In this paper, we explore the nonsingular cosmology within the framework of the Effective Field Theory(EFT) of cosmological perturbations. Due to the recently proved no-go theorem, any nonsingular cosmological models based on the cubic Galileon suffer from pathologies. We show how the EFT could help us clarify the origin of the no-go theorem, and offer us solutions to break the no-go. Particularly, we point out that the gradient instability can be removed by using some spatial derivative operators in EFT. Based on the EFT description, we obtain a realistic healthy nonsingular cosmological model, and show the perturbation spectrum can be consistent with the observations.
We in this paper investigate the formation and evolution of primordial black holes (PBHs) in nonsingular bouncing cosmologies. We discuss the formation of PBH in the contracting phase and calculate the PBH abundance as a function of the sound speed and Hubble parameter. Afterwards, by taking into account the subsequent PBH evolution during the bouncing phase, we derive the density of PBHs and their Hawking radiation. Our analysis shows that nonsingular bounce models can be constrained from the backreaction of PBHs.
Based on the Effective Field Theory (EFT) of cosmological perturbations, we explicitly clarify the pathology in nonsingular cubic Galileon models and show how to cure it in EFT with new insights into this issue. With the least set of EFT operators that are capable to avoid instabilities in nonsingular cosmologies, we construct a nonsingular model dubbed the Genesis-inflation model, in which a slowly expanding phase (namely, Genesis) with increasing energy density is followed by slow-roll inflation. The spectrum of the primordial perturbation may be simulated numerically, which shows itself a l…
Making use of the T-duality symmetry of superstring theory, and of the double geometry from Double Field Theory, we argue that cosmological singularities of a homogeneous and isotropic universe disappear. In fact, an apparent big bang singularity in Einstein gravity corresponds to a universe expanding to infinite size in the dual dimensions.
We derive the equations of motion for scalar metric perturbations in a particular nonsingular bouncing cosmology, where the big bang singularity is replaced by a spacetime defect with a degenerate metric. The adiabatic perturbation solution is obtained for nonrelativistic hydrodynamic matter. We get the same result by working with conformal coordinates. This last method is also valid for vector and tensor metric perturbations, and selected results are presented. We, finally, discuss several new effects from the linear perturbations of this nonsingular bouncing cosmology, such as across-bounce …
We show that a nonsingular bounce, free of ghosts and gradient instabilities, can be realized in the framework of Horndeski or generalized Galileon cosmology. In particular, we first review that the theoretical no-go theorem, which states that the above is impossible, is based on two very strong assumptions, namely that a particular quantity cannot be discontinuous during the bounce, and that there is only one bounce. However, as we show in the present work, the first assumption not only can be violated in a general Horndeski/Galileon scenario, but also it is necessarily violated at the bounce…
We examine reheating in the two-field matter bounce cosmology. In this model, the universe evolves from a matter-dominated phase of contraction to an Ekpyrotic phase of contraction before the nonsingular bounce. The Ekpyrotic phase frees the model from unwanted anisotropies, but leaves the universe cold and empty of particles after the bounce. For this reason, we explore two particle production mechanisms which take place during the course of the cosmological evolution: Parker particle production where the matter field couples only to gravity and particle creation via interactions between the …
We investigate a particular type of classical nonsingular bouncing cosmology, which results from general relativity if we allow for degenerate metrics. The simplest model has a matter content with a constant equation-of-state parameter and we get the modified Hubble diagrams for both the luminosity distance and the angular diameter distance. Based on these results, we present a Gedankenexperiment to determine the length scale of the spacetime defect which has replaced the big bang singularity. A possibly more realistic model has an equation-of-state parameter which is different before and afte…
New Planck scale physics may solve the singularity problems of classical general relativity and may lead to interesting consequences for very early Universe cosmology. Two approaches to these questions are reviewed in this article. The first is an effective action approach to including the effects of Planck scale physics in the basic framework of general relativity. It is shown that effective actions with improved singularity properties can be constructed. The second approach is based on superstring theory. A scenario which eliminates the big bang singularity and possibly explains the dimensio…
We study spatially homogeneous and isotropic solutions to the equations of motion derived from dilaton gravity, in the presence of a special combination of higher derivative terms in the gravitational action. All solutions are nonsingular. For initial conditions resembling those in the pre-big-bang scenario, there are solutions corresponding to a spatially flat, bouncing Universe originating in a dilaton-dominated contracting phase and emerging as an expanding Friedmann Universe.
