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# 1. Introduction

## 1. Introduction

The search for Supersymmetry (SUSY) is one of the major goals of present and future high–energy colliders. Once SUSY particles are found, it would be of prime importance to study in detail their properties and interactions in order to reconstruct the SUSY Lagrangian. This will be mandatory to decide which SUSY scenario is effectively realized at the low energies probed by experiments and potentially, to derive the structure of the theory at high scales.

The SUSY Lagrangian can be reconstructed by measuring the couplings between the SUSY and the standard particles. Among these, the couplings of sparticles to Higgs bosons are of special importance since they also probe the electroweak symmetry breaking sector and might decide which Higgs scenario is at work. In the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) , two Higgs doublet fields  are needed to break the SU(2)$`\times `$U(1) symmetry, leading to a quintet of Higgs bosons, the lightest of which, the neutral CP–even scalar $`h`$, should have a mass below $`130`$ GeV . The couplings of the Higgs bosons to the SUSY scalar fermions $`\stackrel{~}{f}`$ and to the charginos $`\chi ^\pm `$ and neutralinos $`\chi ^0`$ depend on the soft–SUSY breaking parameters and therefore carry informations on the fundamental SUSY theory.

In the MSSM, the Higgs boson couplings to the charginos $`\chi _{1,2}^\pm `$ and neutralinos $`\chi _{1,\mathrm{},4}^0`$ depend on $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, the ratio of the vev’s of the two Higgs fields, the higgsino parameter $`\mu `$ and the bino and wino mass parameters $`M_1`$ and $`M_2`$ which are linked by the relation $`M_1=\frac{5}{8}\mathrm{tan}^2\theta _WM_2\frac{1}{2}M_2`$ in the minimal Supergravity (mSUGRA)  model where the gaugino masses \[as well as the scalar masses and the trilinear sfermion couplings\] are unified at the GUT scale and where the electroweak symmetry is broken radiatively. For instance, the $`h\chi _1^0\chi _1^0`$ coupling which might be the first to be accessible \[since the $`h`$ boson is light and the neutralino $`\chi _1^0`$ is expected to be the lightest sparticle (LSP) in the MSSM\] is given, in the decoupling limit \[where the $`h`$ boson becomes Standard Model like and all the other Higgs particles are heavy\], by

$`g_{h\chi _i^0\chi _j^0}(Z_{i2}\mathrm{tan}\theta _WZ_{i1})(\mathrm{sin}\beta Z_{j3}+\mathrm{cos}\beta Z_{j4})+ij`$ (1)
with $`i=j=1`$. Here $`Z_{ij}`$ are the elements of the matrix $`Z`$ which diagonalises the $`4\times 4`$ neutralino mass matrix. As can be seen, the $`h`$ boson couples to mixtures of gaugino $`(Z_{i1},Z_{i2})`$ and higgsino $`(Z_{i3},Z_{i4})`$ components of the neutralinos. If the light neutralino $`\chi _1^0`$ were a pure bino \[as is the case in a large part of the mSUGRA model parameter space , in particular when cosmological constraints are incorporated\] or a pure higgsino, the coupling would vanish and thus would be hard to measure experimentally.

The couplings of the $`h`$ boson to sfermion pairs, $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{f}_i\stackrel{~}{f}_j}`$, can be stronger. In the decoupling limit, and in terms of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, $`\mu `$ and the trilinear coupling $`A_f`$, the (normalized) diagonal and non–diagonal $`h`$–sfermion couplings read in the MSSM \[$`s_{\theta _f}=\mathrm{sin}\theta _f,c_{\theta _f}=\mathrm{cos}\theta _f`$, etc …\]

