Eternal chaotic inflation is prohibited by the weak gravity conjecture
We investigate whether eternal chaotic inflation can be achieved when the weak gravity conjecture is taken into account. We show that even assisted chaotic inflation with potential λ4 or m22 cannot be eternal. The effective field theory description for the inflaton field breaks down before inflation reaches the eternal regime. We also find that the total number of e-folds is still bounded by the inflationary entropy for the assisted inflation.

title: Quasi-Single Field Inflation and Non-Gaussianities
abstract: In quasi-single field inflation models, massive isocurvature modes, that are coupled to the inflaton and have mass of order the Hubble parameter, can have nontrivial impacts on density perturbations, especially non-Gaussianities. We study a simple example of quasi-single field inflation in terms of turning inflaton trajectory. Large bispectra with a one-parameter family of novel shapes arise, lying between the well-known local and equilateral shape. The trispectra can also be very large and its magnitude tNL can be much larger than fNL2.

title: Non-Gaussianity, isocurvature perturbation, gravitational waves, and a no-go theorem for the isocurvaton
abstract: We investigate the isocurvaton model, in which the isocurvature perturbation plays a role in suppressing the curvature perturbation, and large non-Gaussianity and gravitational waves can be produced with no isocurvature perturbation for dark matter. We show that in the slow-roll noninteracting multifield theory, the isocurvaton mechanism cannot be realized. This result can also be generalized to most of the studied models with generalized kinetic terms. We also study the implications for the curvaton model. We show that there is a combined constraint for curvaton on non-Gaussianity, gravitational waves, and isocurvature perturbation. The technique used in this paper can also help to simplify some calculations in the mixed inflaton and curvaton models. We also investigate the possibility of producing large negative non-Gaussianity and nonlocal non-Gaussianity in the curvaton model.

title: CMB statistical anisotropies of classical and quantum origins
abstract: We examine the impact of different anisotropic relics on inflation, in particular the predictions on the density perturbations. These relics can be the source of the large scale anomalies in the cosmic microwave background. There are two different types of background relics, one from the matter sector and the other purely from the metric. Although the angular-dependence of the statistical anisotropy in both cases are degenerate, the scale-dependence are observationally distinctive. In addition, we demonstrate that non-Bunch-Davies vacuum states can extend the statistical anisotropy to much shorter scales, and leave a scale-dependence that is insensitive to the different backgrounds but sensitive to the initial quantum state.

title: Quadra-Spectrum and Quint-Spectrum from Inflation and Curvaton Models
abstract: We calculate the quadra-spectrum and quint-spectrum, corresponding to five and six point correlation functions of the curvature perturbation. For single field inflation with standard kinetic term, the quadra-spectrum and quint-spectrum are small, which are suppressed by slow roll parameters. The calculation can be generalized to multiple fields. When there is no entropy perturbation, the quadra-spectrum and quint-spectrum are suppressed as well. With the presence of entropy perturbation, the quadra-spectrum and quint-spectrum can get boosted. We illustrate this boost in the multi-brid inflation model. For the curvaton scenario, the quadra-spectrum and quint-spectrum are also large in the small r limit. We also calculate representative terms of quadra-spectrum and quint-spectrum for inflation with generalized kinetic terms, and estimate their order of magnitude for quasi-single field inflation.

title: A no-go theorem for generalized vector Galileons on flat spacetime
abstract: A bstractWe explore the possibility for generalized electromagnetism on flat spacetime. For a single copy of U(1) gauge theory, we show that the Galileon-type generalization of electromagnetism is forbidden. Given that the equations of motion for the vector field are gauge invariant and Lorentz invariant, follow from an action and contain no more than second derivative on Aμ, the equations of motion are at most linear with respect to second derivative of Aμ.

