Higuchi Bound on Slow Roll Inflation and the Swampland

In this paper we study the implications of the generalized Higuchi bound on massive spin-two fields for the derivative of the scalar potential within bimetric theory. In contrast to the recent de Sitter swampland conjecture, an upper bound on the derivate of the scalar potential follows from the generalized Higuchi bound. In combination, this leaves a window for the derivate of the scalar potential. We discuss this bound in several representative bimetric models and parameter regions

Ghost-free completion of an effective matter coupling in bimetric theory

We consider a particular set of ghost-free interactions for three spin-2 fields in which we freeze out the dynamics of the metric tensor that couples to the matter sector. Integrating out the non-dynamical degrees of freedom in vacuum results in a ghost-free bimetric theory. In the presence of the matter source, which we treat as a small perturbation, the equations for the non-dynamical field can be solved perturbatively for its vierbein. This results in ghost-free bimetric theory in vierbein formulation with a modified matter coupling. To lowest order in matter perturbations, we precisely obtain an effective matter coupling that has been suggested earlier in the literature. This coupling contains a linear combination of the two vierbeine whose corresponding metric fluctuation coincides with the massless spin-2 mode. In the past, bimetric theory with this symmetric coupling has been treated as an effective theory valid at low energies without a ghost-free completion. Our results demonstrate that the effective matter coupling can be rendered entirely ghost-free by including the higher-order corrections obtained from the trimetric setup

The Black Hole Entropy Distance Conjecture and Black Hole Evaporation

We extend the recently proposed Black Hole Entropy Distance Conjecture to the case of charged black holes in de Sitter space. By systematically studying distances in the space of black hole geometries with multiple horizons, we find that the distance is generically related to the logarithm of the entropy. From the infinite distance conjecture this predicts the appearance of a massless tower of modes in the limit of infinite entropy. Further, we study the evaporation of these black holes and relate it to the geometric distance. We find that the corresponding distance to the final stage of evaporation is finite. We conclude that evaporation does not lead to the appearance of a light tower of black hole microstates

Combining cosmological and local bounds on bimetric theory

Ghost-free bimetric theory describes two nonlinearly interacting spin-2 fields, one massive and one massless, thus extending general relativity. We confront bimetric theory with observations of Supernovae type 1a, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and the Cosmic Microwave Background in a statistical analysis, utilising the recently proposed physical parametrisation. This directly constrains the physical parameters of the theory, such as the mass of the spin-2 field and its coupling to matter. We find that all models under consideration are in agreement with the data. Next, we compare these results to bounds from local tests of gravity. Our analysis reveals that all two- and three parameter models are observationally consistent with both cosmological and local tests of gravity. The minimal bimetric model (only β1) is ruled out by our combined analysis

Phase transitions in the early universe

These lecture notes are based on a course given by Mark Hindmarsh at the 24th Saalburg Summer School 2018 and written up by Marvin Lüben, Johannes Lumma and Martin Pauly. The aim is to provide the necessary basics to understand first-order phase transitions in the early universe, to outline how they leave imprints in gravitational waves, and advertise how those gravitational waves could be detected in the future. A first-order phase transition at the electroweak scale is a prediction of many theories beyond the Standard Model, and is also motivated as an ingredient of some theories attempting to provide an explanation for the matter-antimatter asymmetry in our Universe. Starting from bosonic and fermionic statistics, we derive Boltzmann's equation and generalise to a fluid of particles with field dependent mass. We introduce the thermal effective potential for the field in its lowest order approximation, discuss the transition to the Higgs phase in the Standard Model and beyond, and compute the probability for the field to cross a potential barrier. After these preliminaries, we provide a hydrodynamical description of first-order phase transitions as it is appropriate for describing the early Universe. We thereby discuss the key quantities characterising a phase transition, and how they are imprinted in the gravitational wave power spectrum that might be detectable by the space-based gravitational wave detector LISA in the 2030s

Physical parameter space of bimetric theory and SN1a constraints

Bimetric theory describes a massless and a massive spin-2 field with fully non-linear (self-)interactions. It has a rich phenomenology and has been successfully tested with several data sets. However, the observational constraints have not been combined in a consistent framework, yet. We propose a parametrization of bimetric solutions in terms of the effective cosmological constant Λ and the mass mFP of the spin-2 field as well as its coupling strength to ordinary matter α¯. This simplifies choosing priors in statistical analysis and allows to directly constrain these parameters with observational data not only from local systems but also from cosmology. By identifying the physical vacuum of bimetric theory these parameters are uniquely determined. We work out the dictionary for the new parametrization for various submodels and present the implied consistency constraints on the physical parameter space. We then apply the dictionary to derive observational constraints from SN1a on the physical parameters. As a result we find that even self-accelerating models with a heavy spin-2 field are in perfect agreement with current supernova data

Vainshtein Screening in Bimetric Cosmology

We demonstrate that the early universe in bimetric theory is screened by the Vainshtein mechanism on an FLRW background. The spin-2 mass serves as the cosmological Vainshtein scale in this case. This allows us to quantitatively address early universe cosmology. In particular, in a global analysis, we study data from the cosmic microwave background radiation and local measurements of the Hubble flow. We show that bimetric cosmology resolves the discrepancy in the local and early-time measurements of the Hubble scale via an effective phantom dark energy component

Physical parameter space of bimetric theory and SN1a constraints

Bimetric theory describes a massless and a massive spin-2 field with fully non-linear (self-)interactions. It has a rich phenomenology and has been successfully tested with several data sets. However, the observational constraints have not been combined in a consistent framework, yet. We propose a parametrization of bimetric solutions in terms of the effective cosmological constant $\Lambda$ and the mass $m_\mathrm{FP}$ of the spin-2 field as well as its coupling strength to ordinary matter $\bar\alpha$. This simplifies choosing priors in statistical analysis and allows to directly constrain these parameters with observational data not only from local systems but also from cosmology. By identifying the physical vacuum of bimetric theory these parameters are uniquely determined. We work out the dictionary for the new parametrization for various submodels and present the implied consistency constraints on the physical parameter space. We then apply the dictionary to derive observational constraints from SN1a on the physical parameters. As a result we find that even self-accelerating models with a heavy spin-2 field are in perfect agreement with current supernova data