arXiv subjects

Justin Khoury

Publications and source records attributed to Justin Khoury.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

The Worldvolume Action of Kink Solitons in AdS Spacetime

A formalism is presented for computing the higher-order corrections to the worldvolume action of co-dimension one solitons. By modifying its potential, an explicit "kink" solution of a real scalar field in AdS spacetime is found. The formalism is then applied to explicitly compute the kink worldvolume action to quadratic order in two expansion parameters--associated with the hypersurface fluctuation length and the radius of AdS spacetime respectively. Two alternative methods are given for doing this. The results are expressed in terms of the trace of the extrinsic curvature and the intrinsic scalar curvature. In addition to conformal Galileon interactions, we find a non-Galileon term which is never sub-dominant. This method can be extended to any conformally flat bulk spacetime.

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arXiv2012

The Pseudo-Conformal Universe: Scale Invariance from Spontaneous Breaking of Conformal Symmetry

We present a novel theory of the very early universe which addresses the traditional horizon and flatness problems of big bang cosmology and predicts a scale invariant spectrum of perturbations. Unlike inflation, this scenario requires no exponential accelerated expansion of space-time. Instead, the early universe is described by a conformal field theory minimally coupled to gravity. The conformal fields develop a time-dependent expectation value which breaks the flat space so(4,2) conformal symmetry down to so(4,1), the symmetries of de Sitter, giving perturbations a scale invariant spectrum. The solution is an attractor, at least in the case of a single time-dependent field. Meanwhile, the metric background remains approximately flat but slowly contracts, which makes the universe increasingly flat, homogeneous and isotropic, akin to the smoothing mechanism of ekpyrotic cosmology. Our scenario is very general, requiring only a conformal field theory capable of developing the appropriate time-dependent expectation values, and encompasses existing incarnations of this idea, specifically the U(1) model of Rubakov and the Galileon Genesis scenario. Its essential features depend only on the symmetry breaking pattern and not on the details of the underlying lagrangian. It makes generic observational predictions that make it potentially distinguishable from standard inflation, in particular significant non-gaussianities and the absence of primordial gravitational waves.

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arXiv2012

Conformal Symmetries of Adiabatic Modes in Cosmology

We remark on the existence of non-linearly realized conformal symmetries for scalar adiabatic perturbations in cosmology. These conformal symmetries are present for any cosmological background, beyond any slow-roll or quasi-de Sitter approximation. The dilatation transformation shifts the curvature perturbation by a constant, and corresponds to the well-known symmetry under spatial rescaling. We argue that the scalar sector is also invariant under special conformal transformations, which shift the curvature perturbation by a term linear in the spatial coordinates. We discuss whether these conformal symmetries can be extended to include tensor perturbations. Tensor modes introduce their own set of non-linearly realized symmetries. We identify an infinite set of large gauge transformations which maintain the transverse, traceless gauge condition, while shifting the tensor mode non-trivially.

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arXiv2011

Halo Scale Predictions of Symmetron Modified Gravity

We offer predictions of symmetron modified gravity in the neighborhood of realistic dark matter halos. The predictions for the fifth force are obtained by solving the nonlinear symmetron equation of motion in the spherical NFW approximation. In addition, we compare the three major known screening mechanisms: Vainshtein, Chameleon, and Symmetron around such dark matter sources, emphasizing the significant differences between them and highlighting observational tests which exploit these differences. Finally, we demonstrate the host halo environmental screening effect ("blanket screening") on smaller satellite halos by solving for the modified forces around a density profile which is the sum of satellite and approximate host components.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Strong Coupling Problem with Time-Varying Sound Speed

For a single scalar field with unit sound speed minimally coupled to Einstein gravity, there are exactly three distinct cosmological solutions which produce a scale invariant spectrum of curvature perturbations in a dynamical attractor background, assuming vacuum initial conditions: slow-roll inflation; a slowly contracting adiabatic ekpyrotic phase, described by a rapidly-varying equation of state; and an adiabatic ekpyrotic phase on a slowly expanding background. Of these three, only inflation remains weakly coupled over a wide range of modes, the other scenarios can produce at most 12 e-folds of scale invariant and gaussian modes. In this paper, we investigate how allowing the speed of sound of fluctuations to evolve in time affects this classification. While in the presence of a variable sound speed there are many more scenarios which are scale invariant at the level of the two-point function, they generically suffer from strong coupling problems similar to those in the canonical case. There is, however, an exceptional case with superluminal sound speed, which suppresses non-gaussianities and somewhat alleviates strong coupling issues. We focus on a particular realization of this limit and show these scenarios are constrained and only able to produce at most 28 e-folds of scale invariant and gaussian perturbations. A similar bound should hold more generally --- the condition results from the combined requirements of matching the observed amplitude of curvature perturbations, demanding that the Hubble parameter remain sub-Planckian and keeping non-gaussianities under control. We therefore conclude that inflation remains the unique scenario, assuming a single degree of freedom on an attractor background, capable of producing arbitrarily many scale invariant modes while remaining weakly coupled. Alternative mechanisms must inevitably be unstable or rely on multiple degrees of freedom.