We confront various nonsingular bouncing cosmologies with the recently released BICEP2 data and investigate the observational constraints on their parameter space. In particular, within the context of the effective field approach, we analyze the constraints on the matter bounce curvaton scenario with a light scalar field, and the new matter bounce cosmology model in which the universe successively experiences a period of matter contraction and an ekpyrotic phase. Additionally, we consider three nonsingular bouncing cosmologies obtained in the framework of modified gravity theories, namely the …
We propose a mechanism borrowed from string theory which yields a non-singular transition from a phase of Ekpyrotic contraction to the expanding phase of Standard Big Bang cosmology. The same mechanism converts the initial vacuum spectrum of cosmological fluctuations before the bounce into a scale-invariant one, and also changes the spectrum of gravitational waves into an almost scale-invariant one. The scalar and tensor tilts are predicted to be the same, in contrast to the predictions from the "String Gas Cosmology" scenario. The amplitude of the gravitational wave spectrum depends on the ra…
In this paper, we will study the rainbow deformation of the FRW cosmology in both Einstein gravity and Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We will demonstrate that the singularity in the FRW cosmology can be removed because of the rainbow deformation of the FRW metric. We will obtain the general constraints required for the FRW cosmology to be free from singularities. It will be observed that the inclusion of Gauss-Bonnet gravity can significantly change the constraints required to obtain a nonsingular universes. We will use a rainbow functions motivated from the hard spectra of gamma-ray bursts to deform t…
We study a nonsingular bounce inflation model, which can drive the early universe from a contracting phase, bounce into an ordinary inflationary phase, followed by the reheating process. Besides the bounce that avoided the Big-Bang singularity which appears in the standard cosmological scenario, we make use of the Horndesky theory and design the kinetic and potential forms of the lagrangian, so that neither of the two big problems in bouncing cosmology, namely the ghost and the anisotropy problems, will appear. The cosmological perturbations can be generated either in the contracting phase or …
The observed value of the Higgs mass indicates an instability of the Higgs scalar at large energy scales, and hence also at large field values. In the context of early universe cosmology, this is often considered to lead to problems. Here we point out that we can use the instability of the Higgs field to generate an Ekpyrotic phase of contraction. In the context of string theory it is possible that at very high energy densities extra states become massless, leading to an S-brane which leads to the transition between a contracting phase in the past and the current expanding phase. Thus, the Hig…
The quantum cosmological version of a nonsingular Universe presented by Mukhanov and Brandenberger in the early nineties has been developed and the Hamilton Jacobi equation has been found under semiclassical (WKB) approximation. It has been pointed out that, parameterization of classical trajectories with semiclassical time parameter, for such a classically constrained system, is a nontrivial task and requires Lagrangian formulation rather than the Hamiltonian formalism.
We study massive spin-1/2 fermion production in nonsingular superstring cosmology, taking into account one-loop quantum corrections to a superstring effective action with dilaton and modulus fields. While no creation occurs in the massless limit, massive fermions can be produced by the existence of a time-dependent frequency. Due to the increase of the Hubble expansion rate during the modulus-driven phase, the occupation of number of fermions continues to grow until the point of the graceful exit, after which fermion creation ceases with the decrease of the Hubble rate.
