Measure Problem for Eternal and Non-Eternal Inflation

We study various probability measures for eternal inflation by applying their regularization prescriptions to models where inflation is not eternal. For simplicity we work with a toy model describing inflation that can interpolate between eternal and non-eternal inflation by continuous variation of a parameter. We investigate whether the predictions of four different measures (proper time, scale factor cutoff, stationary and causal {diamond}) change continuously with the change of this parameter. We will show that {only} for the stationary measure the predictions change continuously. For the proper-time and the scale factor cutoff, the predictions are strongly discontinuous. For the causal diamond measure, the predictions are continuous only if the stage of the slow-roll inflation is sufficiently long.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Towards the Theory of Cosmological Phase Transitions

We discuss recent progress (and controversies) in the theory of finite temperature phase transitions. This includes the structure of the effective potential at a finite temperature, the infrared problem in quantum statistics of gauge fields, the theory of formation of critical and subcritical bubbles and the theory of bubble wall propagation.Comment: 50 p

Inflation with Ω≠1\Omega \not = 1

We discuss various models of inflationary universe with $\Omega \not = 1$. A homogeneous universe with $\Omega > 1$ may appear due to creation of the universe "from nothing" in the theories where the effective potential becomes very steep at large $\phi$, or in the theories where the inflaton field $\phi$ nonminimally couples to gravity. Inflation with $\Omega < 1$ generally requires intermediate first order phase transition with the bubble formation, and with a second stage of inflation inside the bubble. It is possible to realize this scenario in the context of a theory of one scalar field, but typically it requires artificially bent effective potentials and/or nonminimal kinetic terms. It is much easier to obtain an open universe in the models involving two scalar fields. However, these models have their own specific problems. We propose three different models of this type which can describe an open homogeneous inflationary universe.Comment: 29 pages, LaTeX, parameters of one of the models are slightly modifie

Thermal background can solve the cosmological moduli problem

It is shown that the coherent field oscillation of moduli fields with weak or TeV scale masses can dissipate its energy efficiently if they have a derivative coupling to standard bosonic fields in a thermal state. This mechanism may provide a new solution to the cosmological moduli problem in some special situations.Comment: 4 pages. revised versio

Gravitational waves from deflagration bubbles in first-order phase transitions

The walls of bubbles in a first-order phase transition can propagate either as detonations, with a velocity larger than the speed of sound, or deflagrations, which are subsonic. We calculate the gravitational radiation that is produced by turbulence during a phase transition which develops via deflagration bubbles. We take into account the fact that a deflagration wall is preceded by a shock front which distributes the latent heat throughout space and influences other bubbles. We show that turbulence can induce peak values of $\Omega_{GW}$ as high as $\sim 10^{-9}$. We discuss the possibility of detecting at LISA gravitational waves produced in the electroweak phase transition with wall velocities $v_w\lesssim 10^{-1}$, which favor electroweak baryogenesis.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure; calculations of section IV repeated using recent results for the GW spectrum from turbulence, comments added in all sections, references added, conclusions unchange

Role and Specificity of LGI4-ADAM22 Interactions in Peripheral Nerve Myelination

In the peripheral nervous system, large caliber axons are ensheathed and myelinated by Schwann cells. Myelin is crucial for a faster signal transduction along the nerve. Hence it is not surprising that defects in this myelination process cause serious neurological disease. Despite the medical importance of these cells, our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that control Schwann cell development and myelination is still incomplete. Continuous communication between Schwann cells and neurons is essential for the development, differentiation and myelination of peripheral nerves. Previous studies showed that LGI4 is a secreted protein that is crucial for myelination and might be a key player in this communication process. The main aim of this thesis is to elucidate the mechanism of LGI4 function in peripheral nerve myelination and to identify its interaction partners. Chapter 1 of this thesis presents an overview of the different types of cells in the peripheral nervous system with an emphasis on Schwann cell development and myelination

Islands in the landscape

The string theory landscape consists of many metastable de Sitter vacua, populated by eternal inflation. Tunneling between these vacua gives rise to a dynamical system, which asymptotically settles down to an equilibrium state. We investigate the effects of sinks to anti-de Sitter space, and show how their existence can change probabilities in the landscape. Sinks can disturb the thermal occupation numbers that would otherwise exist in the landscape and may cause regions that were previously in thermal contact to be divided into separate, thermally isolated islands.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figure

Relaxing the Cosmological Moduli Problem

Typically the moduli fields acquire mass m =C H in the early universe, which shifts the position of the minimum of their effective potential and leads to an excessively large energy density of the oscillating moduli fields at the later stages of the evolution of the universe. This constitutes the cosmological moduli problem, or Polonyi field problem. We show that the cosmological moduli problem can be solved or at least significantly relaxed in the theories in which C >> 1, as well as in some models with C << 1.Comment: 9 pages, 3 Postscript figure

Open inflation in the landscape

Open inflation scenario is attracting a renewed interest in the context of string landscape. Since there are a large number of metastable de Sitter vacua in string landscape, tunneling transitions to lower metastable vacua through the bubble nucleation occur quite naturally. Although the deviation of Omega_0 from unity is small by the observational bound, we argue that the effect of this small deviation on the large angle CMB anisotropies can be significant for tensor-type perturbation in open inflation scenario. We consider the situation in which there is a large hierarchy between the energy scale of the quantum tunneling and that of the slow-roll inflation in the nucleated bubble. If the potential just after tunneling is steep enough, a rapid-roll phase appears before the slow-roll inflation. In this case the power spectrum is basically determined by the Hubble rate during the slow-roll inflation. If such rapid-roll phase is absent, the power spectrum keeps the memory of the high energy density there in the large angular components. The amplitude of large angular components can be enhanced due to the effects of the wall fluctuation mode if the bubble wall tension is small. Therefore, one can construct some models in which the deviation of Omega_0 from unity is large enough to produce measurable effects. We also consider a more general class of models, where the false vacuum decay may occur due to Hawking-Moss tunneling, as well as the models involving more than one scalar field. We discuss scalar perturbations in these models and point out that a large set of such models is already ruled out by observational data, unless there was a very long stage of slow-roll inflation after the tunneling. These results show that observational data allow us to test various assumptions concerning the structure of the string theory potentials and the duration of the last stage of inflation.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, v2:minor corrections and a reference added, v3:accepted for publication in PR

Towards a gauge invariant volume-weighted probability measure for eternal inflation

An improved volume-weighted probability measure for eternal inflation is proposed. For the models studied in this paper it leads to simple and intuitively expected gauge-invariant results.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figs, few misprints corrected, comments adde