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Mairi Sakellariadou

Publications and source records attributed to Mairi Sakellariadou.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
arXiv2005

The Revival of Cosmic Strings

Cosmic strings are one-dimensional topological defects which could have been formed in the early stages of our Universe. They triggered a lot of interest, mainly for their cosmological implications: they could offer an alternative to inflation for the generation of density perturbations. It was shown however that cosmic strings lead to inconsistencies with the measurements of the cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies. The picture is changed recently. It was shown that, on the one hand, cosmic strings can be generically formed in the framework of supersymmetric grand unified theories and that, on the other hand, cosmic superstrings could play the rôle of cosmic strings. There is also some possible observational support. All this lead to a revival of cosmic strings research and this is the topic of my lecture.

hep-th↗
arXiv2005

Why do we live in 3+1 dimensions?

In the context of string theory we argue that higher dimensional Dp-branes unwind and evaporate so that we are left with D3-branes embedded in a (9+1)-dimensional bulk. One of these D3-branes plays the role of our Universe. Within this picture, the evaporation of the higher dimensional Dp-branes provides the entropy of our Universe.

hep-th↗
arXiv2005

A Note on the evolution of cosmic string/superstring networks

In the context of brane world scenario, cosmic superstrings can be formed in D-brane annihilation at the end of the brane inflationary era. The cosmic superstring network has a scaling solution and the characteristic scale of the network is proportional to the square root of the reconnection probability.

hep-th↗
arXiv2005

Constraints on Supersymmetric Grand Unified Theories from Cosmology

Within the context of SUSY GUTs, cosmic strings are generically formed at the end of hybrid inflation. However, the WMAP CMB measurements strongly constrain the possible cosmic strings contribution to the angular power spectrum of anisotropies. We investigate the parameter space of SUSY hybrid (F- and D- term) inflation, to get the conditions under which theoretical predictions are in agreement with data. The predictions of F-term inflation are in agreement with data, only if the superpotential coupling $κ$ is small. In particular, for SUSY SO(10), the upper bound is $κ\lsim 7\times 10^{-7}$. This fine tuning problem can be lifted if we employ the curvaton mechanism, in which case $κ\lsim 8\times 10^{-3}$; higher values are not allowed by the gravitino constraint. The constraint on $κ$ is equivalent to a constraint on the SSB mass scale $M$, namely $M \lsim 2\times 10^{15}$ GeV. The study of D-term inflation shows that the inflaton field is of the order of the Planck scale; one should therefore consider SUGRA. We find that the cosmic strings contribution to the CMB anisotropies is not constant, but it is strongly dependent on the gauge coupling $g$ and on the superpotential coupling $λ$. We obtain $g\lsim 2\times 10^{-2}$ and $λ\lsim 3\times 10^{-5}$. SUGRA corrections induce also a lower limit for $λ$. Equivalently, the Fayet-Iliopoulos term $ξ$ must satisfy $\sqrtξ\lsim 2\times 10^{15}$ GeV. This constraint holds for all allowed values of $g$.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2004

$D$-term inflation, cosmic strings, and consistency with cosmic microwave background measurement

Standard D-term inflation is studied in the framework of supergravity. D-term inflation produces cosmic strings, however it can still be compatible with CMB measurements without invoking any new physics. The cosmic strings contribution to the CMB data is not constant, nor dominant, contrary to some previous results. Using current CMB measurements, the free parameters (gauge and superpotential couplings, as well as the Fayet-Iliopoulos term) of D-term inflation are constrained.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2004

Constraining SUSY GUTS with Cosmology

Cosmic strings of the GUT scale, generically formed during the SSB of supersymmetric hybrid inflation, are compatible with the most recent CMB data. The strong constraints on the allowed cosmic strings contribution to the measured temperature anisotropies impose limits on the free parameters of the inflationary models, namely the mass scales and the couplings.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2004

Consistency of cosmic strings with cosmic microwave background measurements

In the context of SUSY GUTs, GUT scale cosmic strings formed at the end of hybrid inflation are compatible with currently available CMB measurements. The maximum allowed cosmic strings contribution to the CMB data constrains the free parameters (mass scales, couplings) of inflationary models. For F-term inflation either the superpotential coupling must be fine tuned or one has to invoke the curvaton mechanism. D-term inflation should be addressed in the framework of SUGRA. We find that the cosmic strings contribution is not constant, contrary to some previous results. Using CMB measurements we constrain the gauge and the superpotential couplings.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2003

