Conference

We discuss a quantum corrected inflation scenario driven by a generic GUT or Standard Model type particle model, whose scalar field playing the role of an inflaton has a strong non-minimal curvature coupling. We show that currently widely accepted bounds on the Higgs mass falsify the suggestion of [arXiv:0710.3755] (the work underestimating the role of radiative corrections) that the Standard Model Higgs boson can serve as the inflaton. However, if the Higgs mass could be raised to 216 GeV, then the Standard Model could generate the inflationary scenario matching the CMB data with $n_ssimeq 0.93$ and a very low tensor to scalar perturbation ratio $rsimeq 0.0005$.

Working in the weak tachyon region of a condensing tachyon background, we find the modified equations of motion for massless strings with conformal perturbation theory. We then estimate the backreaction on the background dilaton. In large (supercritical) dimensions, we find that the backreaction can be significant in a large region of spacetime.

WIMP dark matter candidates chi^0 have interesting signatures for direct and indirect detection in regimes where there is a near degeneracy with a heavier charged state chi^{pm}, as occurs for example along the boundary of the coannihilation strip in the CMSSM. For small splittings of O(10) MeV, the scattering of WIMPs off nuclei may be dominated by inelastic recombination processes mediated by the formation of (chi^- N) bound states, leading for example to a distinct signature for direct detection. I will discuss these and other resonant processes that distinguish the detection signatures of this class of WIMP scenarios.

We show the nature of sequestering hidden sector in five-dimensional supergravity models, where a negative vacuum energy of the nonperturbative modulus potential is canceled by a dynamically generated F-term in the hidden sector. Soft supersymmetry breaking terms are explicitly shown in the case that both the visible and the hidden sector is quasi-localized in the extra dimension.

Parametric resonance, also known as preheating, is a plausible mechanism for bringing about the transition between the inflationary phase and a hot, radiation dominated universe. This epoch results in the rapid production of heavy particles far from thermal equilibrium and has the potential to source a significant stochastic background of gravitational radiation. Here, I present a numerical algorithm for computing the contemporary power spectrum of gravity waves generated in this post-inflationary phase transition for a large class of scalar-field driven inflationary models. I will present the results of this calculation for a number of inflationary models and discuss the (potential) observability of these models

The phenomenology of TeV-scale physics can be modified by the existence of scale-invariant \'unparticle\' fields that can couple to the standard model sector. In particular, it has been shown that unparticles can alter gravitational interactions in a similar fashion to extra dimensions. Observable results from this mechanism -- most notably mini-black hole formation -- will be discussed, and methods of differentiating unparticles from extra dimensional models will be addressed.

If inflation is to be considered in an unbiased way, as possibly originating from one of a wide range of underlying theories,then observations need not be simply applied to reconstructing the inflaton potential, V(phi), or a specific kinetic term, as in DBI inflation, but rather to reconstruct the inflationary action in its entirety. I will discuss the constraints that can be placed on a generalsingle field action from measurements of the primordial scalar and tensor fluctuation power spectra and non-Gaussianities. I will also briefly present the flow equation formalism for reconstructing a general inflationary Lagrangian, in a general gauge, that reduces to canonical and DBI inflation in a specific gauge.

Many string theorists and cosmologists have recently turned their attention to building and testing string theory models of inflation. One of the main goals is to find novel features that could distinguish stringy models from their field theoretic counterparts. This is difficult because, in most examples, string theory is used to derived an effective theory operating at energies well below the string scale. However, since string theory provides a complete description of dynamics also at higher energies, it may be interesting to construct inflationary models which take advantage of this distinctive feature. I will discuss recent progress in this direction using p-adic string theory - a toy model of the bosonic string for which the full series of higher dimensional operators is known explicitly - as a playground for studying string cosmology to all order in $alpha\'$. The p-adic string is a nonlocal theory containing derivatives of all orders and this structure is also ubiquitous in string field theory. After discussing the difficulties (such as ghosts and classical instabilities) that arise in working with higher derivative theories I will show how to construct generic inflationary models with infinitely many derivatives. Novel features include the possibility of realizing slow roll inflation with a steep potential and large nongaussian signatures in the CMB.

We study the effects of boundary terms in models with a flat \'Universal\'\' Extra Dimension in which all Standard Model fields propagate in the bulk. We show how non-minimal boundary terms change the mass spectrum and interactions of Kaluza-Klein modes, allow for new dark matter candidates from UED, and how they alter collider phenomenology.

In supersymmetric (SUSY) models with the gravitino being the lightest SUSY particle (LSP), the SUSY breaking scale (i.e., the gravitino mass) could be determined by measuring the lifetime of the next-to-lightest SUSY particle (NLSP). However, for an ultralight gravitino of mass of O(1) eV, which is favored cosmologically, the determination of the SUSY breaking scale, or the gravitino mass, is difficult because the NLSP decay length is too short to be measured directly. We propose a new determination of the gravitino mass by measuring a branching fraction of two decay modes of sleptons, and demonstrate that the gravitino mass may indeed be determined at the LHC with an accuracy of a few 10% for an integrated luminosity 10-100 fb^{-1}. I will also mention dark matter candidates for such a light gravitino LSP.

I will present extensions of hybrid inflationary models in the context of supersymmetric D-term in- flation. I will show that there exists a large domain of parameters in which significant primordial non-Gaussianities can be produced while preserving a scale free power spectrum for the metric fluctuations. In particular I will explicitly present the expected bi- and trispectrum for such models and compared the results to the current and expected observational constraints. It is to be noticed that it is necessary to use both the bi- and tri-spectra of CMB anisotropies to efficiently reduce the parameter space of such models.

\'BPS preons were conjectured (PRL 86, 4451 (2001), hep-th/0101113) as the basic constituents of M-theory; they are states preserving 31/32 supersymmetries. We discuss the absence of preonic solutions in D=10,11 supergravities and its possible implications. The AdS generalization of the BPS preons, the AdS preons defined over an AdS vacuum, will also be discussed. This leads to the {it AdS-M-algebra}, a deformation of the M-algebra which is identifed as $osp(1|32)$.\'