Dark energy in motion

Recent large-scale peculiar velocity surveys suggest that large matter volumes could be moving with appreciable velocity with respect to the CMB rest frame. If confirmed, such results could conflict with the Cosmological Principle according to which the matter and CMB rest frames should converge on very large scales. In this work we explore the possibility that such large scale bulk flows are due, not to the motion of matter with respect to the CMB, but to the flow of dark energy with respect to matter. Indeed, when dark energy is moving, the usual definition of the CMB rest frame as that in which the CMB dipole vanishes is not appropriate. We find instead that the dipole vanishes for observers at rest with respect to the cosmic center of mass, i.e. in motion with respect to the background radiation.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure. Essay selected for "Honorable Mention" in the 2006 Awards for Essays on Gravitation (Gravity Research Foundation

Equivalence between Kaluza Klein modes of gravitinos and goldstinos in brane induced supersymmetry breaking

We identify the goldstino fields that give mass to the Kaluza Klein modes of five dimensional supergravity, when supersymmetry breaking is induced by brane effects. We then proof the four dimensional Equivalence Theorem that, in renormalizable gauges, allows for the replacement of Kaluza Klein modes of helicity $\pm1/2$ gravitinos in terms of goldstinos. Finally we identify the five dimensional renormalizable gauge fixing that leads to the Equivalence Theorem.Comment: Final version published in JHEP. Typo corrected in eq. 2.

Branon radiative corrections to collider physics and precision observables

In the context of brane-world scenarios, we study the effects produced by the exchange of virtual massive branons. A one-loop calculation is performed which generates higher-dimensional operators involving SM fields suppressed by powers of the brane tension scale. We discuss constraints on this scenario from colliders such as HERA, LEP and Tevatron and prospects for future detections at LHC or ILC. The most interesting phenomenology comes from new four-particles vertices induced by branon radiative corrections, mainly from four fermion interactions. The presence of flexible branes modifies also the muon anomalous magnetic moment and the electroweak precision observables.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, LaTe

Resonant production of fermions in an axial background

We consider the resonant production of fermions from an oscillating axial background. The classical evolution of the axial field is given by that of a massive pseudovector field, as suggested by the renormalizability of the theory. We look upon both the massive and the massless fermion production from a perturbative point of view. We obtain the corresponding spectrum and angular distributions for the different spins or helicities in the particular case of a spatial-like axial field. We also extend our study to the non-perturbative regime in the massless case and compare the results with the perturbative ones.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, 12 figures; new comments and references added, version to appear in Phys. Rev.

The equivalence theorem and the production of gravitinos after inflation

We study the high-energy equivalence between helicity 1/2 gravitinos and goldstinos in order to calculate the production of gravitinos in time-dependent scalar and gravitational backgrounds. We derive this equivalence for equations of motion, paying attention to some subtleties, mainly due to external sources, that are not present in the standard proofs. We also propose the Landau gauge as a simplifying alternative to the usual gauge choices, both for practical calculations and in the equivalence theorem proof.Comment: 13 pp. 2 figures. Final and shorter version to appear in Phys. Rev. D. References and minor errata correcte

Production of spin 3/2 particles from vacuum fluctuations

We study the production of spin 3/2 particles in homogeneous scalar and gravitational backgrounds from the mode-mixing Bogolyubov method. Considering only helicity $\pm 3/2$ states we can reduce the problem to a standard Dirac fermion calculation and apply the standard techniques in a straightforward way. As an example we consider a supergravity inflationary model and calculate the spectrum of gravitinos created during preheating at the end of inflation.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 1 figure. New comments and references added. Final version to appear in Phys.Rev.Let

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Sin resume

Is nonperturbative inflatino production during preheating a real threat to cosmology?

We discuss toy models where supersymmetry is broken due to non-vanishing time-varying vacuum expectation value of the inflaton field during preheating. We discuss the production of inflatino the superpartner of inflaton due to vacuum fluctuations and then we argue that they do not survive until nucleosynthesis and decay along with the inflaton to produce a thermal bath after preheating. Thus the only relevant remnant is the helicity \pm 3/2 gravitinos which can genuinely cause problem to nucleosynthesis.Comment: 10 pages, Updates to match the accepted version in Phys. Rev.

Cosmic magnetic fields and dark energy in extended electromagnetism

We discuss an extended version of electromagnetism in which the usual gauge fixing term is promoted into a physical contribution that introduces a new scalar state in the theory. This new state can be generated from vacuum quantum fluctuations during an inflationary era and, on super-Hubble scales, gives rise to an effective cosmological constant. The value of such a cosmological constant coincides with the one inferred from observations as long as inflation took place at the electroweak scale. On the other hand, the new state also generates an effective electric charge density on sub-Hubble scales that produces both vorticity and magnetic fields with coherent lengths as large as the present Hubble horizon.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the proceedings of Spanish Relativity Meeting 2010, Granada, Spain, 6-10 September 201