on the geometric coordinates describing the seed. I show how the CMB perturbations manifestly reflect the symmetries of their seeds. CMB anisotropies are obtained with a line of sight integration. This treatment highlights the undulatory properties of the CMB. I show with numerical examples how the polarization and temperature perturbations propagate beyond the size of their seeds, reaching the CMB sound horizon at the time considered. Just like the waves from a pebble thrown in a pond, CMB anisotropy from a seed intersecting the last scattering surface appears as a series of temperature and polarization waves surrounding the seed, extending on the scale of the CMB sound horizon at decoupling, roughly $1^{o}$ in the sky. Each wave is characterized by its own value of the CMB perturbation, with the same mean amplitude of the signal coming from the seed interior. These waves could allow to distinguish relics from high energy processes of the early universe from point-like astrophysical sources, because of their angular extension and amplitude. Also, the marked analogy between polarization and temperature signals offers cross correlation possibilities for the future Planck Surveyor observations.Comment: 21 pages, seven postscript figures, final version accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.

Particle Physics Models of Inflation and the Cosmological Density Perturbation

This is a review of particle-theory models of inflation, and of their predictions for the primordial density perturbation that is thought to be the origin of structure in the Universe. It contains mini-reviews of the relevant observational cosmology, of elementary field theory and of supersymmetry, that may be of interest in their own right. The spectral index $n(k)$, specifying the scale-dependence of the spectrum of the curvature perturbation, will be a powerful discriminator between models, when it is measured by Planck with accuracy $\Delta n\sim 0.01$. The usual formula for $n$ is derived, as well as its less familiar extension to the case of a multi-component inflaton; in both cases the key ingredient is the separate evolution of causally disconnected regions of the Universe. Primordial gravitational waves will be an even more powerful discriminator if they are observed, since most models of inflation predict that they are completely negligible. We treat in detail the new wave of models, which are firmly rooted in modern particle theory and have supersymmetry as a crucial ingredient. The review is addressed to both astrophysicists and particle physicists, and each section is fairly homogeneous regarding the assumed background knowledge.Comment: 156 pages, after final proof corrections and addition

Inflationary models inducing non-Gaussian metric fluctuations

We construct explicit models of multi-field inflation in which the primordial metric fluctuations do not necessarily obey Gaussian statistics. These models are realizations of mechanisms in which non-Gaussianity is first generated by a light scalar field and then transferred into curvature fluctuations. The probability distribution functions of the metric perturbation at the end of inflation are computed. This provides a guideline for designing strategies to search for non-Gaussian signals in future CMB and large scale structure surveys.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figure

Tachyonic open inflationary universes

We study one-field open inflationary models in a universe dominated by tachyon matter. In these scenarios, we determine and characterize the existence of the Coleman-De Lucia (CDL) instanton. Also, we study the Lorentzian regime, that is, the period of inflation after tunnelling has occurred.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by Physics Letters

Moduli Inflation from Dynamical Supersymmetry Breaking

Moduli fields, which parameterize perturbative flat directions of the potential in supersymmetric theories, are natural candidates to act as inflatons. An inflationary potential on moduli space can result if the scale of dynamical SUSY breaking in some sector of the theory is determined by a moduli dependent coupling. The magnitude of density fluctuations generated during inflation then depends on the scale of SUSY breaking in this sector. This can naturally be hierarchically smaller than the Planck scale in a dynamical model, giving small fluctuations without any fine tuning of parameters. It is also natural for SUSY to be restored at the minimum of the moduli potential, and to leave the universe with zero cosmological constant after inflation. Acceptable reheating can also be achieved in this scenario.Comment: 14 pages, latex, improved discussion of reheating for composite inflaton

Cosmological perturbations from multi-field inflation in generalized Einstein theories

We study cosmological perturbations generated from quantum fluctuations in multi-field inflationary scenarios in generalized Einstein theories, taking both adiabatic and isocurvature modes into account. In the slow-roll approximation, explicit closed-form long-wave solutions for field and metric perturbations are obtained by the analysis in the Einstein frame. Since the evolution of fluctuations depends on specific gravity theories, we make detailed investigations based on analytic and numerical approaches in four generalized Einstein theories: the Jordan-Brans-Dicke (JBD) theory, the Einstein gravity with a non-minimally coupled scalar field, the higher-dimensional Kaluza-Klein theory, and the $R+R^2$ theory with a non-minimally coupled scalar field. We find that solutions obtained in the slow-roll approximation show good agreement with full numerical results except around the end of inflation. Due to the presence of isocurvature perturbations, the gravitational potential $\Phi$ and the curvature perturbations ${\cal R}$ and $\zeta$ do not remain constant on super-horizon scales. In particular, we find that negative non-minimal coupling can lead to strong enhancement of ${\cal R}$ in both the Einstein and higher derivative gravity, in which case it is difficult to unambiguously decompose scalar perturbations into adiabatic and isocurvature modes during the whole stage of inflation.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in Nuclear Physics B, some typos are correcte