Superstring Cosmology Mini-course - Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics

Senarath (Shanta) de Alwis gave a four lecture mini-course on `Potentials for light moduli in N=1 supergravity and string theory'. In these lectures, Shanta described some of the technical ingredients used in recent constructions of inflation in string theory. The lectures were given at a level appropriate for advanced graduate students.

Topics covered included:

Derivation of the potential for chiral scalars in N=1 supergravity;
Weyl anomalies and the generation of non-perturbative terms in the superpotential;
Derivation of moduli potentials from fluxes in type IIB and heterotic string theory;
Derivation of potentials for light moduli by integrating out heavy moduli.

A draft of the course notes may be found here.

Shanta is a faculty member in the Physics Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder who is spending his sabbatical year here at Perimeter.

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