String Theory Seminar
Thursday, April 23, 2009, 2:45pm, 119 Physics
Mark Jackson (Leiden University)
Superstring Cosmology: New Physics in the Sky
Abstract:- Striking advances in observational cosmology over the past two decades
have ushered in a golden era in cosmology, where our focus has turned
from what the universe is made of to why it has the form we observe.
The leading theory capable of answering such a question, Superstring
Theory, does not appear capable of being tested using conventional
accelerator-based experiments, forcing us to be more creative in our
goal to verify or dismiss it. Focusing on brane inflation as a string
theory-inspired model of inflationary cosmology, I will review how the
cosmic microwave background (CMB) will provide a deluge of high-
precision data into otherwise inaccessible energy scales. These data
include possible "Transplanckian" signatures in the power spectrum,
indications of variable sound speed or extra dimensions in non-
Gaussianity, or constraining the inflation model parameter space using
polarization. I then describe how the production of cosmic
(super)strings in brane inflation would provide an additional means to
verify superstring theory, and which would yield much detailed
information about the underlying theory parameters. [video]
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