Brane Inflation and the Overshoot Problem

We investigate recent claims that brane inflation solves the overshoot problem through a combination of microphysical restrictions on the phase space of initial conditions and the existence of the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) attractor in regimes where the slow-roll attractor does not apply. Carrying out a comprehensive analysis of the parameter space allowed by the latest advances in brane inflation model-building, we find that these restrictions are insufficient to solve the overshoot problem. The vast majority of the phase space of initial conditions is still dominated by overshoot trajectories. We present an analytic proof that the brane-inflationary attractor must be close to the slow-roll limit, and update the predictions for observables such as non-Gaussianity, cosmic string tension and tensor modes.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, matches version published in PRD. Minor clarifications, references adde

Cosmological Landscape From Nothing: Some Like It Hot

We suggest a novel picture of the quantum Universe -- its creation is described by the {\em density matrix} defined by the Euclidean path integral. This yields an ensemble of universes -- a cosmological landscape -- in a mixed state which is shown to be dynamically more preferable than the pure quantum state of the Hartle-Hawking type. The latter is dynamically suppressed by the infinitely large positive action of its instanton, generated by the conformal anomaly of quantum fields within the cosmological bootstrap (the self-consistent back reaction of hot matter). This bootstrap suggests a solution to the problem of boundedness of the on-shell cosmological action and eliminates the infrared catastrophe of small cosmological constant in Euclidean quantum gravity. The cosmological landscape turns out to be limited to a bounded range of the cosmological constant $\Lambda_{\rm min}\leq \Lambda \leq \Lambda_{\rm max}$. The domain $\Lambda<\Lambda_{\rm min}$ is ruled out by the back reaction effect which we analyze by solving effective Euclidean equations of motion. The upper cutoff is enforced by the quantum effects of vacuum energy and the conformal anomaly mediated by a special ghost-avoidance renormalization of the effective action. They establish a new quantum scale $\Lambda_{\rm max}$ which is determined by the coefficient of the topological Gauss-Bonnet term in the conformal anomaly. This scale is realized as the upper bound -- the limiting point of an infinite sequence of garland-type instantons which constitute the full cosmological landscape. The dependence of the cosmological constant range on particle phenomenology suggests a possible dynamical selection mechanism for the landscape of string vacua.Comment: Final version, to appear in JCA

On Power Law Inflation in DBI Models

Inflationary models in string theory which identify the inflaton with an open string modulus lead to effective field theories with non-canonical kinetic terms: Dirac-Born-Infeld scalar field theories. In the case of a $D$-brane moving in an AdS throat with a quadratic scalar field potential DBI kinetic terms allow a novel realization of power law inflation. This note adresses the question of whether this behaviour is special to this particular choice of throat geometry and potential. The answer is that for any throat geometry one can explicitly find a potential which leads to power law inflation. This generalizes the well known fact that an exponential potential gives power law inflation in the case of canonical kinetic terms.Comment: References and comments adde

Accelerating universe emergent from the landscape

We propose that the existence of the string landscape suggests the universe can be in a quantum glass state, where an extremely large viscosity is generated, and long distance dynamics slows down. At the same time, the short distance dynamics is not altered due to the separation of time scales. This scenario can help to understand some controversies in cosmology, for example the natural existence of slow roll inflation and dark energy in the landscape, the apparent smallness of the cosmological constant. We see also that moduli stabilization is no longer necessary. We further identify the glass transition point, where the viscosity diverges, as the location of the cosmic horizon. We try to reconstruct the geometry of the accelerating universe from the structure of the landscape, and find that the metric should have an infinite jump when crossing the horizon. We predict that the static coordinate metric for dS space breaks down outside the horizon.Comment: 20 pages, no figures, harvma

Fractional Superstrings with Space-Time Critical Dimensions Four and Six

We propose possible new string theories based on local world-sheet symmetries corresponding to extensions of the Virasoro algebra by fractional spin currents. They have critical central charges $c=6(K+8)/(K+2)$ and Minkowski space-time dimensions $D=2+16/K$ for $K\geq2$ an integer. We present evidence for their existence by constructing modular invariant partition functions and the massless particle spectra. The dimension $4$ and $6$ strings have space-time supersymmetry.Comment: 9 page

Enhancement of the Thermal Conductivity in gapped Quantum Spin Chains

We study mechanism of magnetic energy transport, motivated by recent measurements of the thermal conductivity in low dimensional quantum magnets. We point out a possible mechanism of enhancement of the thermal conductivity in gapped magnetic system, where the magnetic energy transport plays a crucial role. This mechanism gives an interpretation for the recent experiment of CuGeO_3, where the thermal conductivity depends on the crystal direction.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

On the Slow Roll Expansion for Brane Inflation

One possibility for identifying the inflaton in the framework of string theory is that it is a $D$-brane modulus. This option involves a specific, non-canonical form of the kinetic energy -- the Dirac-Born-Infeld action. This note investigates the applicability of the slow roll approximation in inflationary models of this type. To this end the slow roll expansion of Liddle, Parsons and Barrow is derived for the case of the DBI action. The resulting slow roll conditions augment the standard ones valid in the case of canonical kinetic terms. It is also shown that in DBI models inflation does not require that the potential dominate the energy density.Comment: References adde

Vacuum energy in conical space with additional boundary conditions

Total vacuum energy of some quantized fields in conical space with additional boundary conditions is calculated. These conditions are imposed on a cylindrical surface which is coaxial with the symmetry axis of conical space. The explicit form of the matching conditions depends on the field under consideration. In the case of electromagnetic field, the perfectly conducting boundary conditions or isorefractive matching conditions are imposed on the cylindrical surface. For a massless scalar field, the semi-transparent conditions ($\delta$-potential) on the cylindrical shell are investigated. As a result, the total Casimir energy of electromagnetic field and scalar field, per a unit length along the symmetry axis, proves to be finite unlike the case of an infinitely thin cosmic string. In these studies the spectral zeta functions are widely used. It is shown briefly how to apply this technique for obtaining the asymptotics of the relevant thermodynamical functions in the high temperature limit.Comment: 29 pages, 2 figures, the title was changed for a more adequate one, the abstract was rewritten, a few typos and minor grammar mistakes were correcte

A Stringy Mechanism for A Small Cosmological Constant

Based on the probability distributions of products of random variables, we propose a simple stringy mechanism that prefers the meta-stable vacua with a small cosmological constant. We state some relevant properties of the probability distributions of functions of random variables. We then illustrate the mechanism within the flux compactification models in Type IIB string theory. As a result of the stringy dynamics, we argue that the generic probability distribution for the meta-stable vacua typically peaks with a divergent behavior at the zero value of the cosmological constant. However, its suppression in the single modulus model studied here is modest.Comment: 36 pages, 8 figure

Critical Behavior of Nuclear-Spin Diffusion in GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructures near Landau Level Filling \nu=1

Thermal measurements on a GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure reveal that the state of the confined two-dimensional electrons dramatically affects the nuclear-spin diffusion near Landau level filling factor \nu=1. The experiments provide quantitative evidence that the sharp peak in the temperature dependence of heat capacity near \nu=1 is due to an enhanced nuclear-spin diffusion from the GaAs quantum wells into the AlGaAs barriers. We discuss the physical origin of this enhancement in terms the possible Skyrme solid-liquid phase transition.Comment: 1 LateX file, 3 figures, submitte