Weak-lensing BB-modes as a probe of the isotropy of the universe

We compute the angular power spectrum of the $B$-modes of the weak-lensing shear in a spatially anisotropic spacetime. We find that there must also exist off-diagonal correlations between the $E$-modes, $B$-modes, and convergence that allow one to reconstruct the eigendirections of expansion. Focusing on future surveys such as Euclid and SKA, we show that observations can constrain the geometrical shear in units of the Hubble rate at the percent level, or even better, offering a new and powerful method to probe our cosmological model.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. This version matches the published on

Fundamental constants and tests of general relativity - Theoretical and cosmological considerations

The tests of the constancy of the fundamental constants are tests of the local position invariance and thus of the equivalence principle. We summarize the various constraints that have been obtained and then describe the connection between varying constants and extensions of general relativity. To finish, we discuss the link with cosmology, and more particularly with the acceleration of the Universe. We take the opportunity to summarize various possibilities to test general relativity (but also the Copernican principle) on cosmological scales.Comment: Proceedings of the workshop ``The nature of gravity, confronting theory and experiment in space'', ISSI, Bern, october 200

Post-transcriptional control by bacteriophage T4: mRNA decay and inhibition of translation initiation

Over 50 years of biological research with bacteriophage T4 includes notable discoveries in post-transcriptional control, including the genetic code, mRNA, and tRNA; the very foundations of molecular biology. In this review we compile the past 10 - 15 year literature on RNA-protein interactions with T4 and some of its related phages, with particular focus on advances in mRNA decay and processing, and on translational repression. Binding of T4 proteins RegB, RegA, gp32 and gp43 to their cognate target RNAs has been characterized. For several of these, further study is needed for an atomic-level perspective, where resolved structures of RNA-protein complexes are awaiting investigation. Other features of post-transcriptional control are also summarized. These include: RNA structure at translation initiation regions that either inhibit or promote translation initiation; programmed translational bypassing, where T4 orchestrates ribosome bypass of a 50 nucleotide mRNA sequence; phage exclusion systems that involve T4-mediated activation of a latent endoribonuclease (PrrC) and cofactor-assisted activation of EF-Tu proteolysis (Gol-Lit); and potentially important findings on ADP-ribosylation (by Alt and Mod enzymes) of ribosome-associated proteins that might broadly impact protein synthesis in the infected cell. Many of these problems can continue to be addressed with T4, whereas the growing database of T4-related phage genome sequences provides new resources and potentially new phage-host systems to extend the work into a broader biological, evolutionary context

Stability of six-dimensional hyperstring braneworlds

We study a six-dimensional braneworld model with infinite warped extra dimensions in the case where the four-dimensional brane is described by a topological vortex of a U(1) symmetry-breaking Abelian Higgs model in presence of a negative cosmological constant. A detailed analysis of the microscopic parameters leading to a finite volume space-time in the extra dimensions is numerically performed. As previously shown, we find that a fine-tuning is required to avoid any kind of singularity on the brane. We then discuss the stability of the vortex by investigating the scalar part of the gauge-invariant perturbations around this fine-tuned configuration. It is found that the hyperstring forming Higgs and gauge fields, as well as the background metric warp factors, cannot be perturbed at all, whereas transverse modes can be considered stable. The warped space-time structure that is imposed around the vortex thus appears severely constrained and cannot generically support nonempty universe models. The genericness of our conclusions is discussed; this will shed some light on the possibility of describing our space-time as a general six-dimensional warped braneworld.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures, uses RevTex, fine-tuning and stability analysis discussed in greater details. Matches published versio

The variation of fundamental constants and the role of A=5 and A=8 nuclei on primordial nucleosynthesis

