Narrow Results

In this work we obtain topological and equivalent theories on brane-worlds in several dimensions. Our brane is a solitonic-like hypersurface embedded in a spacetime with a specific dimensionality and it appears due to the breaking of a Peccei–Quinn-like symmetry. In the first part of this work, the obtained topological theories are related to a generalization of the axion–photon anomalous interaction in D = 4 (in the Abelian case) and to the Wess–Zumino term (in the non-Abelian case). In the second part, we construct equivalent models on the brane through a mechanism of explicit Lorentz symmetry breaking. The gauge symmetries of such models are discussed within the Stuckelberg formalism.

The modified Friedmann's equation is derived from the minimal set of postulates in the brane-world program. It is shown that the recently observed accelerated expansion of the universe can be explained in terms of the extrinsic curvature of the universe along the radial direction.

We present recent results on the asymptotics of a brane-world that consists of a flat 3-brane embedded in a five-dimensional bulk. The bulk matter is modelled by a fluid that satisfies a nonlinear equation of state of the form p = γρ^λ, where p is the ‘pressure’ and ρ is the ‘density’ of the fluid. We show that for appropriate ranges of the parameters γ and λ, it is possible to construct a regular solution, compatible with energy conditions, that successfully localizes gravity on the brane. These results improve significantly previous findings of the study of a bulk fluid with a linear equation of state.

We investigate whether dark matter can be replaced by various source terms appearing in the effective Einstein equation, valid on a brane embedded into a higher dimensional space-time (the bulk). Such non-conventional source terms include a quadratic (ordinary) matter source term, a geometric source term originating in the Weyl curvature of the bulk, a source term arising from the possible asymmetric embedding, and finally the pull-back to the brane of possible non-standard model bulk fields.

While in general relativity black holes can be freely embedded into a cosmological background, the same problem in brane-worlds is much more cumbersome. We present here the results obtained so far in the explicit constructions of such space-times. We also discuss gravitational collapse in this context.

In extra-dimensional brane-world models with low tension, brane excitations provide a natural WIMP candidate for dark matter. Taking into account the various constraints coming from colliders, precision observables and direct search, we explore the possibilities for indirect search of the galactic halo branons through their photon producing annihilations in experiments such as EGRET, HESS or AMS2.