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Robert Brandenberger

Publications and source records attributed to Robert Brandenberger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

A Periodically Interacting Dark Sector: Signatures and Constraints from CMB and Cosmic Expansion Data

We introduce a novel cosmological model that provides an effective description of the back-reaction of super-Hubble fluctuations on the cosmological background, a generic effect expected to arise in any cosmological scenario without requiring additional ingredients. At the phenomenological level, it can be interpreted as an interacting dark sector scenario in which the sign of the energy transfer changes periodically over time. We constrain the model using CMB, BAO, and Type Ia supernova data. We find that a significant amplitude of the oscillatory interaction is allowed by the data, although there is no statistically significant preference for this model over $Λ$CDM.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2026

Parametric Resonance and Backreaction Effects in Magnetogenesis from Ultralight Dark Matter

We take a more detailed look at the recently proposed magnetogenesis mechanism triggered by ultralight dark matter coupled to electromagnetism. The proposed mechanism made use of a tachyonic resonance channel which leads to the exponential amplification of infrared modes. Here, we first investigate a possible narrow band parametric resonance channel which can produce photons at higher frequencies. Secondly, we estimate the effects of back-reaction on terminating the resonance. We find that there is indeed a narrow resonance channel. It is characterized by a Floquet exponent which is slightly smaller than the corresponding exponent for the tachyonic resonance. However, there is a region of parameter space (corresponding to a very small coupling constant) for which the tachyonic resonance is ineffective. In this case, the narrow resonance will dominate, and it will still be sufficiently strong to generate the observed magnetic fields on cosmological scales. Our analytical treatment of the back-reaction effects considered here indicates that a fraction of order one of the initial dark matter density can flow into the gauge fields. Hence, our magnetogenesis scenario appears to be robust to back-reaction effects.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2026

Numerical Backreaction and Finite-Time Energy Transfer in Post-Recombination Magnetogenesis from Ultralight Dark Matter

We study gauge-field production in a post-recombination magnetogenesis scenario driven by an ultralight pseudoscalar dark matter field $ϕ$ coupled to electromagnetism. Previous analytical work has shown that a homogeneous oscillating $ϕ$ background can excite gauge field modes through tachyonic and narrow-band resonance channels. Here we follow the coupled evolution of the homogeneous $ϕ$ mode and gauge field modes of both helicities in an expanding background. Our numerical work confirms the results for the spectra of produced gauge particles obtained in the previous approximate analytical treatments. In addition, our study allows us to determine when back-reaction shuts off the resonance. We find that for parameter values for which the tachyonic instability band is open, back-reaction does not shut off the resonance until a fraction ${\cal{F}}$ of order one of the initial dark matter energy density has been transferred to photons, and this happens on a time scale which is short compared to the Hubble time. In the parameter range in which only the narrow resonance band is open, ${\cal{F}}$ eventually reaches order one, but the time when this happens increases as the effective coupling constant decreases, and therefore ${\cal{F}}$ may remain negligible until the present time.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2026

UV Luminosity Functions from HST and JWST: A Possible Resolution to the High-Redshift Galaxy Abundance Puzzle and Implications for Cosmic Strings

Recent observations of high redshift galaxies by the James Webb Space Telescope suggest the presence of a bright population of galaxies that is more abundant than predicted by most galaxy formation models. These observations have led to a rethinking of these models, and numerous astrophysical and cosmological solutions have been proposed, including cosmic strings, topological defects that may be remnants of a specific phase transition in the very early moments of the Universe. In this paper, we integrate cosmic strings, a source of nonlinear and non-Gaussian perturbations, into the semi analytical code Zeus21, allowing us to efficiently predict the ultraviolet luminosity function (UVLF). We conduct a precise study of parameter degeneracies between star-formation astrophysics and cosmic-string phenomenology. Our results suggest that cosmic strings can boost the early-galaxy abundance enough to explain the measured UVLFs from the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes from redshift z = 4 to z = 17 without modifying the star-formation physics. In addition, we set a new upper bound on the string tension of $Gμ\lessapprox 10^{-8}$ ($95\%$ credibility), improving upon previous limits from the cosmic microwave background. Although with current data there is some level of model and prior dependence to this limit, it suggests that UVLFs are a promising avenue for future observational constraints on cosmic-string physics.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2026

