CMB constraint on non-Gaussianity in isocurvature perturbations
We study the CMB constraints on non-Gaussianity in CDM isocurvature perturbations. Non-Gaussian isocurvature perturbations can be produced in various models at the very early stage of the Universe. Since the isocurvature perturbations little affect the structure formation at late times, CMB is the best probe of isocurvature non-Gaussianity at least in the near future. In this paper, we focus on non-Gaussian curvature and isocurvature perturbations of the local-type, which are uncorrelated and in the form ζ = ζ{sub G}+(3/5)f{sub NL}(ζ{sub G}{sup 2}−(ζ{sub G}{sup 2})) and S = S{sub G}+f{sub NL}{sup (ISO)}(S{sub G}−(S{sub G}{sup 2})), and constrain the non-linearity parameter of isocurvature perturbations, f{sub NL}{sup (ISO)}, as well as the curvature one f{sub NL}. For this purpose, we employ several state-of-art techniques for the analysis of CMB data and simulation. Assuming that isocurvature perturbations are subdominant, we apply our method to the WMAP 7-year data of temperature anisotropy and obtain constraints on a combination α{sup 2}f{sub NL}{sup (ISO)}, where α is the ratio of the power spectrum of isocurvature perturbations to that of the adiabatic ones. When the adiabatic perturbations are assumed to be Gaussian, we obtained a constraint α{sup 2}f{sub NL}{sup (ISO)} = 40±66 assuming the power spectrum of isocurvaturemore » perturbations is scale-invariant. When we assume that the adiabatic perturbations can also be non-Gaussian, we obtain f{sub NL} = 38±24 and α{sup 2}f{sub NL}{sup (ISO)} = −8±72. We also discuss implications of our results for the axion CDM isocurvature model.« less

title: On the determination of neutrino masses and dark energy evolution from the cross-correlation of CMB and LSS
abstract: We discuss the possibilities of the simultaneous determination of the neutrino masses and the evolution of dark energy from future cosmological observations such as cosmic microwave background (CMB), large scale structure (LSS) and the cross-correlation between them. Recently it has been discussed that there is a degeneracy between the neutrino masses and the equation of state for dark energy. It is also known that there are some degeneracies among the parameters describing the dark energy evolution. We discuss the implications of these for the cross-correlation of CMB with LSS in some detail. Then we consider to what extent we can determine the neutrino masses and the dark energy evolution using the expected data from CMB, LSS and their cross-correlation.

title: Neutrino mass from cosmology: impact of high-accuracy measurement of the Hubble constant
abstract: Non-zero neutrino mass would affect the evolution of the Universe in observable ways, and a strong constraint on the mass can be achieved using combinations of cosmological data sets. We focus on the power spectrum of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies, the Hubble constant H0, and the length scale for baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) to investigate the constraint on the neutrino mass, mν. We analyze data from multiple existing CMB studies (WMAP5, ACBAR, CBI, BOOMERANG, and QUAD), recent measurement of H0 (SHOES), with about two times lower uncertainty (5 %) than previous estimates, and recent treatments of BAO from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We obtained an upper limit of mν < 0.2eV (95 % C.L.), for a flat ΛCDM model. This is a 40 % reduction in the limit derived from previous H0 estimates and one-third lower than can be achieved with extant CMB and BAO data. We also analyze the impact of smaller uncertainty on measurements of H0 as may be anticipated in the near term, in combination with CMB data from the Planck mission, and BAO data from the SDSS/BOSS program. We demonstrate the possibility of a 5σ detection for a fiducial neutrino mass of 0.1 eV or a 95 % upper limit of 0.04 eV for a fiducial of mν = 0 eV. These constraints are about 50 % better than those achieved without external constraint. We further investigate the impact on modeling where the dark-energy equation of state is constant but not necessarily -1, or where a non-flat universe is allowed. In these cases, the next-generation accuracies of Planck, BOSS, and 1 % measurement of H0 would all be required to obtain the limit mν < 0.05−0.06 eV (95 % C.L.) for the fiducial of mν = 0 eV. The independence of systematics argues for pursuit of both BAO and H0 measurements.

title: Correlated Isocurvature Fluctuation of Quintessence and Curvaton Scenario
abstract: We consider cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy in models with quintessence taking into account of isocurvature fluctuation in the quintessence. It is shown that, if the primordial fluctuation of the quintessence has a correlation with the adiabatic density fluctuations, CMB angular power spectrum $C_l$ at low multipoles can be suppressed. Possible scenario of generating correlated mixture of the quintessence and adiabatic fluctuations is also discussed.

