Suppressing the impact of a high tensor-to-scalar ratio on the temperature anisotropies

The BICEP2 collaboration has reported a strong B mode signal in the CMB polarization, which is well fit by a tensor-to-scalar ratio of r ~ 0.2. This is greater than the upper limit r < 0.11 obtained from the temperature anisotropies under the assumption of a constant scalar spectral index n_s. This discrepancy can be reduced once the statistical error and the contamination from polarized dust are accounted for. If however a large value for r will be confirmed, it will need to be reconciled with the temperature anisotropies data. The most advocated explanation involves a variation of n_s with scales (denoted as running) that has a magnitude significantly greater than the generic slow roll predictions. We instead study the possibility that the large scale temperature anisotropies are not enhanced because of a suppression of the scalar power at large scales. Such a situation can be achieved for instance by a sudden change of the speed of the inflaton (by about 14 %), and we show that it fits the temperature anisotropies and polarization data considerably better than a constant running (its chi^2 improves by ~ 7.5 over that of the constant running, at the cost of one more parameter). We also consider the possibility that the large scale temperature fluctuations are suppressed by an anti-correlation between tensor and scalar modes. Unfortunately, while such effect does affect the temperature fluctuations at large scales, it does not affect the temperature power spectrum and cannot, therefore, help in reconciling a large value of r with the limits from temperature fluctuations.Comment: Published version. 14 pages, 5 figure

CMB Anomalies from Relic Anisotropy

Most of the analysis of the Cosmic Microwave Background relies on the assumption of statistical isotropy. However, given some recent evidence pointing against isotropy, as for instance the observed alignment of different multipoles on large scales, it is worth testing this assumption against the increasing amount of available data. As a pivot model, we assume that the spectrum of the primordial perturbations depends also on their directionality (rather than just on the magnitude of their momentum, as in the standard case). We explicitly compute the correlation matrix for the temperature anisotropies in the simpler case in which there is a residual isotropy between two spatial directions. As a concrete example, we consider a different initial expansion rate along one direction, and the following isotropization which takes place during inflation. Depending on the amount of inflation, this can lead to broken statistical isotropy on the largest observable scales.Comment: 6 pages, 2 .ps figure

Measurement of Parity Violation in the Early Universe using Gravitational-wave Detectors

A stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB) is expected to arise from the superposition of many independent and unresolved gravitational-wave signals, of either cosmological or astrophysical origin. Some cosmological models (characterized, for instance, by a pseudo-scalar inflaton, or by some modification of gravity) break parity, leading to a polarized SGWB. We present a new technique to measure this parity violation, which we then apply to the recent results from LIGO to produce the first upper limit on parity violation in the SGWB, assuming a generic power-law SGWB spectrum across the LIGO sensitive frequency region. We also estimate sensitivity to parity violation of the future generations of gravitational-wave detectors, both for a power-law spectrum and for a model of axion inflation. This technique offers a new way of differentiating between the cosmological and astrophysical sources of the isotropic SGWB, as astrophysical sources are not expected to produce a polarized SGWB.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Quantum Corrections to the Cosmological Evolution of Conformally Coupled Fields

Because the source term for the equations of motion of a conformally coupled scalar field, such as the dilaton, is given by the trace of the matter energy momentum tensor, it is commonly assumed to vanish during the radiation dominated epoch in the early universe. As a consequence, such fields are generally frozen in the early universe. Here we compute the finite temperature radiative correction to the source term and discuss its consequences on the evolution of such fields in the early universe. We discuss in particular, the case of scalar tensor theories of gravity which have general relativity as an attractor solution. We show that, in some cases, the universe can experience an early phase of contraction, followed by a non-singular bounce, and standard expansion. This can have interesting consequences for the abundance of thermal relics; for instance, it can provide a solution to the gravitino problem. We conclude by discussing the possible consequences of the quantum corrections to the evolution of the dilaton.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figure

Equation of state and Beginning of Thermalization After Preheating

We study the out-of-equilibrium nonlinear dynamics of fields after post-inflationary preheating. During preheating, the energy in the homogeneous inflaton is exponentially rapidly transfered into highly occupied out-of-equilibrium inhomogeneous modes, which subsequently evolve towards equilibrium. The infrared modes excited during preheating evolve towards a saturated distribution long before thermalization completes. We compute the equation of state during and immediately after preheating. It rapidly evolves towards radiation domination long before the actual thermal equilibrium is established. The exact time of this transition is a non-monotonic function of the coupling between the inflaton and the decay products, and it varies only very weakly (around 10^(-35) s) as this coupling changes over several orders of magnitude. This result is applied to refine the relation between the number of efoldings N and the physical wavelength of perturbations generated during inflation. We also discuss the implications for the theory of modulated perturbations from preheating. We finally argue that many questions of the thermal history of the universe should be addressed in terms of pre-thermalization, illustrating this point with a calculation of perturbative production of gravitinos immediately after chaotic inflation. We also highlight the effects of three-legs inflaton interactions on the dynamics of preheating and thermalization in an expanding universe.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure

