Cosmological Frontiers in Fundamental Physics 2013

24 talks

July 08, 2013 - July 11, 2013

C13021

Collection Type

Conference/School

Description

Cosmological Frontiers in Fundamental Physics 2013

Displaying 1 - 12 of 24

Opening Remarks

Neil Turok
University of Edinburgh

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070092
Intermittent non-Gaussianity & Anomalies: rare patchy subdominants from Modulated Heating, Bubble Collisions & Oscillons

Richard Bond
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA)

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070000
Precision Holographic Cosmology

Paul McFadden
Newcastle University

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070006
Massive gravity and cosmology

Shinji Mukohyama
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070002
Tumbling through a landscape

Erick Weinberg
Columbia University

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070024
Primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB and large-scale structure

Kendrick Smith
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070001
Cosmological Limits on Neutrino-Neutrino Scattering and Particle Physics in the Early Universe

Kris Sigurdson
University of British Columbia

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070025
Solid Inflation

Alberto Nicolis
Columbia University

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070005
Bimetric theory, Conformal Gravity and Partial Masslessness

Fawad Hassan
Stockholm University

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070021
Remarks on Gravitational Duality

Marc Henneaux
International Solvay Institutes

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070020
Cosmological Magnetic Fields

Tanmay Vachaspati
University of Arizona

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070007
Resolution of Cosmic Singularities and Bounces

Neil Turok
University of Edinburgh

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070008

Opening Remarks

Neil Turok
University of Edinburgh

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070092
Intermittent non-Gaussianity & Anomalies: rare patchy subdominants from Modulated Heating, Bubble Collisions & Oscillons

Richard Bond
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (CITA)

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070000
Precision Holographic Cosmology

Paul McFadden
Newcastle University

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070006

We discuss holography for cosmology, focusing on a class of slow-roll inflationary spacetimes that are holographically dual to a perturbative RG flow between two nearby CFTs. The cosmological power spectrum and non-Gaussianities may be calculated directly from the dual QFT using conformal perturbation theory, even when the dual QFT is strongly coupled. Holography thus offers new methods for computing cosmological observables. To illustrate, we show how to recover the power spectrum to second order in slow roll.
Massive gravity and cosmology

Shinji Mukohyama
Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070002
Tumbling through a landscape

Erick Weinberg
Columbia University

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070024
Primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB and large-scale structure

Kendrick Smith
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

July 08, 2013

PIRSA:13070001
Cosmological Limits on Neutrino-Neutrino Scattering and Particle Physics in the Early Universe

Kris Sigurdson
University of British Columbia

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070025

In the standard model neutrinos are assumed to have streamed across the Universe since they last scattered at the weak decoupling epoch when the temperature of the standard-model plasma was ~MeV. The shear stress of free-streaming neutrinos imprints itself gravitationally on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and makes the CMB a sensitive probe of neutrino scattering. Yet, the presence of nonstandard physics in the neutrino sector may alter this standard chronology and delay neutrino free-streaming until a much later epoch. We will discuss how observations of the CMB can be used to constrain the strength of neutrino self-interactions G_eff and put limits on new physics in the neutrino sector from the early Universe. Key measurements of the CMB at large multipoles made by the Planck satellite and high-l experiments are critical for probing this physics. Within the context of conventional LambdaCDM parameters cosmological data are compatible with G_eff < 1/(56 MeV)^2 and neutrino free-streaming might be delayed until their temperature has cooled to as low as ~25 eV. Intriguingly, we also find an alternative cosmology compatible with cosmological data in which neutrinos scatter off each other until z~10^4 with a preferred interaction strength in a narrow region around G_eff = 1/(10 MeV)^2. This distinct self-interacting neutrino cosmology is characterized by somewhat lower values of both the scalar spectral index and the amplitude of primordial fluctuations. We phrase our discussion in terms of a specific scenario in which a late onset of neutrino free-streaming could occur, but in fact our constraints on the neutrino visibility function are very general.
Solid Inflation

Alberto Nicolis
Columbia University

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070005

I will describe a cosmological model where primordial inflation is driven by a 'solid', defined as a system of three derivatively coupled scalar fields obeying certain symmetries and spontaneously breaking a certain subgroup of these. The symmetry breaking pattern differs drastically from that of standard inflationary models: time translations are unbroken. This prevents our model from fitting into the standard effective field theory description of adiabatic perturbations, with crucial consequences for the dynamics of cosmological perturbations. Most notably, non-gaussianities in the curvature perturbations are unusually large, with f_NL ~ 1/(\epsilon.c_s^2), and have a novel shape: peaked in the squeezed limit, with anisotropic dependence on how the limit is approached. Other unusual features include the absence of adiabatic fluctuation modes during inflation---which does not impair their presence and near scale-invariance after inflation---and a slightly blue tilt for the tensor modes.
Bimetric theory, Conformal Gravity and Partial Masslessness

Fawad Hassan
Stockholm University

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070021

Ghost-free bimetric theories can be used to describe gravitational interactions in the presence of an extra neutral massive
spin-2 field that can modify gravity in non-trivial ways. They also
provide a natural framework for a possible non-linear extension of
partially masslessness known to arise in linear Fierz-Pauli theory.
This talk will describe bimetric theories and a procedure that
identifies a unique bimetric action as a candidate for a nonlinear
partially massless theory. We then show that in the low curvature
limit, the candidate partial massless theory is related to Conformal
Gravity.
Remarks on Gravitational Duality

Marc Henneaux
International Solvay Institutes

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070020
Cosmological Magnetic Fields

Tanmay Vachaspati
University of Arizona

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070007
Resolution of Cosmic Singularities and Bounces

Neil Turok
University of Edinburgh

July 09, 2013

PIRSA:13070008

The AdS/CFT correspondence provides new insights and tools to answer previously inaccessible questions in quantum gravity. Among the most interesting is whether it is possible to describe a cosmological "bounce" in a mathematically complete and consistent way. In the talk, I'll discuss joint work with M. Smolkin, developing the dual description of the simplest possible 4d M-theory cosmology in the stringy regime, employing the full quantum dynamics of its dual CFT. I'll also present evidence that the description extends to the Einstein-gravity regime.

Title	Speaker(s)	Date	Talk Type	Info
Opening Remarks	Neil Turok	2013-07-08	Conference	View details
Intermittent non-Gaussianity & Anomalies: rare patchy subdominants from Modulated Heating, Bubble Collisions & Oscillons	Richard Bond	2013-07-08	Conference	View details
Precision Holographic Cosmology	Paul McFadden	2013-07-08	Conference	View details
Massive gravity and cosmology	Shinji Mukohyama	2013-07-08	Conference	View details
Tumbling through a landscape	Erick Weinberg	2013-07-08	Conference	View details
Primordial non-Gaussianity in the CMB and large-scale structure	Kendrick Smith	2013-07-08	Conference	View details
Cosmological Limits on Neutrino-Neutrino Scattering and Particle Physics in the Early Universe	Kris Sigurdson	2013-07-09	Conference	View details
Solid Inflation	Alberto Nicolis	2013-07-09	Conference	View details
Bimetric theory, Conformal Gravity and Partial Masslessness	Fawad Hassan	2013-07-09	Conference	View details
Remarks on Gravitational Duality	Marc Henneaux	2013-07-09	Conference	View details
Cosmological Magnetic Fields	Tanmay Vachaspati	2013-07-09	Conference	View details
Resolution of Cosmic Singularities and Bounces	Neil Turok	2013-07-09	Conference	View details

Cosmological Frontiers in Fundamental Physics 2013

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