Inflationary Cosmology, Cosmic String Models, and the Vilkovisky-DeWitt Formalism (Physics)

艾伦教授将发起一项新的研究计划 在引力和宇宙学中。 这将探索两种不同的 早期宇宙的模型，看看他们对宇宙的预测， 宇宙今天 “通货膨胀”模型令人信服地解释了 宇宙的大小和均匀性。 他将研究 在这个模型中原始引力波的产生。 做 所以呢，他会解决一些， 引力子（传递引力的量子）的处理 力）在德西特空间，并了解如何量子效应 会影响这个模型的物理稳定性 “宇宙弦”模型可以解释 预期在微波背景中发生的波动 辐射 他正在构建一个计算机模拟 “宇宙弦”环的运动， 星系在模型中形成。 他将研究 这些模型星系在太空中，并比较它与什么 天文学家在天空中观察。 最后，他将使用一种新的数学形式主义发明 由Vilkovisky和DeWitt计算量子效应。 的 目的是了解这种方法的结果与 目前使用的标准技术，并看看它们是否会改变 关于暴胀宇宙中引力波产生的预测 模型

Professor Allen will initiate a new program of researching in gravitation and cosmology. This will explore two different models of the early universe, to see what they predict about the universe today. The "inflationary" model convincingly accounts for the great size and uniformity of our present-day universe. He will study the production of primordial gravity-waves in this model. To do so, he will resolve some difficulties that have arisen in the treatment of gravitons (the quanta that transmit gravitational forces) in de Sitter space, and understand how quantum effects can influence the physical stability of this model. The "cosmic string" model can account for the temperature fluctuations expected to occur in the microwave background radiation. He is constructing a computer simulation of the motion of loops of "cosmic string" which are supposed to cause galaxies to form in the model. He will study the distribution of these model galaxies in space and compare it with what astronomers observe in the sky. Finally, he will use a new mathematical formalism invented by Vilkovisky and DeWitt for calculating quantum effects. The goal is to understand how the results of this method differ from standard techniques currently in use, and to see if they change the predictions about gravity-wave production in the inflationary model.