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Author ORCID Identifier

N/A

AccessType

Open Access Dissertation

Document Type

dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Degree Program

Physics

Year Degree Awarded

2017

Month Degree Awarded

September

First Advisor

Lorenzo Sorbo

Second Advisor

David Kastor

Third Advisor

Michael Ramsey-Musolf

Fourth Advisor

Martin Weinberg

Subject Categories

Cosmology, Relativity, and Gravity | Elementary Particles and Fields and String Theory | Other Physics

Abstract

This dissertation proposal explores the production of present day cosmological observables which might have been produced during the inflationary era. The first observable is the current net electric charge of our observable universe produced by charge fluctuations during inflation. Next, we examine the possibility of a signal in the primordial gravitational wave power spectrum produced by a scalar field with a time dependent mass. Finally, we examine primordial magnetic fields produced during inflation through the Ratra model coupling with the Schwinger effect.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7275/10268004.0

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