We examine the dynamics of FLRW cosmologies in which the vacuum interacts with a perfect fluid through an energy exchange, focusing on the exploration of nonsingular configurations, including cyclic and bouncing models. We consider two specific choices for the energy transfer. In the first case, the energy transfer is proportional to a linear combination of the vacuum and fluid energy densities which makes the conservation equations exactly integrable. The resulting Friedmann equation can be interpreted as an energy constraint equation with an effective potential for the scale factor that may …
The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity removes the constraint of general relativity that the affine connection be symmetric by regarding its antisymmetric part, the torsion tensor, as a dynamical variable. The minimal coupling between the torsion tensor and Dirac spinors generates a spin-spin interaction which is significant in fermionic matter at extremely high densities. We show that such an interaction averts the unphysical big-bang singularity, replacing it with a cusp-like bounce at a finite minimum scale factor, before which the Universe was contracting. This scenario also e…
The thermodynamic behavior of a decaying vacuum cosmology describing the entire cosmological history evolving between two extreme (early and late time) de Sitter eras is investigated. The thermal evolution from the early de Sitter to the radiation phase is discussed in detail. The temperature evolution law and the increasing entropy function are analytically determined. The entropy of the effectively massless particles is initially zero but evolves continuously to the present day maximum value within the current Hubble radius, $S_0 \sim 10^{88}$ in natural units. By using the Gibbons-Hawking t…
We consider the theory obtained by adding to the usual string frame dilaton gravity action specially constructed higher derivative terms motivated by the limited curvature construction of [MukhanovET1992a] and determine the spatially homogeneous and isotropic solutions to the resulting equations of motion. All solutions of the resulting theory of gravity with these symmetries are nonsingular and all curvature invariants are bounded. For initial conditions inspired by the pre-big-bang scenario solutions exist which correspond to a spatially flat Universe starting in a dilaton-dominated superinf…
In this paper, we describe physical effects occurring in the regularized Robertson-Walker spacetime which can reveal the presence of the defect. Our analysis is based on two main physical quantities: the compressive forces acting on (human) observers and the energy possessed by massive particles and photons during their dynamical evolution. In Sec. 3, we claim that with a characteristic length scale of the order of the Planck length compressive forces become so intense near the defect that no (human) observer is able to cross it. In Sec. 4, we show that the energy exhibits an unusual character…
We present a nonsingular bouncing cosmology using single scalar field matter with non-trivial potential and non-standard kinetic term. The potential sources a dynamical attractor solution with Ekpyrotic contraction which washes out small amplitude anisotropies. At high energy densities the field evolves into a ghost condensate, leading to a nonsingular bounce. Following the bounce there is a smooth transition to standard expanding radiation and matter dominated phases. Using linear cosmological perturbation theory we track each Fourier mode of the curvature fluctuation throughout the entire co…
One of the fundamental open questions in cosmology is whether we can regard the universe evolution without singularity like a Big Bang or a Big Rip. This challenging subject stimulates one to regard a nonsingular universe in the far past with an arbitrarily large vacuum energy. Considering the high energy regime in the cosmic history, it is believed that Einstein gravity should be corrected to an effective energy dependent theory which could be acquired by gravity's rainbow. On the other hand, employing massive gravity provided us with solutions to some of the long standing fundamental problem…
We provide a cosmological implementation of the evolutionary quantum gravity, describing an isotropic Universe, in the presence of a negative cosmological constant and a massive (preinflationary) scalar field. We demonstrate that the considered Universe has a nonsingular quantum behavior, associated to a primordial bounce, whose ground state has a high occupation number. Furthermore, in such a vacuum state, the super-Hamiltonian eigenvalue is negative, corresponding to a positive emerging dust energy density. The regularization of the model is performed via a polymer quantum approach to the Un…
We study the cosmology of a Lee-Wick type scalar field theory. First, we consider homogeneous and isotropic background solutions and find that they are nonsingular, leading to cosmological bounces. Next, we analyze the spectrum of cosmological perturbations which result from this model. Unless either the potential of the Lee-Wick theory or the initial conditions are finely tuned, it is impossible to obtain background solutions which have a sufficiently long period of inflation after the bounce. More interestingly, however, we find that in the generic non-inflationary bouncing cosmology, pertur…
We consider the process of magnetogenesis in the context of nonsingular bounce cosmology. We show that large primordial magnetic fields can be generated during contraction without encountering strong coupling and backreaction issues. The fields may seed large-scale magnetic fields with observationally interesting strengths. This result leads to a theoretical constraint on the relation of the energy scale of the bounce cosmology to the number of effective e-folding of the contracting phase in the case of scale invariance for the power spectrum of primordial magnetic fields. We show that this co…
We review some recent results concerning the properties of a spherically symmetric global monopole in $(D=d+2)$-dimensional general relativity. Some common features of monopole solutions are found independently of the choice of the symmetry-breaking potential. Thus, the solutions show six types of qualitative behavior and can contain at most one simple horizon. For the standard Mexican hat potential, we analytically find the $D$-dependent range of $γ$ (the gravitational field strength parameter) in which there exist globally regular solutions with a monotonically growing Higgs field, containin…
It is generically believed that higher-order curvature corrections to the Einstein-Hilbert action might cure the curvature singularities that plague general relativity. Here we consider Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, the only four-dimensional, ghost-free theory with quadratic curvature terms. For any choice of the coupling function and of the scalar potential, we show that the theory does not allow for bouncing solutions in the flat and open Friedmann universe. For the case of a closed universe, using a reverse-engineering method, we explicitly provide a bouncing solution which is never…
In bouncing cosmology, the primordial fluctuations are generated in a cosmic contraction phase before the bounce into the current expansion phase. For a nonsingular bounce, curvature and anisotropy grow rapidly during the bouncing phase, raising questions about the reliability of perturbative analysis. In this paper, we study the evolution of adiabatic perturbations in a nonsingular bounce by nonperturbative methods including numerical simulations of the nonsingular bounce and the covariant formalism for calculating nonlinear perturbations. We show that the bounce is disrupted in regions of th…
We consider a spherically symmetric global monopole in general relativity in $(D=d+2)$-dimensional spacetime. The monopole is shown to be asymptotically flat up to a solid angle defect in case $γ< d-1$, where $γ$ is a parameter characterizing the gravitational field strength. In the range $d-1< γ< 2d(d+1)/(d+2)$ the monopole space-time contains a cosmological horizon. Outside the horizon the metric corresponds to a cosmological model of Kantowski-Sachs type, where spatial sections have the topology ${\R\times §}^d$. In the important case when the horizon is far from the monopole core, the temp…
The big bang singularity of the expanding-universe Friedmann solution of the Einstein gravitational field equation can be regularized by the introduction of a degenerate metric and a nonzero length scale $b$. The result is a nonsingular bounce of the cosmic scale factor with a contracting prebounce phase and an expanding postbounce phase. The corresponding maximum values of the curvature and the energy density occur at the moment of the bounce and are proportional to powers of $1/b$. This article presents a detailed calculation of the dynamics of such a nonsingular bounce. In addition, a compa…
We present a new class of nonsingular bounce cosmology free from instabilities, using a single scalar field coupled to gravity within the framework of the Degenerate Higher-Order Scalar-Tensor (DHOST) theories. In this type of scenarios, the gradient instability that widely exists in nonsingular bounce cosmologies in the framework of scalar-tensor and Horndeski/Galileon theories is removed by the effects of new operators introduced by the DHOST, due to the modification that they later bring about to the dispersion relation of perturbations. Hence, our results demonstrate that there is indeed a…
We consider minimal extensions of the recently proposed Mimetic Dark Matter and show that by introducing a potential for the mimetic non-dynamical scalar field we can mimic nearly any gravitational properties of the normal matter. In particular, the mimetic matter can provide us with inflaton, quintessence and even can lead to a bouncing nonsingular universe. We also investigate the behaviour of cosmological perturbations due to a mimetic matter. We demonstrate that simple mimetic inflation can produce red-tilted scalar perturbations which are largely enhanced over gravity waves.
We investigate the cosmology of a class of model with noncanonical scalar field and matter both in FRW closed and open background. Writing the Einstein Equations in terms of dimensionless dynamical variables suitable for studying bouncing solutions, a fixed point analysis is carried out. Cosmological solutions satisfying the stability and bouncing conditions are obtained.
We discuss an effective field theory background containing the gravitational field, the dilaton and a closed string tachyon, and couple this background to a gas of fundamental strings and D strings. Allowing for the possibility of a non-vanishing dilaton potential of Casimir type, we demonstrate the possibility of obtaining a nonsingular, static tachyon condensate phase with fixed dilaton. The time reversal of our solution provides a candidate effective field theory description of a Hagedorn phase of string gas cosmology with fixed dilaton.
We analyze the early-time isotropic cosmology in the so-called energy-momentum-squared gravity (EMSG). In this theory, a $T_{μν}T^{μν}$ term is added to the Einstein-Hilbert action, which has been shown to replace the initial singularity by a regular bounce. We show that this is not the case, and the bouncing solution obtained does not describe our Universe since it belongs to a different solution branch. The solution branch that corresponds to our Universe, while nonsingular, is geodesically incomplete. We analyze the conditions for having viable regular-bouncing solutions in a general class …
We analytically and numerically show that through the cycles with nonsingular bounce the amplitude of curvature perturbation on large scale will be amplified and the power spectrum will be redden. In some sense, this amplification will eventually destroy the homogeneity of background, which will lead to the ultimate end of cycles of global universe. We argue that for the model with increasing cycles, it might be possible that a fissiparous multiverse will emerge after one or several cycles, in which the cycles will continue only at corresponding local regions.
We study the classical dynamics of black holes during a nonsingular cosmological bounce. Taking a simple model of a nonsingular bouncing cosmology driven by the combination of a ghost and ordinary scalar field, we use nonlinear evolutions of the Einstein equations to follow rotating and non-rotating black holes of different sizes through the bounce. The violation of the null energy condition allows for a shrinking black hole event horizon and we find that for sufficiently large black holes (relative to the minimum Hubble radius) the black hole apparent horizon can disappear during the contract…
A nonsingular bouncing cosmology can be achieved by introducing a fermion field with BCS condensation occurring at high energy scales. In this paper we are able to dilute the anisotropic stress near the bounce by means of releasing the gap energy density near the phase transition between the radiation and condensate states. In order to explain the nearly scale-invariant CMB spectrum, another fermion field is required. We investigate one possible curvaton mechanism by involving one another fermion field without condensation where the mass is lighter than the background field. We show that, by v…
We study the transfer of cosmological perturbations through a nonsingular cosmological bounce in a special model in which the parameters of the bounce and the equation of state of matter are chosen such as to allow for an exact calculation of the evolution of the fluctuations. We find that the growing mode of the metric fluctuations in the contracting phase goes over into the growing mode in the expanding phase, a result which is different from what is obtained in analyses in which fluctuations are matched at a singular hypersurface. Consequences for Ekpyrotic cosmology are discussed in a limi…
We investigate the cosmology of interacting spin-2 particles, formulating the multi-gravitational theory in terms of vierbeins and without imposing any Deser-van Nieuwenhuizen-like constraint. The resulting multi-vierbein theory represents a wider class of gravitational theories if compared to the corresponding multi-metric models. Moreover, as opposed to its metric counterpart which in general seems to contain ghosts, it has already been proved to be ghost-free. We outline a discussion about the possible matter couplings and we focus on the study of cosmological scenarios in the case of three…
Cosmological inflation is not the only early universe scenario consistent with current observational data. I will discuss the criteria for a successful early universe cosmology, compare a couple of the proposed scenarios (inflation, bouncing cosmologies, and the {\it emergent} scenario), focusing on how future observational data will be able to distinguish between them. I will argue that we need to go beyond effective field theory in order to understand the early universe, and that principles of superstring theory will yield a nonsingular cosmology.
We find that general relativity can be naturally free of cosmological singularities. Several nonsingular models are currently available that either assume ad hoc matter contents, or are nonsingular only over a sector of solution space of zero measure, or depart drastically from general relativity at high energies. After much uncertainty over whether cosmological inflation could help solve the initial-singularity problem, the prevailing belief today is that general relativistic cosmology, with inflation or without, is endemically singular. This belief was reinforced by recent singularity theore…
Assuming that curvature perturbations and gravitational waves originally arise from vacuum fluctuations in a matter-dominated phase of contraction, we study the dynamics of the cosmological perturbations evolving through a nonsingular bouncing phase described by a generic single scalar field Lagrangian minimally coupled to Einstein gravity. In order for such a model to be consistent with the current upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, there must be an enhancement of the curvature fluctuations during the bounce phase. We show that, while it remains possible to enlarge the amplitude of c…
We present analytic cosmological solutions in a model of two-dimensional dilaton gravity with back reaction. One of these solutions exhibits a graceful exit from the inflationary to the FRW phase and is nonsingular everywhere. A duality related second solution is found to exist only in the ``pre-big-bang'' epoch and is singular at $τ= 0$. In either case back reaction is shown to play a crucial role in determining the specific nature of these geometries.
