Publications (23)
Cosmic string loop shapes
Jose J. Blanco-Pillado, Ken D. Olum, Benjamin Shlaer
We analyze the shapes of cosmic string loops found in large-scale simulations of an expanding-universe string network. The simulation does not include gravitational back reaction,…
Cosmic String Lensing and Closed Time-like Curves
Benjamin Shlaer, S. -H. Henry Tye
In an analysis of the gravitational lensing by two relativistic cosmic strings, we argue that the formation of closed time-like curves proposed by Gott is unstable in the presence…
Bubbles of Nothing in Flux Compactifications
Jose J. Blanco-Pillado, Benjamin Shlaer
We construct a simple AdS_4 x S^1 flux compactification stabilized by a complex scalar field winding the extra dimension and demonstrate an instability via nucleation of a bubble o…
Bubbles from Nothing
Jose J. Blanco-Pillado, Handhika S. Ramadhan, Benjamin Shlaer
Within the framework of flux compactifications, we construct an instanton describing the quantum creation of an open universe from nothing. The solution has many features in common…
Cosmic Superstring Gravitational Lensing Phenomena: Predictions for Networks of (p,q) Strings
Benjamin Shlaer, Mark Wyman
The unique, conical spacetime created by cosmic strings brings about distinctive gravitational lensing phenomena. The variety of these distinctive phenomena is increased when the s…
Minkowski vacua can be metastable
Jaume Garriga, Benjamin Shlaer, Alexander Vilenkin
We investigate the recent suggestion that a Minkowski vacuum is either absolutely stable, or it has a divergent decay rate and thus fails to have a locally Minkowski description. T…