$`\left(\begin{array}{c}g_{h\stackrel{~}{f}_1\stackrel{~}{f}_1}\\ g_{h\stackrel{~}{f}_2\stackrel{~}{f}_2}\end{array}\right)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{cos}2\beta \left[I_f^3\left(\begin{array}{c}c_{\theta _f}^2\\ s_{\theta _f}^2\end{array}\right)e_fs_W^2c_{2\theta _f}\right]+{\displaystyle \frac{m_f^2}{M_Z^2}}\pm {\displaystyle \frac{s_{2\theta _f}m_f}{2M_Z^2}}[A_f\mu (\mathrm{tan}\beta )^{2I_f^3}]`$ (6)
$`g_{h\stackrel{~}{f}_1\stackrel{~}{f}_2}`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{cos}2\beta s_{2\theta _f}[e_fs_W^2I_f^3/2]+c_{2\theta _f}m_f[A_f\mu (\mathrm{tan}\beta )^{2I_f^3}]/(2M_Z^2)`$ (7)
where $`I_f^3`$ is the weak isospin and $`e_f`$ the electric charge of the sfermion $`\stackrel{~}{f}`$ and $`\theta _f`$ the mixing angle between the left and right–handed sfermions $`\stackrel{~}{f}_L`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{f}_R`$ \[which as for the sfermion masses $`m_{\stackrel{~}{f}_1}`$ and $`m_{\stackrel{~}{f}_2}`$, are given in terms of the three parameters above and the soft–SUSY breaking scalar masses $`m_{\stackrel{~}{f}_L}`$ and $`m_{\stackrel{~}{f}_R}`$\]; $`s_W^2=1c_W^2\mathrm{sin}^2\theta _W`$. For first and second generation sfermions, as apparent from eq. (2), these couplings are relatively tiny since $`m_f`$ and the mixing angle $`\theta _f`$ are small, and the term proportional to $`\mathrm{cos}2\beta `$ is not enhanced.

The couplings of Higgs bosons to the third generation squarks, $`\stackrel{~}{t}`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{b}`$, can be much larger and potentially measurable in the associated Higgs+squark production process at proton or $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders, as discussed in Refs. . In this paper, we will investigate the prospects of measuring the lightest CP–even Higgs boson couplings to sleptons which can be best performed in the clean environment of future high–energy $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders111In this paper, we will not discuss the case of the heavier MSSM Higgs bosons since the associated production processes are less favored by phase space. In addition, we will stick to $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders, since at hadron colliders, the cross section for (electroweak) Higgs–slepton production is relatively much smaller than the potential backgrounds, and the signal would be more complicated to extract. . Contrary to the squark case, the measurement of these couplings can be performed in two ways:

$`i)`$ In the production of LSP pairs, $`e^+e^{}\chi _1^0\chi _1^0`$, which is the first kinematically accessible SUSY process in $`e^+e^{}`$ collisions, the $`h`$ boson can be emitted not only for the final $`\chi _1^0`$ lines but also from the selectrons which are exchanged in the $`t`$ and $`u`$ channels. The production cross section for the $`e^+e^{}\chi _1^0\chi _1^0h`$ associated process thus involves the $`h\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}`$ couplings.

$`ii)`$ In the production of selectrons $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}^{}`$ or sneutrinos $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e^{}`$, the Higgs bosons can be emitted from both the final slepton lines or from, respectively, the neutralinos and charginos which are exchanged in the $`t`$–channels; the production cross sections are then in principle proportional to complicated combinations of the Higgs couplings to sleptons and neutralino/chargino states. In the case of smuons and staus and their corresponding sneutrinos, there is no gaugino exchange channels and the processes $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{l}\stackrel{~}{l}^{}h`$ are mediated by $`s`$–channel $`(\gamma )Z`$ exchange with the Higgs boson emitted from the slepton lines. Up to the small contribution of the diagrams where the $`h`$ boson is emitted from the $`Z`$–boson line \[see later\] the cross sections are directly proportional to the square of the $`h\stackrel{~}{l}\stackrel{~}{l}`$ couplings which would be then, in principle, measurable in these processes.

In this paper we analyze the prospects of measuring the Higgs–slepton couplings at high–energy and high–luminosity $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders. In Sections 2 and 3, we discuss the associated production of the $`h`$ boson with, respectively, the lightest neutralinos and selectron/sneutrino states. In Section 4 we focus on the case of stau leptons where the cross sections, in both $`e^+e^{}`$ and $`\gamma \gamma `$ options of the $`e^+e^{}`$ collider, will be shown to be potentially large. Some conclusions will be given in the final Section 5.

## 2. Higgs boson production in association with neutralinos

The Feynman diagrams contributing to the production of the lightest CP–even Higgs boson in association with neutralino pairs is shown in Fig. 1 \[the diagrams where the $`h`$ boson is emitted from the electron and positron lines give negligible contributions\]. A first class of contributions (1a) is formed by diagrams where the Higgs boson is emitted from the neutralino states, the latter being produced through $`s`$–channel $`Z`$ boson exchange and $`t`$–channel left– and right–handed selectron exchange. A second class (1b) is formed by the Higgs–strahlung production process, where the $`Z`$ boson is virtual and splits into two neutralinos. Finally, a third class (1c) consists of the diagrams where the Higgs boson is emitted from the internal selectron lines. The cross section will therefore depend on the $`h`$ boson couplings to both the neutralinos and sleptons.

