Astrophysics

I will first outline an effective field theory for cosmology (EFTC) that is based on the Standard Model coupled to General Relativity and improved with Weyl symmetry. Any version of quantum gravity (QG), including string theory, must include the same improvement, otherwise QG will not be geodesically complete.  Based on arguments of an underlying QG theory, this effective field theory banishes higher curvature terms in the action,  thus making this EFTC  mathematically sufficiently well behaved to make unique predictions for the classical solutions and the quantum wavefunction at the singularity, as well as past the singularity, for a complete cosmology that includes the past, future and detailed quantitative solution at the big bang.
Using this EFTC, I will show its predictions of surprising behavior of the universe at the singularity that cosmologists usually "conveniently" ignore, but they should not, because this predicts the initial conditions. I will illustrate this behavior with detailed formulas and plots of the classical and quantum solutions. The solutions are given in the geodesically complete mini-superspace that has the flavor of the extended spacetime of a black hole or extended Rindler spacetime. The analytic continuation of the quantum wavefunction across the horizons describes the passage through the singularities. The mathematical solution of this analytic continuation solves a long-standing problem of the singular 1/r^2 potential in quantum mechanics that dates back to Von-Neumann. The analytic properties of the wavefunction  also reveals an infinite stack of universes sewn together at the horizons of the geodesically complete space. Remaining open questions and problems will be outlined.

Burst phenomena are ubiquitous in astrophysics. Understanding the origin of bright and rapid bursts, like FRBs, is an important goal of contemporary astrophysics.  We apply Dicke's superradiance, a coherent quantum mechanical radiation mechanism, to explain these burst phenomena. We show that bursts lasting from a few milliseconds (FRBs) to a few years (e.g. OH masers) can be produced by very large groups of entangled atoms/molecules. This is in contrast with the common assumption that, in the interstellar medium, the atoms/molecules in a radiating gas act independently from each other. Superradiance, a well-known and intensely studied phenomenon in the physics community, was first discussed by R. H. Dicke in 1954. I will present our superradiance models developed to explain some maser flares and FRBs, and discuss our results for the 6.7-GHz methanol, 1612-MHz OH, and 22-GHz water spectral lines. Our analyses suggest that the aforementioned groups of entangled atoms/molecules, developing over distances of up to a few kilometers for maser flares and 1000 AU for FRBs, can reproduce the observed light curves

Axions are attractive candidates for theories of large-field inflation that are capable of generating observable primordial gravitational wave backgrounds. These fields enjoy shift-symmetries that protect their role as inflatons from being spoiled by coupling to unknown UV physics. This symmetry also restricts the couplings of these axion fields to other matter fields. At lowest order, the only allowed interactions are derivative couplings to gauge fields and fermions. These derivative couplings lead to the biased production of fermion and gauge-boson helicity states during and after inflation. I will discuss preheating in axion-inflation models that are derivatively coupled to Abelian gauge-fields and fermion axial-currents.

For an axion coupled to U(1) gauge fields preheating is efficient for a wide range of parameters. In certain cases the inflaton is seen to transfer all its energy to the gauge fields within a few oscillations. Identifying the gauge field as the hypercharge sector of the Standard Model can lead to the generation of cosmologically relevant magnetic fields.

Coupling the inflaton-axion to Majorana fermions leads to the biased production of fermion helicity-states which can have interesting phenomenological implications for leptogenesis.