Description
Cosmology.
Chair: Joe Marshall
Non-linear scalar-tensor theories of modified gravity may explain observations attributed to dark matter and dark energy. Much is understood of their classical properties, but their quantum nature is relatively unexplored. We discuss a Green's function method for obtaining the leading order quantum corrections to the classical symmetron field in the vicinity of a spherically symmetric extended...
Axion strings are topological defects that arise when the Standard Model is extended to include a Peccei-Quinn symmetry, which is spontaneously broken in the early Universe. Upon that, the Universe is filled with a network of strings that decay, losing energy by emission of, among others, axions. The spectral index of the axion energy spectrum can be measured in the field theory simulations...
I will review basics of CMB physics and show that reflecting boundary conditions from the Big Bang are sufficient to explain the primordial power spectrum. If time permits I will try to explain how higher derivative quantum corrections to gravity can explain the scale invariance of the large wavelength modes in the CMB power spectrum.