Figure 1: Feynman diagrams contributing to the $`e^+e^{}h\chi _1^0\chi _1^0`$ production process.

If the higgsino mass parameter $`\mu `$ is much larger than the bino and wino mass parameters $`M_1`$ and $`M_2`$, $`|\mu |M_1`$, the lightest neutralino is a pure bino and its mass is given by $`m_{\chi _1^0}M_1`$. In this case, the neutralino couplings to the $`h`$ boson, eq. (1), as well as to the $`Z`$–boson, $`g_{\chi _i^0\chi _j^0Z}^{L,R}(Z_{i3}Z_{j3}Z_{i4}Z_{j4})`$, are small. The only diagram which would contribute to the production rate is then diagram (1c) where the Higgs boson is emitted from the selectron lines. The cross section will then be proportional only to the couplings $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}}`$. For these couplings, one can set $`m_e=0`$ and vanishing mixing angle and only the first term $`\mathrm{cos}2\beta `$ will be present. For large values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ \[which are required to maximize the $`h`$ boson mass and to evade the experimental constraint from LEP2 searches , Mh

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113.5M_{h}\raisebox{-3.69899pt}{~{}\shortstack{$>$ \\
[-0.07cm] $\sim$}}~{}113.5 GeV in the decoupling regime\] $`\mathrm{cos}2\beta 1`$ and one has $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{l}_i\stackrel{~}{l}_j}=\delta _{ij}(I_l^3e_ls_W^2)/(s_Wc_W)`$. Note that because $`s_W^21/4`$, the $`h`$ couplings to left– and right–handed selectrons are almost equal \[in absolute value\] and equal to half of the $`h\stackrel{~}{\nu }\stackrel{~}{\nu }`$ coupling. \[If the neutralino $`\chi _1^0`$ were a pure higgsino, i.e. $`\mu M_1`$, the $`h`$$`\chi _1^0`$$`\chi _1^0`$ as well as the $`\stackrel{~}{e}`$$`e`$$`\chi _1^0`$ couplings would vanish; the only diagram which would contribute to the process $`e^+e^{}h\chi _1^0\chi _1^0`$ would be the diagram (1b) which does not involve any Higgs coupling to superparticles\].

We have calculated the cross section $`\sigma (e^+e^{}\chi _1^0\chi _1^0h)`$ and the results at $`\sqrt{s}=500`$ and 800 GeV, for selected values of the LSP and selectron masses, are given in Table 1. We have assumed that the LSP neutralino is a pure bino so that $`m_{\chi _1^0}=M_1`$ and $`Z_{11}=1`$ and we used the approximation $`m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_L}=m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_R}=m_{\stackrel{~}{e}}`$; we have fixed the other parameters so that $`M_h=120`$ GeV and $`\mathrm{cos}2\beta =1`$ as will be the case in the large $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ limit, $`\mathrm{tan}\beta 50`$, adopted in this analysis. As can be seen, even for very small masses of these superparticles, $`m_{\chi _1^0}50`$ GeV and $`m_{\stackrel{~}{e}_{L,R}}100`$ GeV \[close to the experimental bounds from negative searches at LEP2\], the cross section hardly reaches the level of $`10^2`$ fb for a c.m. energy $`\sqrt{s}=500`$ GeV and even smaller at higher energies. This means that even with the integrated luminosities, $`=500`$ fb-1, expected at these machines, only a handful of events can be generated in this process. The couplings $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}}`$ will therefore be very difficult to measure in this mechanism.

