Events on Thursday, April 13th, 2017
- Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology)
- A new top-down model of inflation
- Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 am
- Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Marjorie Schillo, K.U. Leuven
- Abstract: I will present recent work that has succeeded in embedding the mechanism of Unwinding Inflation in string theory. I will review Unwinding Inflation and the process of brane-flux annihilation, in which D-branes lower flux numbers and therefore the 4D vacuum energy. A dynamical brane mediates the brane-flux annihilation as it moves across a compact internal cycle. This mechanism has recently been extended such that many units of flux can be discharged in a “flux cascade.” The flux cascade can be used to substantially reduce vacuum energy and give rise to 60 efolds of inflation.