Secondary Production of Photons from ALP Dark Matter interacting with a Cosmological Magnetic Field

Under the assumption that dark matter is a coherently oscillating pseudoscalar field coupled to electromagnetism by the usual Chern-Simons term, we study the production of secondary photons from dark matter fluctuations coupled to a pre-existing magnetic field, taking into account the spectral distribution of the magnetic field. Specifically, we apply the formalism to the case of a large-scale magnetic field generated previously via a parametric resonance instability due to the same Chern-Simons coupling. However, our analysis is applicable to any spectrum of cosmological scale magnetic field fluctuations present at the time of recombination. We show that obtaining a sufficiently large flux of photons in the Lyman-Werner frequency range is consistent with constraints from CMB and X-ray observations.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2026

Indirect Parametric Resonance of the Electromagnetic Field Driven by an Oscillating SU(2) Dark Matter Condensate

We study a local patch of an axion-like dark sector in Minkowski spacetime, containing an initially homogeneous and isotropic non-Abelian $SU(2)$ condensate, and a real pseudoscalar field $χ$, coupled to an Abelian $U(1)$ gauge field which could be that of usual electromagnetism. The pseudoscalar couples directly to both gauge sectors through Chern-Simons interactions, while the $U(1)$ field couples to the $SU(2)$ condensate only indirectly, through the pseudoscalar. We show analytically that a homogeneous oscillating $SU(2)$ background $Q(t)$ acts as a periodic source for $χ$, generating a homogeneous oscillatory condensate $\dotχ$ that in turn modulates the frequency of the $U(1)$ helicity modes. In the linear regime this produces a Hill equation, and when the first harmonic dominates it reduces to a Mathieu equation. We derive the approximate resonance conditions, the leading Floquet exponent, and the conditions for a two-stage enhancement $Q \to χ\to U(1)$. We also highlight an important point: in the exactly periodic, zero-bias limit, the indirect resonance is not intrinsically chiral, because the two Abelian helicities are related by a half-period time shift.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2026

ALP Dark Matter, Cosmological Magnetic Fields and the Direct Collapse Black Hole Formation Scenario

Assuming that dark matter is an ultralight pseudoscalar particle which couples to electromagnetism like an axion (an ALP), we demonstrate that the coupling of the cosmological magnetic field produced by the ALP field oscillations to the primordial dark matter fluctuations yields a spectrum of gauge field fluctuations which can produce a sufficient flux of Lyman-Werner photons to enable the Direct Collapse Black Hole formation scenario. The induced flux is consistent with the bounds on the excess flux of radio photons from ARCADE2 and EDGES measurements.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2026

Inflationary Reheating to Preheating - A Personal Account

This is a personal account of the early work that led to what is now known as the ``preheating stage" of inflationary cosmology. The broader applicability of the underlying instability mechanisms in cosmology are indicated.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2026

Collective field theory of gauged multi-matrix models: Integrating out off-diagonal strings

We study a two-matrix toy model with a BFSS-like interaction term using the collective field formalism. The main technical simplification is obtained by gauge-fixing first, and integrating out the off-diagonal elements, before changing to the collective field variable. We show that the resulting $(2+1)$-dimensional collective field action has novel features with respect to non-locality, and that we need to add a mass term to get a time-local potential. As is expected, one recovers the single matrix quantum mechanical collective field Hamiltonian in the proper limit.