## 3. Higgs production in association with selectrons and sneutrinos

The processes $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}^{}h`$ and $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e^{}h`$ are generated by the diagrams of Fig. 2 where the neutralinos $`\chi _{1,\mathrm{},4}^0`$ and the charginos $`\chi _{1,2}^\pm `$ are exchanged in the $`t`$–channel, respectively. In the latter case, only the $`Z`$ boson is exchanged in the $`s`$–channel diagrams. If the lightest neutralinos and chargino are higgsino–like, the contributions from the $`t`$–channel diagrams are very small since $`\chi _{1,2}^0`$ and $`\chi _1^\pm `$ have couplings proportional to $`m_e`$ \[only the heavier ino states would contribute but the cross sections are then suppressed since these particles are heavier\]. In this case, the production cross sections are approximately the same as for associated Higgs production with $`\stackrel{~}{\mu }`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ \[in the case of no–mixing\] and the corresponding sneutrinos, since for these particles there is no $`t`$–channel exchange diagram. If the $`\chi _{1,2}^0`$ and $`\chi _1^\pm `$ particles are gaugino–like all diagrams would contribute \[and one can neglect the contribution of the heavier chargino and neutralino states which are higgsino–like\]. In the mixed gaugino–higgsino region, where the Higgs boson couplings to neutralinos and charginos are sizeable, the last diagrams of Fig. 2a has to be taken into account; since we are interested only in the Higgs–slepton coupling, we will not discuss this region here.

Figure 2: The Feynman diagrams contributing to the production of the lightest Higgs boson in association with sleptons, $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{l}\stackrel{~}{l}^{}h`$.

Some values of the cross sections for the associated production processes $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}^{}h`$, $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e^{}h`$ as well as $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\mu }\stackrel{~}{\mu }^{}h`$ and $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\mu \stackrel{~}{\nu }_\mu ^{}h`$ are displayed in Table 2 for selected values of the LSP and slepton masses at c.m. energies of 500 and 800 GeV. We have summed the cross sections over possible chiral combinations of final state sleptons and as previously, have chosen a common mass $`m_{\stackrel{~}{l}}`$ for all sleptons. The numbers in the cases of the $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}^{}h`$ and $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e^{}h`$ cross sections are for bino–like LSPs; as mentioned previously; for higgsino–like LSPs, the cross sections are approximately the same as those for the processes $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\mu }\stackrel{~}{\mu }^{}h`$ and $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\mu \stackrel{~}{\nu }_\mu ^{}h`$, respectively.

As can been seen from Table 2, the cross sections for $`\stackrel{~}{e},\stackrel{~}{\mu }`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_\mu `$ final states are also very small, below 0.03 fb at the considered c.m. energies, even for relatively small values of the LSP and slepton masses, $`m_{\chi _1^0}=50`$ GeV and $`m_{\stackrel{~}{l}}=100`$ GeV. Only for $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e^{}h`$ final states, with $`m_{\chi _1^0}`$ and $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e}`$ values close to the bounds indicated by experimental data, that the cross sections can reach the level of $`0.2`$ fb. This is mainly due to the large contribution of the chargino mediated $`t`$–channel diagram \[the charged $`e`$$`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e`$$`\chi _1^\pm `$ coupling is stronger than the neutral $`e`$$`\stackrel{~}{e}`$$`\chi _{1,2}^0`$ couplings involved in selectron production\] and to the fact that $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{\nu }\stackrel{~}{\nu }}^24g_{h\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}}^2`$. However, for such small masses, the sneutrino $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e`$ will dominantly decay into invisible final states, $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\nu _e\chi _1^0`$ and thus remains experimentally undetectable \[recall that here, $`m_{\chi _1^+}2m_{\chi _1^0}`$, and the charged visible decay $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_ee^{}\chi _1^\pm `$ would be phase–space suppressed\].

Thus, the prospects of measuring the Higgs-slepton couplings in these processes are rather gloomy, even for the high–luminosities, $`=500`$ fb-1, expected at the future $`e^+e^{}`$ machines.

## 4. Higgs production in association with staus

The main reason for the smallness of the cross sections for the processes discussed in the previous sections is the smallness of the Higgs–slepton coupling itself. Indeed, compared to the $`h`$ boson coupling to top squarks, $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{t}\stackrel{~}{t}}m_t^2/M_Z^2`$ in the no–mixing case \[i.e. $`A_t\mu \mathrm{cot}\beta 0`$\], the Higgs coupling to selectrons is one order of magnitude smaller than its coupling to top squarks, leading to a two–order of magnitude smaller production cross section $`\sigma (e^+e^{}h\stackrel{~}{e}\stackrel{~}{e}^{})`$ as compared to $`\sigma (e^+e^{}h\stackrel{~}{t}_1\stackrel{~}{t}_1^{})`$. Since the latter hardly reaches the femtobarn level , the results for the production rates in the previous sections were to be expected.

