Elements of String Cosmology

The standard cosmological picture of our Universe emerging from a 'big bang' leaves open many fundamental questions which string theory, a unified theory of all forces of nature, should be able to answer. This 2007 text was the first dedicated to string cosmology, and contains a pedagogical introduction to the basic notions of the subject. It describes the possible scenarios suggested by string theory for the primordial evolution of our Universe. It discusses the main phenomenological consequences of these scenarios, stresses their differences from each other, and compares them to the more conventional models of inflation. The book summarises over 15 years of research in this field and introduces advances. It is self-contained, so it can be read by astrophysicists with no knowledge of string theory, and high-energy physicists with little understanding of cosmology. Detailed and explicit derivations of all the results presented provide a deeper appreciation of the subject.

Was the first book fully devoted to string cosmology, summarizing the results of 15 years of work
Includes self-contained introductions to cosmology and string theory
Contains detailed derivations of all presented results allowing for a deeper understanding and aiding preparation for independent research

Reviews & endorsements

"The fascinating and emerging science relating string theory's impact on the foundations of primordial cosmology are clearly presented in this detailed text. Designed to present string theory to astrophysicists and, in turn, cosmology to string theorists, the volume presents chapters on basic string cosmology equations, conformal invariance and string effective actions, duality symmetries and cosmological solutions, inflationary kinematics, and the string phase. Subsequent chapters describe scalar perturbations, the anisotropy spectrum of the CMB radiation, dilaton phenomenology, and elements of brane cosmology. Gasperini (theoretical physics, U. of Bari, Italy) has presented a Ph.D. course on this topic and organized the chapters and content accordingly, with more advanced topics and computations presented in separate appendices at the end of many of the chapters. The text is designed for teaching graduate courses, and will also be of interest to readers with basic knowledge of relativity and quantum field theory." --Book News

"... an excellent resource for the graduate student interested in learning string cosmology, especially the pre-Big Bang scenario. The test provides a clear, explanation of the results of hundreds of research articles. Thus it is a good starting point for those entering this exciting field."
Gary Horowitz, University of California, Santa Barbara; Physics Today

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