Screening of cosmological constant in non-local cosmology

We consider a model of non-local gravity with a large bare cosmological constant, $\Lambda$, and study its cosmological solutions. The model is characterized by a function $f(\psi)=f_0 e^{\alpha\psi}$ where $\psi=\Box^{-1}R$ and $\alpha$ is a real dimensionless parameter. In the absence of matter, we find an expanding universe solution $a\propto t^n$ with $n<1$, that is, a universe with decelarated expansion without any fine-tuning of the parameter. Thus the effect of the cosmological constant is effectively shielded in this solution. It has been known that solutions in non-local gravity often suffer from the existence of ghost modes. In the present case we find the solution is ghost-free if $\alpha>\alpha_{cr}\approx0.17$. This is quite a weak condition. We argue that the solution is stable against the includion of matter fields. Thus our solution opens up new possibilities for solution to the cosmological constant problem.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure, LaTeX, V2:Some clarifications and references adde

Dynamical Compactification and Inflation in Einstein-Yang-Mills Theory with Higher Derivative Coupling

We study cosmology of the Einstein-Yang-Mills theory in ten dimensions with a quartic term in the Yang-Mills field strength. We obtain analytically a class of cosmological solutions in which the extra dimensions are static and the scale factor of the four-dimensional Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker metric is an exponential function of time. This means that the model can explain inflation. Then we look for solutions that describe dynamical compactification of the extra dimensions. The effective cosmological constant $\lambda_1$ in the four-dimensional universe is determined from the gravitational coupling, ten-dimensional cosmological constant, gauge coupling and higher derivative coupling. By numerical integration, the solution with $\lambda_1=0$ is found to behave as a matter-dominated universe which asymptotically approaches flat space-time, while the solution with a non-vanishing $\lambda_1$ approaches de Sitter space-time in the asymptotic future.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figure

Tensor ghosts in the inflationary cosmology

Theories with curvature squared terms in the action are known to contain ghost modes in general. However, if we regard curvature squared terms as quantum corrections to the original theory, the emergence of ghosts may be simply due to the perturbative truncation of a full non-perturbative theory. If this is the case, there should be a way to live with ghosts. In this paper, we take the Euclidean path integral approach, in which ghost degrees of freedom can be, and are integrated out in the Euclideanized spacetime. We apply this procedure to Einstein gravity with a Weyl curvature squared correction in the inflationary background. We find that the amplitude of tensor perturbations is modified by a term of O(alpha^2 H^2) where alpha^2 is a coupling constant in front of the Weyl squared term and H is the Hubble parameter during inflation.Comment: 16 pages, no figure

Calculating the mass fraction of primordial black holes

We reinspect the calculation for the mass fraction of primordial black holes (PBHs) which are formed from primordial perturbations, finding that performing the calculation using the comoving curvature perturbation c in the standard way vastly overestimates the number of PBHs, by many orders of magnitude. This is because PBHs form shortly after horizon entry, meaning modes significantly larger than the PBH are unobservable and should not affect whether a PBH forms or not - this important effect is not taken into account by smoothing the distribution in the standard fashion. We discuss alternative methods and argue that the density contrast, Δ, should be used instead as super-horizon modes are damped by a factor k2. We make a comparison between using a Press-Schechter approach and peaks theory, finding that the two are in close agreement in the region of interest. We also investigate the effect of varying the spectral index, and the running of the spectral index, on the abundance of primordial black holes

Spatial averaging and apparent acceleration in inhomogeneous spaces

As an alternative to dark energy that explains the observed acceleration of the universe, it has been suggested that we may be at the center of an inhomogeneous isotropic universe described by a Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi (LTB) solution of Einstein's field equations. To test this possibility, it is necessary to solve the null geodesics. In this paper we first give a detailed derivation of a fully analytical set of differential equations for the radial null geodesics as functions of the redshift in LTB models. As an application we use these equaions to show that a positive averaged acceleration $a_D$ obtained in LTB models through spatial averaging can be incompatible with cosmological observations. We provide examples of LTB models with positive $a_D$ which fail to reproduce the observed luminosity distance $D_L(z)$. Since the apparent cosmic acceleration $a^{FLRW}$ is obtained from fitting the observed luminosity distance to a FLRW model we conclude that in general a positive $a_D$ in LTB models does not imply a positive $a^{FLRW}$.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures. Explicit derivation of the fully analytical null geodesic equations has been added. Published in GR