The case of the $`\tau `$ sleptons is drastically different from the one of the other sleptons. Indeed, because of the relatively large value of $`m_\tau `$, the leading component in the $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_i\stackrel{~}{\tau }_i}`$ coupling, eq. (2), is the one proportional to $`\mathrm{sin}2\theta _\tau m_\tau (A_\tau \mu \mathrm{tan}\beta )`$. For large values222Note that large values of $`\mu 𝒪`$ (1 TeV) can be obtained naturally in mSUGRA from the requirement of radiative electroweak symmetry breaking , while very large values of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta 𝒪(50)`$ are favored if one requires Yukawa coupling unification at the GUT scale; see Ref. . of $`\mu `$ and $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ \[or/and extremely large values of $`A_\tau `$\], the mixing in the $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ sector becomes very strong, $`|\mathrm{sin}2\theta _\tau |1`$, leading at the same time, to two important consequences:

$`i)`$ The mass splitting between the two $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ eigenstates becomes large, leading to a $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1`$ state much lighter than the other sleptons; the process $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}h`$ will therefore be more phase space favored than the slepton processes discussed in the previous section.

$`ii)`$ The $`h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1`$ coupling can be strongly enhanced. For instance, for the values $`\mu =500`$ GeV and $`\mathrm{tan}\beta =50`$, leading to $`|\mathrm{sin}2\theta _\tau |1`$, one has $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}2.5`$ compared to $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}0.25`$ in the case of no–mixing. The cross section for $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}h`$ can thus be much larger than those involving selectron, smuon and sneutrino final states.

The cross section333Here we will only deal with the continuum cross section. Another possibility to generate $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}h`$ final states would be to produce mixed $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2^{}`$ pairs in $`e^+e^{}`$ collisions, with the heavier $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2`$ decaying into a $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1h`$ final state. This two–step process, however, needs large enough phase space so that the heavier $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2`$ eigenstate can be produced; in addition the branching ratio for the decay $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1h`$ is small since in the large mixing case, the coupling $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2}`$, eq. (2), is close to zero. for the process $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}h`$ is similar to that of the associated production of the $`h`$ boson with top squarks  after appropriate replacements of the couplings, charge and color factors. At high energies and when the $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}`$ coupling is large, the cross section can be approximated by the sole contribution from the photon exchange diagrams with $`h`$ emitted from the slepton lines. This is due to the fact that both of the couplings $`g_{Z\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}`$ and $`g_{h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2}`$ are proportional, in the large mixing case $`|\mathrm{sin}2\theta _\tau |1`$, to $`s_W^21/4`$ which is close to zero for $`s_W^20.23`$, and one can safely neglect the contributions of the $`Z`$–exchange diagrams and those involving $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2`$ virtual states. In this case, the Dalitz plot density is given by the very simple formula:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}\sigma }{\mathrm{d}x_1x_2}}={\displaystyle \frac{\alpha \sigma _0}{16\pi s_W^2c_W^2}}{\displaystyle \frac{M_Z^2}{s}}g_{h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}^2[{\displaystyle \frac{12x_1+4\mu _{\stackrel{~}{\tau }}}{(1x_1)^2}}+{\displaystyle \frac{x_1+x_21+2\mu _h4\mu _{\stackrel{~}{\tau }}}{(1x_1)(1x_2)}}+x_1x_2]`$ (8)
where $`x_{1,2}`$ are the reduced energies of the $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1,\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}`$ final states, $`x_{1,2}=2E_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1,\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}}/\sqrt{s}`$ and $`\mu _i`$ the reduced mass squared, $`\mu _i=M_i^2/s`$; $`\sigma _0=4\pi \alpha ^2/3s`$ is the QED point–like cross section.

The $`e^+e^{}h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}`$ cross sections in Fig. 3 are shown444For the numerical analysis, we have used the complete formula for the cross section, including the small contributions from the diagrams where the $`h`$ boson is emitted from the $`Z`$–line and with the exchange of $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2`$. as a function of the $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1`$ mass for two c.m. energies, $`\sqrt{s}=500`$ and 800 GeV. We have fixed the $`h`$ boson mass to $`M_h=120`$ GeV and the SUSY parameters to: $`\mathrm{tan}\beta =50,\mu =A_\tau =500`$ GeV and varied the soft–SUSY breaking $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ masses, $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_L}m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_R}`$, to vary $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}`$. As can be seen, for relatively small $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}`$ values, the cross section can exceed $`0.2`$ fb, leading to more than 100 events for an expected integrated luminosity $`=500`$ fb-1. The cross section scales quadratically with the parameters $`\mu `$ and $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ and can therefore be larger (smaller) when the values of these parameters are increased (decreased); for instance, for $`\mu 1`$ TeV and $`\mathrm{tan}\beta 50`$, $`\sigma (e^+e^{}h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{})`$ reaches the femtobarn level.