title: Non-Gaussianity and baryonic isocurvature fluctuations in the curvaton scenario
abstract: We discuss non-Gaussianity and baryonic isocurvature fluctuations in the curvaton scenario, assuming that the baryon asymmetry of the universe originates only from the decay products of the inflaton. When large non-Gaussianity is realized in such a scenario, non-vanishing baryonic isocurvature fluctuations can also be generated unless the baryogenesis occurs after the decay of the curvaton. We calculate the non-linearity parameter f NL and the baryonic isocurvature fluctuations, taking account of the primordial fluctuations of both the inflaton and the curvaton. We show that, although current constraints on isocurvature fluctuations are severe, the non-linearity parameter can be large as f NL ∼ O ( 10 – 100 ) without conflicting with the constraints.

title: Primordial Helium Abundance from CMB: a constraint from recent observations and a forecast
abstract: We studied a constraint on the primordial helium abundance Y{sub p} from current and future observations of CMB. Using the currently available data from WMAP, ACBAR, CBI, and BOOMERANG, we obtained the constraint as Y{sub p}=0.25{sub -0.07}{sup +0.10} at 68% confidence level. We also provide a forecast for the Planck experiment using the Markov chain Monte Carlo approach. In addition to forecasting the constraint on Y{sub p}, we investigate how assumptions for Y{sub p} affect constraints on the other cosmological parameters.

title: Numerical solutions of open string field theory in marginally deformed backgrounds
abstract: We investigate numerical solutions of bosonic open string field theory in some marginally deformed backgrounds, which are obtained by expanding the action around an identity-based marginal solution with one parameter. We construct numerical solutions in the Siegel gauge and the Landau gauge corresponding to the tachyon vacuum. Their vacuum energy approximately cancels the D-brane tension for larger intervals of the parameter with increasing truncation level. The result is consistent with the previous expectation that the identity-based marginal solution has vanishing energy regardless of the values of the parameter. We also study the marginal branch (M-branch) and the vacuum branch (V-branch) and evaluate not only the vacuum energy but also the gauge invariant overlaps with the graviton and the closed tachyon. We observe that there is a finite bound for the value of the massless field of numerical solutions even in the marginally deformed background.

title: On the Generalized Gluing and Resmoothing Theorem
abstract: The generalized gluing and resmoothing theorem originally proved by LeClair, Peskin and Preitschopf, gives a powerful formula for the fused vertex obtained by contracting any two vertices in string field theories. Although the theorem is naturally expected to hold for the vertices at any loop level, the original proof was restricted to the vertices at tree level. Here we present a simplified proof for the tree level theorem and then prove explicitly the extended version at one-loop level. We also find that a non-trivial sign factor, which depends on the string states to be contracted, appears in the theorem. This sign factor turns out to be essential for reproducing correctly the conformal field theory correlation function on the torus.

title: Open string field theory on noncommutative space
abstract: We study Witten's open string field theory in the presence of a constant B field. We construct the string field theory in the operator formalism and find that, compared to the ordinary theory with no B field, the vertices in the resulting theory has an additional factor. The factor makes the zero modes of strings noncommutative. This is in agreement with the results in the first-quantized formulation. We also discuss background independence of the purely cubic action derived from the above string field theory and then find a redefinition of string fields to remove the additional factor from the vertex. Furthermore, we briefly discuss the supersymmetric extension of our string field theory.

title: Gauge Invariant Overlaps for Classical Solutions in Open String Field Theory
abstract: We calculate gauge invariant observables for Schnabl's solution with analytic method and with the level truncation approximation. We also compute them for the numerical solution initially obtained by Sen and Zwiebach in the level truncation approximation to compare with the one for Schnabl's solution. The results are consistent with the expectation that they may be gauge equivalent. We briefly discuss the gauge invariant observables and the action for a marginal solution with a nonsingular current.

title: Dilaton Condensation in Cubic Open String Field Theory
abstract: We construct an exact and finite classical solution in cubic open string field theory. The classical solution has a well-defined Fock space expression. Through the redefinition of a string field, the string field theory expanded around the classical solution can be transformed into the theory with a different coupling constant, where other backgrounds are unchanged. Therefore, the classical solution represents the condensation of the dilaton in cubic open string field theory. E-mail address: tomo@asuka.phys.nara-wu.ac.jp E-mail address: