Anamitra Paul (The University of Texas at Austin)

"Radion Dynamics from Higher-Dimensional Gravity"

Abstract: We review the Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction procedure for a product manifold composed of four dimensional spacetime and a compact space, the size of the latter being characterized by the radion field. Solutions to the equations of motion and stability are explored for the case of a four dimensional FLRW background with a time-dependent radion. Mechanisms for radion stabilization through classical matter configurations, as well as quantum effects are reviewed. The impact on radion dynamics from higher order curvature terms in a low energy effective treatment of gravity are discussed