In the case where the main decay mode of the stau would be $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\tau \chi _1^0`$, the final state would consist of a $`b\overline{b}`$ pair \[since the main decay mode of the $`h`$ boson is $`hb\overline{b}`$\] peaking at $`M_h`$ \[which would be precisely measured in the main Higgs production processes\], two tau leptons and a fair amount of missing energy \[when the $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}m_{\chi _1^0}`$ difference is substantial\]:

$`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1h\tau ^+\tau ^{}+b\overline{b}+\mathit{}`$ (9)
This signal would be not too difficult to detect in the clean environment of $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders. A detailed analysis taking into account background and detection efficiencies, which is beyond the scope of this paper, is nevertheless required to assess in which part of the MSSM parameter space this final state can be isolated experimentally.

For completeness, we have also studied the associated production of the $`h`$ boson with $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ sleptons in photon–photon collisions, $`\gamma \gamma h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}`$, since future $`e^+e^{}`$ linear colliders can be turned into high–energy $`\gamma \gamma `$ colliders \[with the photons coming from Compton back–scattering of laser beams\] which may have $`80\%`$ of the c.m. energy and $`50\%`$ of the luminosity available at the original $`e^+e^{}`$ machine . The process $`\gamma \gamma h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}`$ is generated by two diagrams: one with $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1`$ exchanged in the $`t`$–channel and one involving the quartic $`\gamma \gamma \stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}`$ coupling, the $`h`$ boson being emitted from the external and internal slepton lines.

The cross sections for the subprocess555The cross section has, in principle, to be convoluted with the photon spectra; but here for illustration, we will simply tune the energy and the luminosity of the $`\gamma \gamma `$ collider at the maximum. Note that, in the expression of the differential cross section for $`\gamma \gamma h\stackrel{~}{t}_1\stackrel{~}{t}_1^{}`$ given in Ref. , a color factor is missing so that the cross section is three times larger than shown in the corresponding figure. are shown in Fig. 4 for two c.m. energies, $`\sqrt{s}_{\gamma \gamma }=400`$ and 650 GeV, with the same inputs as in Fig. 3. These are almost an order of magnitude larger than the corresponding ones at the $`e^+e^{}`$ mode of the collider for relatively small $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}`$, and reaches the femtobarn level for $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}100`$ GeV for both c.m. energies. For comparable luminosities of the $`\gamma \gamma `$ and $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders, and despite the smaller $`\gamma \gamma `$ c.m. energy, a sizeable number of events might be collected for small $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}`$ and large $`\mathrm{tan}\beta ,\mu `$ values. For instance, at $`\sqrt{s}_{\gamma \gamma }=650`$ GeV, stau masses up to $`m_{\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1}250`$ GeV can be probed for the inputs of Fig. 4, if one requires $`50`$ events for detectability at a luminosity $`_{e^+e^{}}_{\gamma \gamma }500`$ fb-1.

## 5. Conclusions

We have studied the associated production of the lightest $`h`$ boson along with a neutralino or a slepton pair at future $`e^+e^{}`$ colliders in the context of the MSSM. The cross sections for these processes are proportional to the Higgs–slepton couplings and, hence, would allow for their measurements if they are large enough.

It turns out, mainly because of the fact that the couplings of Higgs bosons to first and second generation charged sleptons as well as to sneutrinos are rather tiny, the cross sections for these associated production processes are too small to generate a sufficient number of events, even with the large luminosity expected at these colliders. An exception might be the process $`e^+e^{}\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e^{}h`$ which, because of the large contribution from the $`t`$–channel chargino exchange, might have cross sections at the level of $`0.2`$ fb, for $`\chi _1^\pm `$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\nu }_e`$ mass values not much beyond the present experimental bounds.