title: Energy and system-size dependence of two- and four-particle $v_2$ measurements in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and their implications on flow fluctuations and nonflow
abstract: We present STAR measurements of azimuthal anisotropy by means of the two- and four-particle cumulants $v_2$ ($v_2\{2\}$ and $v_2\{4\}$) for Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions at center of mass energies $\sqrt{s_{_{\mathrm{NN}}}} = 62.4$ and 200 GeV. The difference between $v_2\{2\}^2$ and $v_2\{4\}^2$ is related to $v_{2}$ fluctuations ($\sigma_{v_2}$) and nonflow $(\delta_{2})$. We present an upper limit to $\sigma_{v_2}/v_{2}$. Following the assumption that eccentricity fluctuations $\sigma_{\epsilon}$ dominate $v_2$ fluctuations $\frac{\sigma_{v_2}}{v_2} \approx \frac{\sigma_{\epsilon}}{\epsilon}$ we deduce the nonflow implied for several models of eccentricity fluctuations that would be required for consistency with $v_2\{2\}$ and $v_2\{4\}$. We also present results on the ratio of $v_2$ to eccentricity.

title: The Reach of Tevatron upgrades in gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking models
abstract: We examine signals for sparticle production at the Fermilab Tevatron within the framework of gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking models for four different model lines, each of which leads to qualitatively different signatures. We identify cuts to enhance the signal above standard model backgrounds, and use ISAJET to evaluate the supersymmetry reach of experiments at the Fermilab Main Injector and at the proposed TeV33. For the model lines that we have examined, we find that the reach is at least as large, and frequently larger, than in the minimal supergravity framework. For two of these model lines, we find that the ability to identify {ital b}-quarks and {tau}-leptons with high efficiency and purity is essential for the detection of the signal.

title: X-Ray Properties of the Point Source Population in the Spiral Galaxy NGC 5055 （M63） with Chandra
abstract: Using Chandra ACIS S3 data we studied the X-ray properties of low-and high-mass X-ray binary populations in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 5055. A total of 43 X-ray point sources were detected within two effective radii, with 31 sources located on the disk and the rest 12 sources in the bulge. The resolved point sources dominate the X-ray emission of the galaxy, accounting for about 80% of the total counts in 0.3–10 keV. From spectral fittings we calculated the 0.3–10.0 keV luminosities of all the detected X-ray point sources and found that they span a wide range from a few times 1037 erg s−1 to over 1039 erg s−1. After compensating for incompleteness at the low luminosity end, we found that the corrected XLF of the bulge population is well fitted with a broken power-law with a break at 1.57+0.21−0.20×1038 erg s−1, while the profile of the disk population's XLF agrees with a single power-law distribution of slope 0.93+0.07−0.06. The disk population is significantly richer at 2×1038 erg s−1 than the bulge population, indicating that the disk may have undergone relatively recent, strong starbursts that significantly increased the HMXB population, although ongoing starbursts are also observed in the nuclear region. Similar XLF profiles of the bulge and disk populations were found in M81. However, in most other spiral galaxies different patterns of spatial variation of the XLF profiles from the bulge to the disk have been observed, indicating that the star formation and evolution history may be more complex than we have expected.

title: False vacuum decay in generalized extended inflation
abstract: We study false-vacuum decay in context of generalized extended inflationary theories, and compute the bubble nucleation rates for these theories in the limit of G N → 0. We find that the time dependence of the nucleation rate can be exponentially strong through the time dependence of the Jordan—Brans—Dicke field. This can have a pronounced effect on whether extended inflation can be successfully implemented.

title: Thermodynamic geometry of black hole in the deformed Hořava-Lifshitz gravity
abstract: We investigate the thermodynamic geometry and phase transition of Kehagias-Sfetsos black hole in the deformed Hořava-Lifshitz gravity with coupling constant λ = 1. The phase transition in black-hole thermodynamics is thought to be associated with the divergence of the capacities. And the structures of these divergent points are studied. We also find that the thermodynamic curvature produced by the Ruppeiner metric is positive definite for all r+ > r− and is divergent at η2 = 0 corresponding to the divergent points of CΦ and CT . These results suggest that the microstructure of the black hole has an effective repulsive interaction, which is very similar to the ideal gas of fermions. These may shed some light on the microstructure of the black hole.