Discovery of Bright Variable X-ray Sources in NGC 1569 with Chandra

From the analysis of a ~100 ks Chandra observation of the dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1569, we have found that the X-ray point sources, CXOU 043048.1+645050 and CXOU 043048.6+645058, showed significant time variability. During this observation, the X-ray flux of CXOU 043048.1+645050 increased by 10 times in only 2 x 10^4 s. Since the spectrum in its bright phase was fitted with a disk blackbody model with kT_in ~0.43 keV and the bolometric luminosity is L_bol ~10^38 ergs s^-1, this source is an X-ray binary with a stellar mass black-hole. Since the spectrum in its faint phase was also fitted with a disk blackbody model, the time variability can be explained by a change of the accretion rate onto the black hole. The other variable source, CXOU 043048.6+645058, had a flat spectrum with a photon index of ~1.6. This source may be an X-ray binary with an X-ray luminosity of several x 10^37 ergs s^-1. In addition, three other weak sources showed possible time variability. Taking all of the variability into account may suggest an abundant population of compact X-ray sources in NGC 1569.Comment: 15 pages including 4 Postscript figures; accepted for publication in ApJ

Self-force Regularization in the Schwarzschild Spacetime

We discuss the gravitational self-force on a particle in a black hole space-time. For a point particle, the full (bare) self-force diverges. The metric perturbation induced by a particle can be divided into two parts, the direct part (or the S part) and the tail part (or the R part), in the harmonic gauge, and the regularized self-force is derived from the R part which is regular and satisfies the source-free perturbed Einstein equations. But this formulation is abstract, so when we apply to black hole-particle systems, there are many problems to be overcome in order to derive a concrete self-force. These problems are roughly divided into two parts. They are the problem of regularizing the divergent self-force, i.e., ``subtraction problem'' and the problem of the singularity in gauge transformation, i.e., ``gauge problem''. In this paper, we discuss these problems in the Schwarzschild background and report some recent progress.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figures, submitted to CQG, special volume for Radiation Reaction (CAPRA7

A New delta N Formalism for Multi-Component Inflation

The delta N formula that relates the final curvature perturbation on comoving slices to the inflaton perturbation on flat slices after horizon crossing is a powerful and intuitive tool to compute the curvature perturbation spectrum from inflation. However, it is customarily assumed further that the conventional slow-roll condition is satisfied, and satisfied by all components, during horizon crossing. In this paper, we develop a new delta N formalism for multi-component inflation that can be applied in the most general situations. This allows us to generalize the idea of general slow-roll inflation to the multi-component case, in particular only applying the general slow-roll condition to the relevant component. We compute the power spectrum of the curvature perturbation in multi-component general slow-roll inflation, and find that under quite general conditions it is invertible.Comment: 24 pages, no figur

Classical and quantum radiation from a moving charge in an expanding universe

We investigate photon emission from a moving particle in an expanding universe. This process is analogous to the radiation from an accelerated charge in the classical electromagnetic theory. Using the framework of quantum field theory in curved spacetime, we demonstrate that the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) approximation leads to the Larmor formula for the rate of the radiation energy from a moving charge in an expanding universe. Using exactly solvable models in a radiation-dominated universe and in a Milne universe, we examine the validity of the WKB formula. It is shown that the quantum effect suppresses the radiation energy in comparison with the WKB formula.Comment: 16 pages, JCAP in pres

Vacuum destabilization from Kaluza-Klein modes in an inflating brane

We discuss the effects from the Kaluza-Klein modes in the brane world scenario when an interaction between bulk and brane fields is included. We focus on the bulk inflaton model, where a bulk field $\Psi$ drives inflation in an almost $AdS_5$ bulk bounded by an inflating brane. We couple $\Psi$ to a brane scalar field $\phi$ representing matter on the brane. The bulk field $\Psi$ is assumed to have a light mode, whose mass depends on the expectation value of $\phi$. To estimate the effects from the KK modes, we compute the 1-loop effective potential V_\eff(\phi). With no tuning of the parameters of the model, the vacuum becomes (meta)stable -- V_\eff(\phi) develops a true vacuum at a nonzero $\phi$. In the true vacuum, the light mode of $\Psi$ becomes heavy, degenerates with the KK modes and decays. We comment on some implications for the bulk inflaton model. Also, we clarify some aspects of the renormalization procedure in the thin wall approximation, and show that the fluctuations in the bulk and on the brane are closely related.Comment: 15 pages, 2 eps figures. Notation improved, references adde