In contrast, the couplings of the $`h`$ boson to $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ pairs can be sizeable for large values of the parameters $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ and $`\mu `$, leading to reasonably large $`e^+e^{}h\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1^{}`$ production cross sections for not too heavy $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1`$, in particular at the $`\gamma \gamma `$ option of the $`e^+e^{}`$ collider. The determination of the $`h\stackrel{~}{\tau }\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$ coupling would provide a very important information on the SUSY Lagrangian. Indeed, the fact that this coupling is proportional to $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$, can be exploited to measure this fundamental parameter which is, otherwise \[in contrast to the case of the parameter $`\mu `$, for instance\], very difficult to be determined in other processes when it is rather large666Indeed, the parameter $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ can be directly measured only in the associated production of the pseudoscalar $`A`$ boson with $`b\overline{b}`$ pairs  for small $`A`$ masses, MA

<
[-0.07cm]
100subscript𝑀𝐴

<
[-0.07cm]
100M_{A}\raisebox{-3.69899pt}{~{}\shortstack{$<$ \\
[-0.07cm] $\sim$}}~{}100 GeV. The value of $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ is difficult to determine from chargino/neutralino production  for tanβ

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[-0.07cm]
10𝛽

>
[-0.07cm]
10\tan\beta\raisebox{-3.69899pt}{~{}\shortstack{$>$ \\
[-0.07cm] $\sim$}}~{}10 since, in this case, the observables depend only on $`\mathrm{cos}2\beta `$ which becomes flat for $`\beta \pi /2`$. In sfermion, in particular $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }`$, production , besides the fact that other parameters \[such as the soft–SUSY breaking scalar masses\] enter the analysis, one needs enough phase–space to produce both $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_1`$ and $`\stackrel{~}{\tau }_2`$ which have a large mass splitting in the large $`\mathrm{tan}\beta `$ and $`\mu `$ scenario..

Acknowledgments: We thank Manuel Drees for discussions. Asesh Datta is supported by a MNERT fellowship; A.D. and J.L.K are supported by the GDR–Supersymétrie and by the European Union under contract HPRN-CT-2000-00149.


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# BA-TH/00-402gr-qc/0101019 Gravitational waves in non-singular string cosmologies

## 1 Introduction

Recent studies, including strong coupling corrections to the string effective action, have provided the pre-Big Bang scenario  with a number of promising models for the transition from the growing to the decreasing curvature regime . However, a crucial question remains: is it possible to test this cosmological scenario and, in particular, to distinguish it from other, more conventional descriptions of the very early Universe?

The answer to this essential question is in principle positive, since the pre-Big Bang scenario incorporates a dilaton field which modifies the standard inflationary kinematics and which, through its non-minimal coupling, also directly modifies the evolution of perturbations (of the metric, and of the other background fields) . It is well known, on the other hand, that the transition from an inflationary period to the usual Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) phase amplifies tensor metric perturbations, and is associated with the production of a stochastic background of relic gravitational waves .

Such a primordial background decouples from matter immediately below the Planck scale, unlike the electromagnetic radiation which underwent a complicated history until recombination, and has been transmitted almost unperturbed down to our present epoch. As a consequence, its present spectrum should be a faithful portrait of the very early universe , thus opening a window for the observation of processes occurring near to the Planck scale, and for discriminating among various models of primordial evolution.

In the context of string cosmology, several mechanisms may contribute to the generation of gravitational waves from the initial vacuum state. One contribution comes from the process of dynamical dimensional reduction , when the internal dimensions shrink down to a final compactification scale. Another contribution is due to the time-dependence of the dilaton field – and thus of the effective gravitational coupling constant – during the pre-Big Bang phase . Finally, there is the usual contribution arising from the accelerated expansion of the external three-dimensional space. Both the dilaton and the full, higher-dimensional metric thus contribute to the external “pump” field which is responsible for the parametric amplification of tensor metric fluctuations, normalised to an initial vacuum fluctuation spectrum.

With respect to the standard inflationary scenario, the amplification of tensor perturbations in the pre-Big Bang scenario is strongly enhanced for large comoving wavenumber $`k`$ , in such a way that the produced background of gravitational waves could in principle be detected in the near future by various planned experiments . Arguments in favour of this conclusion arise from the particular kinematics of string cosmology. First, since the Hubble parameter is increasing in the pre-Big Bang phase, higher frequency modes will cross the horizon at higher values of $`|H|`$, which implies that the amplitude of the spectrum increases with frequency. In this context, the comoving amplitude of perturbations may grow even outside the horizon , instead of being frozen as happens in standard inflation. Second, the peak amplitude of the spectrum (naturally located in the high frequency regime, near the end point of the spectrum) is normalised so as to match the string scale , i.e. nearly eight orders of magnitude above the high frequency normalisation of the standard scenario . Hence, the pre-Big Bang phase could lead to a very efficient production of gravitons in the sensitivity range of present gravitational antenna. In fact such a relic background could be in principle be detected by the second (planned) generation of interferometric detectors .