We investigate the effect of a variation of fundamental constants on primordial element production in big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). We focus on the effect of a possible change in the nucleon-nucleon interaction on nuclear reaction rates involving the A=5 (Li-5 and He-5) and A=8 (Be-8) unstable nuclei and complement earlier work on its effect on the binding energy of deuterium. The reaction rates for He3(d,p)He4 and H3(d,n)He4 are dominated by the properties of broad analog resonances in He-5 and Li-5 compound nuclei respectively. While the triple alpha process is normally not effective in BBN, its rate is very sensitive to the position of the "Hoyle state" and could in principle be drastically affected if Be-8 were stable during BBN. The nuclear properties (resonance energies in He-5 and Li-5 nuclei, and the binding energies of Be-8 and D) are all computed in a consistent way using a microscopic cluster model. The n(p,gamma)d, He3(d,p)He4 and H3(d,n)He4 and triple-alpha reaction rates are subsequently calculated as a function of the nucleon-nucleon interaction that can be related to the fundamental constants. We found that the effect of the variation of constants on the He3(d,p)He4 and H3(d,n)He4 and triple-alpha reaction rates is not sufficient to induce a significant effect on BBN, even if Be-8 was stable. In particular, no significant production of carbon by the triple alpha reaction is found when compared to standard BBN. We also update our previous analysis on the effect of a variation of constants on the n(p,gamma)d reaction rate.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figure

Weak lensing B-modes on all scales as a probe of local isotropy

This article derives a multipolar hierarchy for the propagation of the weak-lensing shear and convergence in a general spacetime. The origin of B-modes, in particular on large angular scales, is related to the local isotropy of space. Known results assuming a Friedmann-Lema\^itre background are naturally recovered. The example of a Bianchi I spacetime illustrates our formalism and its implications for future observations are stressed.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures. Replaced to match published versio

Probing dark energy beyond z=2z=2 with CODEX

Precision measurements of nature's fundamental couplings and a first measurement of the cosmological redshift drift are two of the key targets for future high-resolution ultra-stable spectrographs such as CODEX. Being able to do both gives CODEX a unique advantage, allowing it to probe dynamical dark energy models (by measuring the behavior of their equation of state) deep in the matter era and thereby testing classes of models that would otherwise be difficult to distinguish from the standard $\Lambda$CDM paradigm. We illustrate this point with two simple case studies.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Predictions from an anisotropic inflationary era

This article investigates the predictions of an inflationary phase starting from a homogeneous and anisotropic universe of the Bianchi I type. After discussing the evolution of the background spacetime, focusing on the number of e-folds and the isotropization, we solve the perturbation equations and predict the power spectra of the curvature perturbations and gravity waves at the end of inflation. The main features of the early anisotropic phase is (1) a dependence of the spectra on the direction of the modes, (2) a coupling between curvature perturbations and gravity waves, and (3) the fact that the two gravity waves polarisations do not share the same spectrum on large scales. All these effects are significant only on large scales and die out on small scales where isotropy is recovered. They depend on a characteristic scale that can, but a priori must not, be tuned to some observable scale. To fix the initial conditions, we propose a procedure that generalises the one standardly used in inflation but that takes into account the fact that the WKB regime is violated at early times when the shear dominates. We stress that there exist modes that do not satisfy the WKB condition during the shear-dominated regime and for which the amplitude at the end of inflation depends on unknown initial conditions. On such scales, inflation loses its predictability. This study paves the way to the determination of the cosmological signature of a primordial shear, whatever the Bianchi I spacetime. It thus stresses the importance of the WKB regime to draw inflationary predictions and demonstrates that when the number of e-folds is large enough, the predictions converge toward those of inflation in a Friedmann-Lemaitre spacetime but that they are less robust in the case of an inflationary era with a small number of e-folds.Comment: 48 page

Cosmology in scalar tensor theory and asymptotically de-Sitter Universe

We have investigated the cosmological scenarios with a four dimensional effective action which is connected with multidimensional, supergravity and string theories. The solution for the scale factor is such that initially universe undergoes a decelerated expansion but in late times it enters into the accelerated expansion phase. Infact, it asymptotically becomes a de-Sitter universe. The dilaton field in our model is a decreasing function of time and it becomes a constant in late time resulting the exit from the scalar tensor theory to the standard Einstein's gravity. Also the dilaton field results the existence of a positive cosmological constant in late times.Comment: 7 pages, Revtex Style, 6 Postscript figure