Persistent Challenges of Quantum Chromodynamics

Unlike some models whose relevance to Nature is still a big question mark, Quantum Chromodynamics will stay with us forever. Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), born in 1973, is a very rich theory supposed to describe the widest range of strong interaction phenomena: from nuclear physics to Regge behavior at large E, from color confinement to quark-gluon matter at high densities/temperatures (neutron stars); the vast horizons of the hadronic world: chiral dynamics, glueballs, exotics, light and heavy quarkonia and mixtures thereof, exclusive and inclusive phenomena, interplay between strong forces and weak interactions, etc. Efforts aimed at solving the underlying theory, QCD, continue. In a remarkable entanglement, theoretical constructions of the 1970s and 1990s combine with today's ideas based on holographic description and strong-weak coupling duality, to provide new insights and a deeper understanding.Comment: Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize Lecture at the April Meeting of APS, Dallas, TX, April 22-25, 2006; v.2: reference added; v.3: reference adde

Preheating with Trilinear Interactions: Tachyonic Resonance

We investigate the effects of bosonic trilinear interactions in preheating after chaotic inflation. A trilinear interaction term allows for the complete decay of the massive inflaton particles, which is necessary for the transition to radiation domination. We found that typically the trilinear term is subdominant during early stages of preheating, but it actually amplifies parametric resonance driven by the four-legs interaction. In cases where the trilinear term does dominate during preheating, the process occurs through periodic tachyonic amplifications with resonance effects, which is so effective that preheating completes within a few inflaton oscillations. We develop an analytic theory of this process, which we call tachyonic resonance. We also study numerically the influence of trilinear interactions on the dynamics after preheating. The trilinear term eventually comes to dominate after preheating, leading to faster rescattering and thermalization than could occur without it. Finally, we investigate the role of non-renormalizable interaction terms during preheating. We find that if they are present they generally dominate (while still in a controllable regime) in chaotic inflation models. Preheating due to these terms proceeds through a modified form of tachyonic resonance.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figures, refs added, published versio

Avaliação de linhagens de feijão do grupo comercial carioca no Estado de Sergipe no ano agrícola 2001.

Objetivando selecionar genótipos de feijão do grupo carioca mais produtivos e melhor adaptados às condições edafoclimáticas do Estado, foram estabelecidos três experimentos em 2001, sendo 2 ensaios realizados no Município de Simão Dias (Ensaios Nacionais de Feijão dos Grupos Comerciais Carioca A e B) e um outro ensaio instalado no Município de Umbaúba (Ensaio Nacional de Feijão do Grupo Comercial C)

Avaliação de linhagens de feijão do grupo mulatinho do Estado de Sergipe.

Desenvolveu-se este trabalho visando à seleção de linhagens superiores de feijão do grupo mulatinho para fins de exploração na região. Este tipo de feijão de grãos mais pequenos, segundo Voysest, 1983, é originário da América Central, sendo um dos tipos preferidos dos brasileiros

Instability of the ACW model, and problems with massive vectors during inflation

We prove that the anisotropic inflationary background of the Ackerman-Carroll-Wise model, characterized by a fixed-norm vector field, is unstable. We found the instability by explicitly solving the linearized equations for the most general set of perturbations around this background, and by noticing that the solutions diverge close to horizon crossing. This happens because one perturbation becomes a ghost at that moment. A simplified computation, with only the perturbations of the vector field included, shows the same instability, clarifying the origin of the problem. We then discuss several other models, with a particular emphasis on the case of a nonminimal coupling to the curvature, in which vector fields are used either to support an anisotropic expansion, or to generate cosmological perturbations on an isotropic background. In many cases, the mass term of the vector needs to have the ``wrong'' sign; we show that, as a consequence, the longitudinal vector mode is a ghost (a field with negative kinetic term, and negative energy; not simply a tachyon). We comment on problems that arise at the quantum level. In particular, the presence of a ghost can be a serious difficulty for the UV completion that such models require in the sub-horizon regime.Comment: 22 pages, 4 figure