Inflation and String Theory

Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics

by Daniel Baumann, Liam McAllister

The past two decades have seen transformative advances in cosmology and string theory. Observations of the cosmic microwave background have revealed strong evidence for inflationary expansion in the very early universe, while new insights about compactifications of string theory have led to a deeper understanding of inflation in a framework that unifies quantum mechanics and general relativity. Written by two of the leading researchers in the field, this complete and accessible volume provides a modern treatment of inflationary cosmology and its connections to string theory and elementary particle theory. After an up-to-date experimental summary, the authors present the foundations of effective field theory, string theory, and string compactifications, setting the stage for a detailed examination of models of inflation in string theory. Three appendices contain background material in geometry and cosmological perturbation theory, making this a self-contained resource for graduate students and researchers in string theory, cosmology, and related fields.

394 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2015

Reviews

[Nazir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though I haven’t read this book back to back, it is a very nice and updated monograph on the intersection between inflationary cosmology and string theory. This intersection is interesting, as there is a high likelihood that the only way we might one day confirm or falsify string theory is through cosmology.

The book is very self-contained. Having wonderful introductions into relevant topics for both inflation (such as dedicated paragraphs to effective field theory and appendices in semiclassical gravity) and string theory fundamentals with more emphasis on D-branes (wonderful appendices covering the mathematical background needed in geometry and topology for this topic). The chapters on phenomenological signatures for inflation, as well as constraints on the potential shape due to string theory (e.g., Dine-Seiberg problem) were clearly presented and well motivated. This monograph, along with the excellent review article String Cosmology: from the Early Universe to Today (2023) by Joseph Conlon et. al. should be a great resource for cosmologists and string theorists interested in early universe cosmology model building.

Both of these authors are world-reknown in their fields and have a track record of writing clear material. So this book is consistently a great reference for me. Especially as some of my own projects revolve around these topics.

[Ans Schapendonk · Rating 1 out of 5]

It would be nice if the authors would also mention the source of "their" new insights into "compactifications of string theory" that have led to "a deeper understanding of inflation within a framework that unifies quantum mechanics and general relativity." This unmentioned source is related to the publications on the "klankhelix," called "soundhelix" in English and "Lauthelix" in German. Scientists prefer to ignore these because these publications (2013, 2014), in particular, expose their failures. It was prehistoric midwives who left us this knowledge on coins!

[albin james · Rating 5 out of 5]

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