Topology from Cosmology

TL;DR

This paper develops a formalism linking cosmological observations to the topology of extra dimensions in string theory, enabling constraints on compactification topologies through observable data.

Contribution

It introduces a general strategy to relate cosmological data to string theory parameters, specifically applied to Large Volume Scenarios in Type IIB flux compactifications.

Findings

Formalism connects cosmological observables with string theory parameters.

Applied method to Large Volume Scenarios, enabling potential topological constraints.

Methods are generalizable to other string theory compactification settings.

Abstract

We show that cosmological observables can constrain the topology of the compact additional dimensions predicted by string theory. To do this, we develop a general strategy for relating cosmological observables to the microscopic parameters of the potentials and field-dependent kinetic terms of the multiple scalar fields that arise in the low-energy limit of string theory. We apply this formalism to the Large Volume Scenarios in Type IIB flux compactifications where analytical calculations are possible. Our methods generalize to other settings.