STRING COSMOLOGY

The field of string cosmology has matured considerably over the past few years, attracting many new adherents to this multidisciplinary Field. This book fills a critical gap by bringing together strains of current research into one single volume. The resulting collection of selected articles presents the latest, ongoing results from renowned experts currently working in the field. This offers the possibility for practitioners to become conversant with many different aspects of string cosmology.
From the contents:
Introduction to Cosmology and String Theory
String Inflation I: Brane Inflation
String Inflation II: Inflation from Moduli
Cosmic Superstrings
The CMB as a Possible Probe of String Theory
String Gas Cosmology
Gauge-Gravity Duality and String Cosmology
Heterotic M-Theory and Cosmology

Johanna Erdmenger is a research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich, Germany. She obtained her Ph.D. degree from the University of Cambridge, England, in 1996 and spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) from 1999 to 2001. She has written over 50 publications in the areas of string theory and quantum field theory, in particular on gauge/gravity dualities and their relation to quantum chromodynamics, on matrix cosmology, on mathematical properties of D-brane configurations and on quantum field theories coupled to curved space backgrounds. Dr. Erdmenger holds a teaching position at Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich and has presented her scientific work at numerous colloquia and seminars. She is editor for The European Physical Journal C.

Preface.
1 Introduction to Cosmology and String Theory (Johanna Erdmenger and Martin Ammon).
1.1 Introduction.
1.2 Foundations of Cosmology.
1.3 Inflation.
1.4 Fluctuations.
1.5 Bosonic String Theory.
1.6 Superstring Theory.
1.7 String Dualities and M-Theory.
1.8 D-Branes.
1.9 Compactification.
1.10 String Thermodynamics.
1.11 Gauge-Gravity Duality.
1.12 Summary.
References.
2 String-Inflation I: Brane Inflation (Marco Zagermann).
2.1 Introduction.
2.2 Moduli Stabilization in Type IIB String Theory.
2.3 Warped D3/D3-Brane Inflation (Slow Roll).
2.4 D3/D7-Brane Inflation.
2.5 DBI Inflation.
2.6 Gravitational Waves and Inflation Field Range.
2.7 Conclusions.
References.
3 String-Inflation II: Inflation from Moduli (C.P. Burgess).
3.1 Introduction.
3.2 Accelerated Expansion in Supergravity.
3.3 Type IIB Moduli and Their Stabilization.
3.4 Inflation from Kähler Moduli.
3.5 What We’ve Learned So far.
References.
4 Cosmic Superstrings (Robert C. Myers and Mark Wyman).
4.1 Introduction.
4.2 Superstring Theory on Cosmological Scales.
4.3 Observing Cosmic Superstrings.
4.4 Conclusion.
References.
5 The CMB as a Possible Probe of String Theory (Gary Shiu).
5.1 Introduction.
5.2 String Theory and Inflation.
5.3 Example 1: Initial State of Inflation.
5.4 Example 2: Non-Gaussianities in the CMB.
5.5 Example 3: Probing the Shape of Extra Dimensions.
5.6 Summary and Future Directions.
References.
6 String Gas Cosmology (Robert H. Brandenberger).
6.1 Introduction.
6.2 Basics of String Gas Cosmology.
6.3 Moduli Stabilization in String Gas Cosmology.
6.4 String Gas Cosmology and Structure Formation.
6.5 Conclusions.
References.
7 Gauge-Gravity Duality and String Cosmology (Sumit R Das).
7.1 Introduction.
7.2 Null Singularities and Matrix Theory.
7.3 Cosmological Singularities and the AdS/CFT Correspondence.
7.4 Conclusions.
References.
8 Heterotic M-Theory and Cosmology (Axel Krause).
8.1 Introduction.
8.2 Heterotic M-Theory Flux Compactifications.
8.3 Heterotic Cosmic Strings.
8.4 Towards Dark Energy from M-Theory.
8.5 Multibrane Inflation and Gravitational Waves.
References.
Index.