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arXiv2011

Spatially Covariant Theories of a Transverse, Traceless Graviton, Part I: Formalism

General relativity is a covariant theory of two transverse, traceless graviton degrees of freedom. According to a theorem of Hojman, Kuchar, and Teitelboim, modifications of general relativity must either introduce new degrees of freedom or violate the principle of general covariance. In this paper, we explore modifications of general relativity that retain the same number of gravitational degrees of freedom, and therefore explicitly break general covariance. Motivated by cosmology, the modifications of interest maintain spatial covariance. Demanding consistency of the theory forces the physical Hamiltonian density to obey an analogue of the renormalization group equation. In this context, the equation encodes the invariance of the theory under flow through the space of conformally equivalent spatial metrics. This paper is dedicated to setting up the formalism of our approach and applying it to a realistic class of theories. Forthcoming work will apply the formalism more generally.

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arXiv2011

Symmetron Cosmology

The symmetron is a scalar field associated with the dark sector whose coupling to matter depends on the ambient matter density. The symmetron is decoupled and screened in regions of high density, thereby satisfying local constraints from tests of gravity, but couples with gravitational strength in regions of low density, such as the cosmos. In this paper we derive the cosmological expansion history in the presence of a symmetron field, tracking the evolution through the inflationary, radiation- and matter-dominated epochs, using a combination of analytical approximations and numerical integration. For a broad range of initial conditions at the onset of inflation, the scalar field reaches its symmetry-breaking vacuum by the present epoch, as assumed in the local analysis of spherically-symmetric solutions and tests of gravity. For the simplest form of the potential, the energy scale is too small for the symmetron to act as dark energy, hence we must add a cosmological constant to drive late-time cosmic acceleration. We briefly discuss a class of generalized, non-renormalizable potentials that can have a greater impact on the late-time cosmology, though cosmic acceleration requires a delicate tuning of parameters in this case.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Towards a Cosmological Dual to Inflation

We derive all single-field cosmologies with unit sound speed that generate scale invariant curvature perturbations on a dynamical attractor background. We identify three distinct phases: slow-roll inflation; a slowly contracting adiabatic ekpyrotic phase, described by a rapidly-varying equation of state; and a novel adiabatic ekpyrotic phase on a slowly expanding background. All of these yield identical power spectra. The degeneracy is broken at the 3-point level: unlike the nearly gaussian spectrum of slow-roll inflation, adiabatic ekpyrosis predicts large non-gaussianities on small scales.

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arXiv2011

Towards a UV Completion for Chameleon Scalar Theories

Chameleons are scalar fields that couple directly to ordinary matter with gravitational strength, but which nevertheless evade the stringent constraints on tests of gravity because of properties they acquire in the presence of high ambient matter density. Chameleon theories were originally constructed in a bottom-up, phenomenological fashion, with potentials and matter couplings designed to hide the scalar from experiments. In this paper, we attempt to embed the chameleon scenario within string compactifications, thus UV completing the scenario. We look for stabilized potentials that can realize a screening mechanism, and we find that the volume modulus rather generically works as a chameleon, and in fact the supersymmetric potential used by Kachru, Kallosh, Linde and Trivedi (KKLT) is an example of this type. We consider all constraints from tests of gravity, allowing us to put experimental constraints on the KKLT parameters.

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arXiv2011

Supersymmetric P(X,phi) and the Ghost Condensate

We show how to construct supersymmetric actions for higher-derivative scalar field theories of the form P(X,phi), within the context of d=4, N=1 supersymmetry. This construction is of general use, and is applied to write supersymmetric versions of the Dirac-Born-Infeld action. Our principal application of this formalism is to construct the supersymmetric extension of the ghost condensate. This allows us to study the interplay between supersymmetry, time-dependent backgrounds and violations of the null energy condition.

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arXiv2011

Supersymmetric Galileons

Galileon theories are of considerable interest since they allow for stable violations of the null energy condition. Since such violations could have occurred during a high-energy regime in the history of our universe, we are motivated to study supersymmetric extensions of these theories. This is carried out in this paper, where we construct generic classes of N=1 supersymmetric Galileon Lagrangians. They are shown to admit non-equivalent stress-energy tensors and, hence, vacua manifesting differing conditions for violating the null energy condition. The temporal and spatial fluctuations of all component fields of the supermultiplet are analyzed and shown to be stable on a large number of such backgrounds. In the process, we uncover a surprising connection between conformal Galileon and ghost condensate theories, allowing for a deeper understanding of both types of theories.

