Brane cosmology: an introduction

TL;DR

This paper provides an introductory review of brane cosmology, focusing on the behavior of a 3D brane universe within a higher-dimensional spacetime, including modifications to Friedmann equations and related phenomena.

Contribution

It offers a comprehensive overview of brane cosmology concepts, equations, and recent developments for newcomers to the field.

Findings

Derivation of modified Friedmann equations for brane universes

Analysis of cosmological perturbations in brane models

Discussion of bulk scalar fields and multi-brane systems

Abstract

These notes give an introductory review on brane cosmology. This subject deals with the cosmological behaviour of a brane-universe, i.e. a three-dimensional space, where ordinary matter is confined, embedded in a higher dimensional spacetime. In the tractable case of a five-dimensional bulk spacetime, the brane (modified) Friedmann equation is discussed in detail, and various other aspects are presented, such as cosmological perturbations, bulk scalar fields and systems with several branes.