Heavy fields, reduced speeds of sound and decoupling during inflation

We discuss and clarify the validity of effective single field theories of inflation obtained by integrating out heavy degrees of freedom in the regime where adiabatic perturbations propagate with a suppressed speed of sound. We show by construction that it is indeed possible to have inflationary backgrounds where the speed of sound remains suppressed and slow-roll persists for long enough. In this class of models, heavy fields influence the evolution of adiabatic modes in a manner that is consistent with decoupling of physical low and high energy degrees of freedom. We emphasize the distinction between the effective masses of the isocurvature modes and the eigenfrequencies of the propagating high energy modes. Crucially, we find that the mass gap that defines the high frequency modes increases with the strength of the turn, even as the naive heavy (isocurvature) and light (curvature) modes become more strongly coupled. Adiabaticity is preserved throughout, and the derived effective field theory remains in the weakly coupled regime, satisfying all current observational constraints on the resulting primordial power spectrum. In addition, these models allow for an observably large equilateral non-Gaussianity.

Short distance modifications to Newtons law in SUSY braneworld scenarios

In braneworld models coming from string theory one generally encounters massless scalar degrees of freedom -moduli- parameterizing the volume of small compact extra-dimensions. Here we discuss the effects of such moduli on Newtons law for a fairly general 5-D supersymmetric braneworld scenario with a bulk scalar field $phi$. We show that the Newtonian potential describing the gravitational interaction between two bodies localized on the visible brane picks up a non-trivial contribution at short distances that depends on the shape of the superpotential $W(phi)$ of the theory. In particular, we compute this contribution for dilatonic braneworld scenarios $W(phi) = e^{alpha phi}$ (where $alpha$ is a constant) and discuss the particular case of 5-D Heterotic M-theory.

On Newtons law in supersymmetric braneworld models

We study the propagation of gravitons within 5-D supersymmetric braneworld models with a bulk scalar field. The setup considered here consists of a 5-D bulk spacetime bounded by two 4-D branes localized at the fixed points of an $S^1/Z_2$ orbifold. There is a scalar field $phi$ in the bulk which, provided a superpotential $W(phi)$, determines the warped geometry of the 5-D spacetime. This type of scenario is common in string theory, where the bulk scalar field $phi$ is related to the volume of small compact extra dimensions. We show that, after the moduli are stabilized by supersymmetry breaking terms localized on the branes, the only relevant degrees of freedom in the bulk consist of a 5-D massive spectrum of gravitons. Then we analyze the gravitational interaction between massive bodies localized at the positive tension brane mediated by these bulk gravitons. It is shown that the Newtonian potential describing this interaction picks up a non-trivial contribution at short distances that depends on the shape of the superpotential $W(phi)$. We compute this contribution for dilatonic braneworld scenarios $W(phi) = e^{alpha phi}$ (where $alpha$ is a constant) and discuss the particular case of 5-D Heterotic M-theory: It is argued that a specific footprint at micron scales could be observable in the near future.