How generic is cosmic string formation in SUSY GUTs

We study cosmic string formation within supersymmetric grand unified theories. We consider gauge groups having a rank between 4 and 8. We examine all possible spontaneous symmetry breaking patterns from the GUT down to the standard model gauge group. Assuming standard hybrid inflation, we select all the models which can solve the GUT monopole problem, lead to baryogenesis after inflation and are consistent with proton lifetime measurements. We conclude that in all acceptable spontaneous symmetry breaking schemes, cosmic string formation is unavoidable. The strings which form at the end of inflation have a mass which is proportional to the inflationary scale. Sometimes, a second network of strings form at a lower scale. Models based on gauge groups which have rank greater than 6 can lead to more than one inflationary era; they all end by cosmic string formation.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2002

The role of topologigal defects in cosmology

Topological defects are involved in a plethora of physical and astrophysical phenomena. In these lectures, I will review the r\^ ole they could play in the large-scale structure formation and the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background, as well as in various high energy phenomena, including baryon number asymmetry, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, and gamma ray bursts. I will then summarize the gravitational effects of cosmic strings. Finally, I will briefly discuss the r\^ ole of topological defects in brane world cosmology.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2002

Graviton production from extra dimensions

Graviton production due to collapsing extra dimensions is studied. The momenta lying in the extra dimensions are taken into account. A $D$-dimensional background is matched to an effectively four-dimensional standard radiation dominated universe. Using observational constraints on the present gravitational wave spectrum, a bound on the maximal temperature at the beginning of the radiation era is derived. This expression depends on the number of extra dimensions, as well as on the $D$-dimensional Planck mass. Furthermore, it is found that the extra dimensions have to be large.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2002

Non-vacuum initial states for the cosmological perturbations and the back-reaction problem of inflation

In the framework of Inflationary theory, the assumption that the quantum state of the perturbations is a non-vacuum state leads to a difficulty: non-vacuum initial states imply, in general, a large energy density of inflaton field quanta, not of a cosmological term type, that could prevent the inflationary phase. In this short note, we discuss in detail why this is so, keeping an eye on possible non-Gaussian features due to considering generic non-vacuum initial states.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2002

Inflation and non--Gaussianity

We study non-Gaussian signatures on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation predicted within inflationary models with non-vacuum initial states for cosmological perturbations. The model incorporates a privileged scale, which implies the existence of a feature in the primordial power spectrum. This broken-scale-invariant model predicts a vanishing three-point correlation function for the CMB temperature anisotropies (or any other odd-numbered-point correlation function) whilst an intrinsic non-Gaussian signature arises for any even-numbered-point correlation function. We thus focus on the first non-vanishing moment, the CMB four-point function at zero lag, namely the kurtosis, and compute its expected value for different locations of the primordial feature in the spectrum, as suggested in the literature to conform to observations of large scale structure. The excess kurtosis is found to be negative and the signal to noise ratio for the dimensionless excess kurtosis parameter is equal to $| S/N | \simeq 4 \times 10^{-4}$, almost independently of the free parameters of the model. This signature turns out to be undetectable. We conclude that, subject to current tests, Gaussianity is a generic property of single field inflationary models. The only uncertainty concerning this prediction is that the effect of back-reaction has not yet been properly incorporated. The implications for the trans-Planckian problem of inflation are also briefly discussed.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2000

Kalb-Ramond axion production in anisotropic string cosmologies

We compute the energy spectra for massless Kalb-Ramond axions in four-dimensional anisotropic string cosmological models. We show that, when integrated over directions, the four-dimensional anisotropic model leads to infra-red divergent spectra similar to the one found in the isotropic case.

hep-ph↗
arXiv1999

Seeds of Large Scale Anisotropy in Pre-Big-Bang Cosmology

Within a string cosmology context, the large scale temperature anisotropies may arise from the contribution of seeds to the metric fluctuations. We study the cases of electromagnetic and axion seeds. We find that massless or very light axions can lead to a flat or slightly tilted blue spectrum, that fits current data.

hep-ph↗
arXiv1999

Spectrum of Cosmological Perturbations from Multiple-Stage Inflation

Within the context of supersymmetric hybrid inflation, we study a multiple-stage inflationary scenario that can generate a primordial spectrum of adiabatic density perturbations with a break at $k_b \simeq 0.05 h Mpc^{-1}$. The presence of such a break is supported by the APM galaxy survey data. We consider a specific model within this scenario and confront it with observational data. We reproduce the angular power spectrum of CMB anisotropies, and also account for the break in the power spectrum of galaxy clustering. In addition, we find a value for $σ_8$ in agreement with the one deduced from observations. A characteristic property of the spectrum is a drop of the spectral index from $n \simeq 1$ to $n \sim 0.6$ at $k \sim k_b$.

hep-ph↗