arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Ram Brustein.
String cosmology models predict a cosmic background of gravitational waves produced during a period of dilaton-driven inflation. I describe the background, present astrophysical and cosmological bounds on it, and discuss in some detail how it may be possible to detect it with large operating and planned gravitational wave detectors. The possible use of smaller detectors is outlined.
Scale factor duality, a truncated form of time dependent T-duality, is a symmetry of string effective action in cosmological backgrounds interchanging small and large scale factors. The symmetry suggests a cosmological scenario ("pre-big-bang") in which two duality related branches, an inflationary branch and a decelerated branch are smoothly joined into one non-singular cosmology. The use of scale factor duality in the analysis of the higher derivative corrections to the effective action, and consequences for the nature of exit transition, between the inflationary and decelerated branches, are outlined. A new duality symmetry is obeyed by the lowest order equations for inhomogeneity perturbations which always exist on top of the homogeneous and isotropic background. In some cases it corresponds to a time dependent version of S-duality, interchanging weak and strong coupling and electric and magnetic degrees of freedom, and in most cases it corresponds to a time dependent mixture of both S-, and T-duality. The energy spectra obtained by using the new symmetry reproduce known results of produced particle spectra, and can provide a useful lower bound on particle production when our knowledge of the detailed dynamical history of the background is approximate or incomplete.
A cosmological pseudoscalar field coupled to hypercharge topological number density can exponentially amplify hyperelectric and hypermagnetic fields while coherently rolling or oscillating, leading to the formation of a time-dependent condensate of topological number density. The topological condensate can be converted, under certain conditions, into baryons in sufficient quantity to explain the observed baryon asymmetry in the universe. The amplified hypermagnetic field can perhaps sufficiently strengthen the electroweak phase transition, and by doing so, save any pre-existing baryon number asymmetry from extinction.
Axions are produced during a period of dilaton-driven inflation by amplification of quantum fluctuations. We show that for some range of string cosmology parameters and some range of axion masses, primordial axions may constitute a large fraction of the present energy density in the universe in the form of cold dark matter. Due to the periodic nature of the axion potential energy density fluctuations are strongly suppressed. The spectrum of primordial axions is not thermal, allowing a small fraction of the axions to remain relativistic until quite late.
String cosmology models predict a stochastic cosmic background of gravitational waves with a characteristic spectrum. I describe the background, present astrophysical and cosmological bounds on it, and outline how it may be possible to detect it with gravitational wave detectors.
A string cosmology scenario ("pre-big-bang") postulates that the evolution of the Universe starts from a state of very small curvature and coupling, undergoes a long phase of dilaton-driven kinetic inflation and at some later time joins smoothly standard radiation dominated cosmological evolution, thus giving rise to a singularity free inflationary cosmology. I report on recent progress in understanding some outstanding issues such as initial conditions, graceful exit transition and generation of inhomogeneity perturbations.
The graceful exit transition from a dilaton-driven inflationary phase to a decelerated Friedmann-Robertson-Walker era requires certain classical and quantum corrections to the string effective action. Classical corrections can stabilize a high curvature string phase while the evolution is still in the weakly coupled regime, and quantum corrections can induce violation of the null energy condition, allowing evolution towards a decelerated phase.
We compute spectra of particles produced during a dilaton-driven kinetic inflation phase within string cosmology models. The resulting spectra depend on the parameters of the model and on the type of particle and are quite varied, some increasing and some decreasing with frequency. We use an approximation scheme in which all spectra can be expressed in a nice symmetric form, perhaps hinting at a deeper symmetry of the underlying physics. Our results may serve as a starting point for detailed studies of relic abundances, dark matter candidates, and possible sources of large scale anisotropy.
We construct, for the first time, a model of graceful exit transition from a dilaton-driven inflationary phase to a decelerated Friedman-Robertson-Walker era. Exploiting a demonstration that classical corrections can stabilize a high curvature string phase while the evolution is still in the weakly coupled regime, we show that if additional terms of the type that may result from quantum corrections to the string effective action exist, and induce violation of the null energy condition, then evolution towards a decelerated Friedman-Robertson-Walker phase is possible. We also observe that stabilizing the dilaton at a fixed value, either by capture in a potential minimum or by radiation production, may require that these quantum corrections are turned off, perhaps by non-perturbative effects or higher order contributions which overturn the null energy condition violation.
String cosmology solutions are examined in a generalized phase-space including sources representing arbitrary corrections to lowest order string-dilaton-gravity effective action. We find a set of necessary conditions for a graceful exit transition from a dilaton-driven inflationary phase to a radiation dominated era. We show that sources allowing such a transition have to violate energy conditions similar to those appearing in singularity theorems of general relativity. Since familiar classical sources, excepting spatial curvature, obey these energy conditions we conclude that a generic graceful exit in string cosmology requires a new effective phase of matter. Our results clarify and generalize previous analyses and enable us to critically reexamine proposed non-singular cosmologies.
A characteristic spectrum of relic gravitational radiation is produced by a period of ``stringy inflation" in the early universe. This spectrum is unusual, because the energy-density rises rapidly with frequency. We show that correlation experiments with the two gravitational wave detectors being built for the Laser Interferometric Gravitational Observatory (LIGO) could detect this relic radiation, for certain ranges of the parameters that characterize the underlying string cosmology model.
Models of string cosmology predict a stochastic background of gravitational waves with a spectrum that is strongly tilted towards high frequencies. I give simple approximate expressions for spectral densities of the cosmic background which can be directly compared with sensitivities of gravitational wave detectors.
I present an outline for cosmological evolution in the framework of string theory with emphasis on a phase of dilaton-driven kinetic inflation. It is shown that a typical background of stochastic gravitational radiation is generated, with strength that may allow its detection in future gravity wave experiments.
We study the Batalin-Vilkovisky master equation for both open and closed string field theory with special attention to anomalies. Open string field theory is anomaly free once the minimal coupling to closed strings induced by loop amplitudes is considered. In closed string field theory the full-fledged master equation has to be solved order by order in perturbation theory. The existence of a solution implies the absence of anomaly. We briefly discuss the relation of the iterative process of solution to methods used in the first quantized formalism and comment on some possible non-perturbative corrections.
We consider whether current notions about superstring theory below the Planck scale are compatible with cosmology. We find that the anticipated form for the dilaton interaction creates a serious roadblock for inflation and makes it unlikely that the universe ever reaches a state with zero cosmological constant and time-independent gravitational constant.
A canonical Lorentz invariant field theory extension of collective field theory of d=1 matrix models is presented. We show that the low density, discrete, sector of collective field theory includes single eigenvalue Euclidean instantons which tunnel between different vacua of the extended theory. These "stringy" instantons induce non-perturbative effective operators of strength $e^{-{1/g}}$. The relationship of the world sheet description of string theory and Liouville theory to the effective space-time theory is explained.