Spectator field models in light of spectral index after Planck
We revisit spectator field models including curvaton and modulated reheating scenarios, specifically focusing on their viability in the new Planck era, based on the derived expression for the spectral index in general spectator field models. Importantly, the recent Planck observations give strong preference to a red-tilted power spectrum, while the spectator field models tend to predict a scale-invariant one. This implies that, during inflation, either (i) the Hubble parameter varies significantly as in chaotic inflation, or (ii) a scalar potential for the spectator field has a relatively large negative curvature. Combined with the tight constraint on the non-Gaussianity, the Planck data provides us with rich implications for various spectator field models.

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: 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: Constraining SuperWIMPy and Warm Subhalos with Future Submillilensing
abstract: We propose to observe QSO-galaxy strong lens systems to give a new constraint on the damping scale of the initial fluctuations. We find that the future observation of submilliarc scale astrometric shifts of the multiple lensed images of QSOs would find ∼ 10 ( 3 – 9 ) M ⊙ subhalos inside the macrolens halo. The superweakly interacting massive particles (superWIMPs) produced from a WIMP decay and the warm dark matter (WDM) particles that predict a comoving damping scale larger than ∼ 2 kpc can be constrained if ∼ 10 3 M ⊙ subhalos are detected.

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, Spectral Index and Tensor Modes in Mixed Inflaton and Curvaton Models
abstract: We study non-Gaussianity, the spectral index of primordial scalar fluctuations, and tensor modes in models where fluctuations from the inflaton and the curvaton can both contribute to the present cosmic density fluctuations. Even though simple single-field inflation models generate only tiny non-Gaussianity, if we consider such a mixed scenario, large non-Gaussianity can be produced. Furthermore, we study the inflationary parameters such as the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio in this kind of models and discuss in what cases models predict the spectral index and tensor modes allowed by the current data while generating large non-Gaussianity, which may have many implications for model-buildings of the inflationary universe.

title: Vacuum Structure around Identity-Based Solutions
abstract: We explore vacuum structure in bosonic open string field theory expanded around an identity based solution parameterized by $a$ (>= -1/2). Analyzing the expanded theory by using level truncation approximation up to level 14, we find that the theory has a stable vacuum solution for $a$>-1/2. The vacuum energy and the gauge invariant overlap numerically approach those of the tachyon vacuum solution with increasing truncation level. Also we find that, at $a$=-1/2, there exists an unstable vacuum solution in the expanded theory and it rapidly becomes the trivial zero configuration just above $a$=-1/2. The numerical behavior of the two gauge invariants suggests that the unstable solution corresponds to the perturbative open string vacuum. These results reasonably support the expectation that the identity based solution is a trivial pure gauge configuration for $a$>-1/2, but it can be regarded as the tachyon vacuum solution at $a$=-1/2.

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: Comments on observables for identity-based marginal solutions in Berkovits’ superstring field theory
abstract: A bstractWe construct an analytic solution for tachyon condensation around identity-based marginal solutions in Berkovits’ WZW-like open superstring field theory. Using this, which is a kind of wedge-based solution, the gauge invariant overlaps for the identity-based marginal solutions can be calculated analytically. This is a straightforward extension of a method in bosonic string field theory, which has been elaborated by the authors, to superstring. We also comment on a gauge equivalence relation between the tachyon vacuum solution and its marginally deformed one. From this viewpoint, we can find the vacuum energy of the identity-based marginal solutions to be zero, which agrees with the previous result as a consequence of ξ zero mode counting.

title: Marginal deformations and classical solutions in open superstring field theory
abstract: We construct a class of classical solutions in the Berkovits' open superstring field theory. The resulting solutions correspond to marginal boundary deformations in conformal field theory. The vacuum energy vanishes exactly for the solutions. Investigating the theory expanded around one of the solutions, we find that it reflects the effect of background Wilson lines. The solution has a well-defined Fock space expression and it is invariant under space-time supersymmetry transformation.

title: Tachyon condensation and universal solutions in string field theory
abstract: We investigate a non-perturbative vacuum in open string field theory expanded around the analytic classical solution which has been found in the universal Fock space generated by matter Virasoro generators and ghost oscillators. We carry out level-truncation analyses up to level (6,18) in the theory around one-parameter families of the solution. We observe that the value of the vacuum energy cancels the D-brane tension as the approximation level is increased, but this non-perturbative vacuum disappears at the boundary of the parameter space. These results provide strong evidence for the conjecture that, although the universal solutions are pure gauge in almost all the parameter space, they are regarded as the tachyon vacuum solution at the boundary.