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Bazeia, D., Lobao, A. S., Losano, L., Menezes, R., & Olmo, G. J. (2015). Braneworld solutions for modified theories of gravity with nonconstant curvature. Phys. Rev. D, 91(12), 124006–11pp.
Abstract: We study braneworld models in the presence of scalar field in a five-dimensional geometry with a single extra dimension of infinite extent, with gravity modified to include a function of the Ricci scalar. We develop a procedure that allows us to obtain an analytical solution for the braneworld configuration in a diversity of models, in the much harder case where the Ricci scalar is a nonconstant quantity.
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Lobo, F. S. N., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2015). Crystal clear lessons on the microstructure of spacetime and modified gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 91(12), 124001–7pp.
Abstract: We argue that a microscopic structure for spacetime such as that expected in a quantum foam scenario, in which microscopic wormholes and other topological structures should play a relevant role, might lead to an effective metric-affine geometry at larger scales. This idea is supported by the role that microscopic defects play in crystalline structures. With an explicit model, we show that wormhole formation is possible in a metric-affine scenario, where the wormhole and the matter fields play a role analogous to that of defects in crystals. Such wormholes also arise in Born-Infeld gravity, which is favored by an analogy with the estimated mass of a point defect in condensed matter systems. We also point out that in metric-affine geometries, Einstein's equations with an effective cosmological constant appear as an attractor in the vacuum limit for a vast family of theories of gravity. This illustrates how lessons from solid state physics can be useful in unveiling the properties of the microcosmos and defining new avenues for modified theories of gravity.
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de Salas, P. F., Lattanzi, M., Mangano, G., Miele, G., Pastor, S., & Pisanti, O. (2015). Bounds on very low reheating scenarios after Planck. Phys. Rev. D, 92(12), 123534–9pp.
Abstract: We consider the case of very low reheating scenarios [T-RH similar to O(MeV)] with a better calculation of the production of the relic neutrino background (with three-flavor oscillations). At 95% confidence level, a lower bound on the reheating temperature T-RH > 4.1 MeV is obtained from big bang nucleosynthesis, while T-RH > 4.7 MeV from Planck data (allowing neutrino masses to vary), the most stringent bound on the reheating temperature to date. Neutrino masses as large as 1 eV are possible for very low reheating temperatures.
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Pallis, C. (2015). Kinetically modified nonminimal chaotic inflation. Phys. Rev. D, 91(12), 123508–6pp.
Abstract: We consider supersymmetric (SUSY) and non-SUSY models of chaotic inflation based on the phi(n) potential with 2 <= n <= 6. We show that the coexistence of a nonminimal coupling to gravity f(R) = 1 + c(R)phi(n/2) with a kinetic mixing of the form f(K) = c(K)f(R)(m) can accommodate inflationary observables favored by the BICEP2/Keck Array and Planck results for 0 <= m <= 4 and 2.5 x 10(-4) <= r(RK) = c(R)/c(K)(n/4) <= 1, where the upper limit is not imposed for n 2. Inflation can be attained for sub-Planckian inflaton values with the corresponding effective theories retaining the perturbative unitarity up to the Planck scale.
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Di Valentino, E., Gariazzo, S., Giusarma, E., & Mena, O. (2015). Robustness of cosmological axion mass limits. Phys. Rev. D, 91(12), 123505–12pp.
Abstract: We present the cosmological bounds on the thermal axion mass in an extended cosmological scenario in which the primordial power spectrum of scalar perturbations differs from the usual power-law shape predicted by the simplest inflationary models. The power spectrum is instead modeled by means of a “piecewise cubic Hermite interpolating polynomial” (PCHIP). When using cosmic microwave background measurements combined with other cosmological data sets, the thermal axion mass constraints are degraded only slightly. The addition of the measurements of sigma(8) and Omega(m) from the 2013 Planck cluster catalog on galaxy number counts relaxes the bounds on the thermal axion mass, mildly favoring a similar to 1 eV axion mass, regardless of the model adopted for the primordial power spectrum. However, in general, such a preference disappears if the sum of the three active neutrino masses is also considered as a free parameter in our numerical analyses, due to the strong correlation between the masses of these two hot thermal relics.
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