Current data from the Planck satellite and the BICEP2 telescope favor, at around the $2 sigma$ level, negative running of the spectral index of curvature perturbations from inflation. We show that for negative running $alpha < 0$, the curvature pertu
rbation amplitude has a maximum on scales larger than our current horizon size. A condition for the absence of eternal inflation is that the curvature perturbation amplitude always remain below unity on superhorizon scales. For current bounds on $n_{rm S}$ from Planck, this corresponds to an upper bound of the running $alpha < - 4 times 10^{-5}$, so that even tiny running of the scalar spectral index is sufficient to prevent eternal inflation from occurring, as long as the running remains negative on scales outside the horizon. In single-field inflation models, negative running is associated with a finite duration of inflation: we show that eternal inflation may not occur even in cases where inflation lasts as long as $10^4$ e-folds.
We prove quenched hydrodynamic limit under hyperbolic time scaling for bounded attractive particle systems on $Z$ in random ergodic environment. Our result is a strong law of large numbers, that we illustrate with various examples.
We study the Schwinger mechanism in QCD in the presence of an arbitrary time-dependent chromo-electric background field $E^a(t)$ with arbitrary color index $a$=1,2,...8 in SU(3). We obtain an exact result for the non-perturbative quark (antiquark) pr
oduction from an arbitrary $E^a(t)$ by directly evaluating the path integral. We find that the exact result is independent of all the time derivatives $frac{d^nE^a(t)}{dt^n}$ where $n=1,2,...infty$. This result has the same functional dependence on two Casimir invariants $[E^a(t)E^a(t)]$ and $[d_{abc}E^a(t)E^b(t)E^c(t)]^2$ as the constant chromo-electric field $E^a$ result with the replacement: $E^a rightarrow E^a(t)$. This result relies crucially on the validity of the shift conjecture, which has not yet been established.
We consider an alternative to inflation for the generation of superhorizon perturbations in the universe in which the speed of sound is faster than the speed of light. We label such cosmologies, first proposed by Armendariz-Picon, {it tachyacoustic},
and explicitly construct examples of non-canonical Lagrangians which have superluminal sound speed, but which are causally self-consistent. Such models possess two horizons, a Hubble horizon and an acoustic horizon, which have independent dynamics. Even in a decelerating (non-inflationary) background, a nearly scale-invariant spectrum of perturbations can be generated by quantum perturbations redshifted outside of a shrinking acoustic horizon. The acoustic horizon can be large or even infinite at early times, solving the cosmological horizon problem without inflation. These models do not, however, dynamically solve the cosmological flatness problem, which must be imposed as a boundary condition. Gravitational wave modes, which are produced by quantum fluctuations exiting the Hubble horizon, are not produced.
We extend the strong macroscopic stability introduced in Bramson & Mountford (2002) for one-dimensional asymmetric exclusion processes with finite range to a large class of one-dimensional conservative attractive models (including misanthrope process
) for which we relax the requirement of finite range kernels. A key motivation is extension of constructive hydrodynamics result of Bahadoran et al. (2002, 2006, 2008) to nonfinite range kernels.
We perform path integral for a quark (antiquark) in the presence of an arbitrary space-dependent static color potential A^a_0(x)(=-int dx E^a(x)) with arbitrary color index a=1,2,...8 in SU(3) and obtain an exact non-perturbative expression for the g
enerating functional. We show that such a path integration is possible even if one can not solve the Dirac equation in the presence of arbitrary space-dependent potential. It may be possible to further explore this path integral technique to study non-perturbative bound state formation.
This series of lectures gives a pedagogical review of the subject of cosmological inflation. I discuss Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmology and the horizon and flatness problems of the standard hot Big Bang, and introduce inflation as a solution to t
hose problems, focusing on the simple scenario of inflation from a single scalar field. I discuss quantum modes in inflation and the generation of primordial tensor and scalar fluctuations. Finally, I provide comparison of inflationary models to the WMAP satellite measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background, and briefly discuss future directions for inflationary physics. The majority of the lectures should be accessible to advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students with only a background in Special Relativity, although familiarity with General Relativity and quantum field theory will be helpful for the more technical sections.
We study Schwinger mechanism for gluon pair production in the presence of arbitrary time-dependent chromo-electric background field $E^a(t)$ with arbitrary color index $a$=1,2,...8 in SU(3) by directly evaluating the path integral. We obtain an exact
expression for the probability of non-perturbative gluon pair production per unit time per unit volume and per unit transverse momentum $frac{dW}{d^4x d^2p_T}$ from arbitrary $E^a(t)$. We show that the tadpole (or single gluon) effective action does not contribute to the non-perturbative gluon pair production rate $frac{dW}{d^4x d^2p_T}$. We find that the exact result for non-perturbative gluon pair production is independent of all the time derivatives $frac{d^nE^a(t)}{dt^n}$ where $n=1,2,....infty$ and has the same functional dependence on two casimir invariants $[E^a(t)E^a(t)]$ and $[d_{abc}E^a(t)E^b(t)E^c(t)]^2$ as the constant chromo-electric field $E^a$ result with the replacement: $E^a to E^a(t)$. This result may be relevant to study the production of a non-perturbative quark-gluon plasma at RHIC and LHC.
In this Paper, we have derived Cepheid period-luminosity (P-L) relations for the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) fundamental mode Cepheids, based on the data released from OGLE-III. We have applied an extinction map to correct for the extinction of thes
e Cepheids. In addition to the VIW band P-L relations, we also include JHK and four Spitzer IRAC band P-L relations, derived by matching the OGLE-III Cepheids to the 2MASS and SAGE datasets, respectively. We also test the non-linearity of the Cepheid P-L relations based on extinction-corrected data. Our results (again) show that the LMC P-L relations are non-linear in VIJH bands and linear in KW and the four IRAC bands, respectively.
We present the latest results on the production of WW, WZ, Wgamma, Zgamma and ZZ events at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The results are based on the analyses of 0.2 -- 2 /fb of data collected in p pbar collisions at sqrt(s) = 1.96 TeV by CDF and D
O experiments during the Tevatron Run II. Analyses of the diboson production processes provide crucial test of the Standard Model, directly probing its predictions on the Trilinear Gauge Couplings.