hep-th↗
arXiv2025

Visions in Quantum Gravity

To deepen our understanding of Quantum Gravity and its connections with black holes and cosmology, building a common language and exchanging ideas across different approaches is crucial. The Nordita Program "Quantum Gravity: from gravitational effective field theories to ultraviolet complete approaches" created a platform for extensive discussions, aimed at pinpointing both common grounds and sources of disagreements, with the hope of generating ideas and driving progress in the field. This contribution summarizes the twelve topical discussions held during the program and collects individual thoughts of speakers and panelists on the future of the field in light of these discussions.

hep-th↗
arXiv2025

A Non-Inflationary Axion and ALP Misalignment Mechanism

Based on considerations of quantum gravity, global symmetries which lead to axions as pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons after low scale symmetry breaking cannot be exact at the Planck scale. Here, we show that Planck-suppressed terms which yield this symmetry breaking may provide a non-inflationary misalignment mechanism which can generate coherent oscillations of the axion and axion-like particle (ALP) fields at low temperatures.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2025

Back-Reaction of Super-Hubble Fluctuations, Late Time Tracking and Recent Observational Results

Previous studies suggested that the back-reaction of super-Hubble cosmological fluctuations could lead to a dynamical relaxation of the cosmological constant. Moreover, this mechanism appears to be self-regulatory, potentially leading to an oscillatory behavior in the effective dark energy. Such an effect would occur in any cosmological model with super-Hubble matter fluctuations, including the standard $Λ\text{CDM}$ model. The recent DESI data, which indicate that dark energy may be dynamical, has renewed interest in exploring scenarios leading to such oscillatory behavior. In this work we propose a parametrization to account for the impact of super-Hubble fluctuations on the background energy density of the Universe. We model the total effective cosmological constant as the sum of a constant piece and an oscillating contribution. We perform a preliminary comparison of the background dynamics of this model with the recent radial BAO data from DESI. We also discuss the status of the $H_0$ tension problem in this model.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2025

Do Observations Prefer Thawing Quintessence?

In light of recent observations by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), we study evidence for thawing quintessence over a cosmological constant as dark energy, with emphasis on the effect of the choice of priors. Working with a parametrization for the equation of state parameter motivated by the theory, we analyse the DESI BAO data jointly with Planck 2018 and Pantheon+ or Dark Energy Survey supernovae data, and find a preference for thawing quintessence compared to a bare cosmological constant only if we use priors which are heavily informed by the data itself. If we extend the priors to physically better motivated ranges, the evidence for thawing quintessence disappears.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2025

Why the DESI Results Should Not Be A Surprise

The recent DESI results provide increasing evidence that the density of dark energy is time-dependent. I will recall why, from the point of view of fundamental theory,, this result should not be surprising.

astro-ph.CO↗
arXiv2025

Cosmological Magnetic Fields from Ultralight Dark Matter

We propose a mechanism for the generation of magnetic fields on cosmological scales that is operative after recombination. An essential ingredient is an instability (of parametric resonance type) of the electromagnetic field driven by an oscillating pseudo-scalar dark matter field, $ϕ$, that is coupled to the electromagnetic field tensor via a $ϕF \wedge F$ term in the Lagrangian of axion-electrodynamics. We find that magnetic fields larger than the observational lower bounds can be generated soon after recombination on scales of $1 {\rm{Mpc}}$.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2025

Infrared Sensitivity of Cosmological Probes In The Presence of Axion Field Fluctuations

We study the effects of long wavelength entropy fluctuations on cosmological probes such as galaxy clustering, luminosity distance, and CMB temperature anisotropies. Specifically, we consider fluctuations of a massless spectator scalar field set up in the early universe, which later acquires mass during the radiation-dominated era. We find that there are non-vanishing effects on observables, and the amplitude of these effects peaks for observables set up at the time of equal matter and radiation, and decreases as $η^{-2}$ where $η$ is the conformal time. Hence, the back-reaction effects are important for CMB anisotropies, but their impact on late-time observables is suppressed. In particular, the back-reaction effects are unable to explain the Hubble tension while they might alleviate the cosmic dipole tension. In contrast to a lot of the previous work on back-reaction, we work in position rather than momentum space.

astro-ph.CO↗