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arXiv2011

Scale Invariance via a Phase of Slow Expansion

We consider a cosmological scenario in which a scale-invariant spectrum of curvature perturbations is generated by a rapidly-evolving equation of state on a slowly expanding background. This scenario generalizes the "adiabatic ekpyrotic" mechanism proposed recently in arXiv:0910.2230. Whereas the original proposal assumed a slowly contracting background, the present work shows that the mechanism works equally well on an expanding background. This greatly expands the realm of broader cosmological scenarios in which this mechanism can be embedded. We present a phase space analysis and show that both the expanding and contracting versions of the scenario are dynamical attractors, with the expanding branch having a broader basin of attraction. In both cases, a finite range of scale invariant modes can be generated within the regime of validity of perturbation theory.

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arXiv2011

Rapidly-Varying Speed of Sound, Scale Invariance and Non-Gaussian Signatures

We show that curvature perturbations acquire a scale invariant spectrum for any constant equation of state, provided the fluid has a suitably time-dependent sound speed. In order for modes to exit the physical horizon, and in order to solve the usual problems of standard big bang cosmology, we argue that the only allowed possibilities are inflationary (albeit not necessarily slow-roll) expansion or ekpyrotic contraction. Non-Gaussianities offer many distinguish features. As usual with a small sound speed, non-Gaussianity can be relatively large, around current sensitivity levels. For DBI-like lagrangians, the amplitude is negative in the inflationary branch, and can be either negative or positive in the ekpyrotic branch. Unlike the power spectrum, the three-point amplitude displays a large tilt that, in the expanding case, peaks on smallest scales. While the shape is predominantly of the equilateral type in the inflationary branch, as in DBI inflation, it is of the local form in the ekpyrotic branch. The tensor spectrum is also generically far from scale invariant. In the contracting case, for instance, tensors are strongly blue tilted, resulting in an unmeasurably small gravity wave amplitude on cosmic microwave background scales.

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arXiv2011

Instabilities of Spherical Solutions with Multiple Galileons and SO(N) Symmetry

The 4-dimensional effective theory arising from an induced gravity action for a co-dimension greater than one brane consists of multiple galileon fields pi^I, I=1...N, invariant under separate Galilean transformations for each scalar, and under an internal SO(N) symmetry. We study the viability of such models by examining spherically symmetric solutions. We find that for general, non-derivative couplings to matter invariant under the internal symmetry, such solutions exist and exhibit a Vainshtein screening effect. By studying perturbations about such solutions, we find both an inevitable gradient instability and fluctuations propagating at superluminal speeds. These findings suggest that more general, derivative couplings to matter are required for the viability of SO(N) galileon theories.

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arXiv2011

Screening bulk curvature in the presence of large brane tension

We study a flat brane solution in an effective 5D action for cascading gravity and propose a mechanism to screen extrinsic curvature in the presence of a large tension on the brane. The screening mechanism leaves the bulk Riemann-flat, thus making it simpler to generalize large extra dimension dark energy models to higher codimensions. By studying an action with cubic interactions for the brane-bending scalar mode, we find that the perturbed action suffers from ghostlike instabilities for positive tension, whereas it can be made ghost-free for sufficiently small negative tension.

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arXiv2011

Generating Scale-Invariant Perturbations from Rapidly-Evolving Equation of State

Recently, we introduced an ekpyrotic model based on a single, canonical scalar field that generates nearly scale invariant curvature fluctuations through a purely "adiabatic mechanism" in which the background evolution is a dynamical attractor. Despite the starkly different physical mechanism for generating fluctuations, the two-point function is identical to inflation. In this paper, we further explore this concept, focusing in particular on issues of non-gaussianity and quantum corrections. We find that the degeneracy with inflation is broken at three-point level: for the simplest case of an exponential potential, the three-point amplitude is strongly scale dependent, resulting in a breakdown of perturbation theory on small scales. However, we show that the perturbative breakdown can be circumvented -- and all issues raised in Linde et al. (arXiv:0912.0944) can be addressed -- by altering the potential such that power is suppressed on small scales. The resulting range of nearly scale invariant, gaussian modes can be as much as twelve e-folds, enough to span the scales probed by microwave background and large scale structure observations. On smaller scales, the spectrum is not scale invariant but is observationally acceptable.

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arXiv2010

Theories of Dark Energy with Screening Mechanisms

Despite the overwhelming evidence for the existence of dark energy and dark matter, their underlying fundamental physics remains unknown. This review article explores the tantalizing possibility that the dark sector includes new light degrees of freedom that mediate long-range forces on cosmological scales. To ensure consistency with laboratory and solar system tests of gravity, some screening mechanism is necessary to "hide" these degrees of freedom locally. I will focus on two broad classes of screening theories, chameleons and symmetrons, which rely respectively on the scalar field acquiring a large mass or weak coupling in the presence of large ambient matter density.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

Cascading Gravity is Ghost Free

We perform a full perturbative stability analysis of the 6D cascading gravity model in the presence of 3-brane tension. We demonstrate that for sufficiently large tension on the (flat) 3-brane, there are no ghosts at the perturbative level, consistent with results that had previously only been obtained in a specific 5D decoupling limit. These results establish the cascading gravity framework as a consistent infrared modification of gravity.

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