Conference

The eternal inflation scenario predicts that our observable universe resides inside a single bubble embedded in a vast inflating multiverse. Collisions between bubble universes imprinted in the CMB sky provide a powerful observational test of this idea. I will describe a robust algorithm for non-Gaussian source detection in massive datasets, and present its application to the search for bubble collision signatures in CMB data from WMAP.

In the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence, I will discuss model-independent properties shared by bulk theories of gravity with consistent dual descriptions. I will then discuss the prospects of extending these ideas to non-conformal theories, in particular to attempts to realize cosmological theories holographically. I will address the status of in-principle falsifiability of various holographic proposals through internal consistency conditions of the boundary theory.

FRW/CFT duality is a proposal for a holographic dual description for universe created by bubble nucleation. For (3+1) dimensional universe, the dual theory is defined on 2-sphere at the boundary of open universe. I will study correlation functions and explain essential features of FRW/CFT duality: One bulk field corresponds to a tower of CFT operators The boundary theory contains 2D gravity, and the Liouville field plays the role of time. Energy-momentum tensor has dimension 2, as required from the 2D conformal symmetry.

Nonlinear numerical relativistic elasticity may be necessary for simulations including neutron star crusts. Basic simulations of large deformations in relativistic elastic matter will be detailed, and issues necessary for more realistic simulations covered. This work is in collaboration with Carsten Gundlach.