A Nonsingular Logarithmic Bouncing Cosmology in $f(R,T)$ Gravity with Thermodynamic Viability
Maharaja Agrasen University(玛哈拉贾阿格拉森大学);S.P.M. Science and Gilani Arts, Commerce College(SPM科学与吉拉尼艺术商业学院);Pacif Institute of Cosmology and Selfology (PICS)(太平洋宇宙学与自我学研究所(PICS));L N Gumilyov Eurasian National University(L.N.古米廖夫欧亚国立大学);Sharda University(沙尔达大学)
These lecture notes intend to form a short pedagogical introduction to inflationary cosmology, highlighting selected areas of recent progress such as reheating and the theory of cosmological perturbations. Problems of principle for inflationary cosmology are pointed out, and some new attempts at solving them are indicated, including a nonsingular Universe construction by means of higher derivative terms in the gravitational action, and the study of back-reaction of cosmological perturbations.
We study cosmological perturbations in mimetic gravity in the presence of classified higher derivative terms which can make the mimetic perturbations stable. We show that the quadratic higher derivative terms which are independent of curvature and the cubic higher derivative terms which come from curvature corrections are sufficient to remove instabilities in mimetic perturbations. The advantage of working with the classified higher derivative terms is that we can control both the background and the perturbation equations allowing us to construct the higher derivative extension of mimetic dark…
We present a dynamical model for a time-asymmetric nonsingular bounce with a post-bounce change of the effective equation-of-state parameter. Specifically, we consider a scalar-field model with a time-reversal-noninvariant effective potential.
In the matter bounce scenario, a dust-dominated contracting space-time generates scale-invariant perturbations that, assuming a nonsingular bouncing cosmology, propagate to the expanding branch and set appropriate initial conditions for the radiation-dominated era. Since this scenario depends on the presence of a bounce, it seems appropriate to consider it in the context of loop quantum cosmology where a bouncing universe naturally arises. For a pressureless collapsing universe in loop quantum cosmology, the predicted power spectrum of the scalar perturbations after the bounce is scale-invaria…
A nonsingular emergent universe cosmology can be realized by a nonconventional spinor field as first developed in \cite{Cai:2012yf}. We study the mechanisms of generating scale-invariant primordial power spectrum of curvature perturbation in the frame of spinor emergent universe cosmology. Particularly, we introduce a light scalar field of which the kinetic term couples to the bilinear of the spinor field. This kinetic coupling can give rise to an effective "Hubble radius" for primordial fluctuations from the scalar field to squeeze at large length scales as well as to form a nearly scale-inva…
Maxwell electrodynamics, considered as a source of the classical Einstein field equations, leads to the singular isotropic Friedmann solutions. We show that this singular behavior does not occur for a class of nonlinear generalizations of the electromagnetic theory. A mathematical toy model is proposed for which the analytical nonsingular extension of FRW solutions is obtained.
String cosmology is revisited from cosmological viewpoint of holographic principle put forward by `t Hooft, and by Fischler and Susskind. It is shown that the holography requires existence of a `graceful exit' mechanism, which renders the Universe nonsingular by connecting pre- and post-big bang phases smoothly. It is proven that flat Universe is consistent with the holography only if it starts with an absolutely cold and vacuous state. Particle entropy produced during the `graceful exit' apparently saturates the holography bound. Open Universe can always satisfy the holography no matter what …
A nonsingular localized static classical solution is constructed for standard Einstein gravity coupled to an $SO(3)\times SO(3)$ chiral model of scalars (Skyrme model). This solution corresponds to a spacetime defect and its construction proceeds in three steps. First, an \textit{Ansatz} is presented for a solution with nonsimply connected topology of the spacetime manifold. Second, an exact vacuum solution of the reduced field equations is obtained. Third, matter fields are included and a particular exact solution of the reduced field equations is found. The latter solution has a diverging to…
It has been shown that in investigating the electromagnetic and meson fields of elementary particles, the effects of gravitational interaction cannot be neglected. The present note is an attempt to find solutions to the equations of the general relativistic gravitational and scalar meson fields of a point nuclear charge. The solution is nonsingular at all points of the gravitational and meson fields. Although it contains several functions whose form is not given, this solution can be used to obtain the potential of the scalar meson field, which is a generalization of the Yukawa potential; furt…
Theoretical arguments and cosmological observations suggest that Einstein's theory of general relativity needs to be modified at high energies. One of the best motivated higher-curvature extensions of general relativity is Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, in which a scalar field is coupled to quadratic curvature invariants. This theory is inspired by an effective string-theory model and its predictions dramatically differ from Einstein's theory in high-curvature regions - such as the interior of black holes and the early universe - where it aims at resolving curvature singularities. In th…