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Copeland, Edmund J.

Publications and source records attributed to Copeland, Edmund J..

Gravitational waves from asymmetric oscillon dynamics?

It has been recently suggested that oscillons produced in the early universe from certain asymmetric potentials continue to emit gravitational waves for a number of e-folds of expansion after their formation, leading to potentially detectable gravitational wave signals. We revisit this claim by conducting a convergence study using graphics processing unit (GPU)-accelerated lattice simulations and show that numerical errors accumulated with time are significant in low-resolution scenarios, or in scenarios where the run-time causes the resolution to drop below the relevant scales in the problem. Our study determines that the dominant, growing high frequency peak of the gravitational wave signals in the fiducial "hill-top model" in [arXiv:1607.01314] is a numerical artifact. This new finding prompts the need for a more careful analysis of the numerical validity of other similar results related to gravitational waves from oscillon dynamics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A proposed experimental search for chameleons using asymmetric parallel plates

Light scalar fields coupled to matter are a common consequence of theories of dark energy and attempts to solve the cosmological constant problem. The chameleon screening mechanism is commonly invoked in order to suppress the fifth forces mediated by these scalars, sufficiently to avoid current experimental constraints, without fine tuning. The force is suppressed dynamically by allowing the mass of the scalar to vary with the local density. Recently it has been shown that near future cold atoms experiments using atom-interferometry have the ability to access a large proportion of the chameleon parameter space. In this work we demonstrate how experiments utilising asymmetric parallel plates can push deeper into the remaining parameter space available to the chameleon.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Probing dark energy with atom interferometry

Theories of dark energy require a screening mechanism to explain why the associated scalar fields do not mediate observable long range fifth forces. The archetype of this is the chameleon field. Here we show that individual atoms are too small to screen the chameleon field inside a large high-vacuum chamber, and therefore can detect the field with high sensitivity. We derive new limits on the chameleon parameters from existing experiments, and show that most of the remaining chameleon parameter space is readily accessible using atom interferometry.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Observing the inflation potential

We show how observations of the density perturbation (scalar) spectrum and the gravitational wave (tensor) spectrum allow a reconstruction of the potential responsible for cosmological inflation. A complete functional reconstruction or a perturbative approximation about a single scale are possible; the suitability of each approach depends on the data available. Consistency equations between the scalar and tensor spectra are derived, which provide a powerful signal of inflation.

Copeland, Edmund J.↗

Baryogenesis in extended inflation. 2: Baryogenesis via primordial black holes

Baryogenesis at the end of extended inflation is studied. Extended inflation is brought to an end by the collisions of bubble walls surrounding regions of true vacuum, a process which produces particles well out of thermal equilibrium. The possibility that the wall collisions may provide a significant density of primordial black holes is considered and their possible role in generating a baryon asymmetry is examined.

Barrow, John D.↗

Classical theory of radiating strings

The divergent part of the self force of a radiating string coupled to gravity, an antisymmetric tensor and a dilaton in four dimensions are calculated to first order in classical perturbation theory. While this divergence can be absorbed into a renormalization of the string tension, demanding that both it and the divergence in the energy momentum tensor vanish forces the string to have the couplings of compactified N = 1 D = 10 supergravity. In effect, supersymmetry cures the classical infinities.

Copeland, Edmund J.↗

Topological defects in extended inflation

The production of topological defects, especially cosmic strings, in extended inflation models was considered. In extended inflation, the Universe passes through a first-order phase transition via bubble percolation, which naturally allows defects to form at the end of inflation. The correlation length, which determines the number density of the defects, is related to the mean size of bubbles when they collide. This mechanism allows a natural combination of inflation and large scale structure via cosmic strings.

Copeland, Edmund J.↗