To date, extended studies of tensor perturbations have been mostly performed in the context of the tree-level effective action, with and without the possible contribution of a high curvature stringy phase. In all cases the background cosmologies that have been investigated have been singular, i.e. the curvature and dilaton have become singular at some fixed proper time. There have been a number of suggested ways to tackle the singularity problem, considering also anisotropic  and inhomogeneous  backgrounds, or the presence of a non-local dilaton potential . However, if we confine our attention to homogeneous and isotropic metrics, and to a local potential, one of the most promising approaches to the graceful exit problem  suggests that the curvature singularities may be cured by adding higher-order corrections to the string effective action (see for instance ). These include both higher-derivative $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections, due to finite-size effects, and quantum corrections, due to the loop expansion in the string coupling parameter. In the context of cosmological perturbation theory, it is known  that such corrections may induce an additional amplification when the curvature becomes large in string units. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to discuss the evolution and the spectrum of tensor perturbations in the context of a class of non-singular cosmological backgrounds, by taking into account (in the perturbation equation) the full contribution of those corrections that are responsible for the regularisation of the background evolution. In this way it will be possible (for the first time, to the best of our knowledge) to follow the complete evolution of perturbations, from the initial vacuum down to the present time, through a continuous numerical integration of the linearised perturbation equations.

The paper is organised as follows. In Section 2 we recall the general form of the first order $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections arising in the context of the massless bosonic sector of the low-energy heterotic string action. We extend them by including possible one- and two-loop quantum corrections, and we write down the corresponding background equations. In Section 3 we compute the linearised tensor perturbation equation, including such higher-order corrections. In Section 4 we present a general discussion of the evolution of perturbations in the presence of higher-order curvature corrections. We then check the main points of our discussion through a numerical integration of the perturbation equations for regular backgrounds, by using an appropriate dilaton potential, or particle production effects, to stabilise the dilaton in the post-Big Bang era. We find that the general effect of the higher-order corrections is to flatten the slope of the high-frequency part of the spectrum, but the effect is probably too small – in the class of models discussed in this paper – to make the graviton background “visible” to the planned advanced detectors. The main results of this paper are finally summarised in Section 5.

## 2 Effective action and background equations

In the context of the pre-Big Bang scenario, our present FRW Universe is expected to emerge from the string perturbative vacuum as a consequence of some process – for instance, plane wave collisions  – triggering the gravitational collapse of a sufficiently large portion of spacetime . The initial evolution is driven by the kinetic energy of the dilaton, and can be described, in the string frame, as inflationary expansion with growing coupling and curvature. After reaching a maximal scale controlled by the fundamental string length $`\lambda _S`$, $`|H|𝒪(\lambda _S^1)`$, it is then expected that the Universe is smoothly connected to the FRW regime, with a constant dilaton field.

In the early stage of the dilaton-driven inflationary (DDI) period, strings are propagating in a background of small curvature, and the fields are weakly coupled, so that the cosmological evolution is consistently described by the lowest order string effective action which, by assuming static internal dimensions, can be written as:

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }=\frac{1}{\alpha ^{}}d^4x\sqrt{g}\left\{e^\varphi \left[R+(_\mu \varphi )^2\right]+_c\right\}.$$
(1)
Here $`\alpha ^{}=\lambda _S^2`$, we have adopted the convention $`(,+,+,+)`$, $`R_{\nu \lambda \rho }^\mu =_\rho \mathrm{\Gamma }_{\nu \lambda }^\mu +\mathrm{}`$, $`R_{\nu \rho }=R_{\nu \lambda \rho }^\lambda `$ and set our units such that $`\mathrm{}=c=16\pi G=1`$. Following , we have introduced an additional lagrangian $`_c`$ allowing for the inclusion of higher-order corrections to the tree-level effective action, a non-perturbative potential – yet to be determined – and/or the backreaction of the produced radiation. Considering this additional lagrangian as an independent source we shall assume that the associated energy-momentum tensor is diagonal, homogeneous and isotropic, and can be written in the perfect fluid form as $`T_\nu ^\mu =\mathrm{diag}(\rho _c,p_c,p_c,p_c)`$.

The resulting equations of motion for the background are obtained from the variation of Eq. (1) with respect to the metric and the dilaton field:

$`6H^26H\dot{\varphi }+\dot{\varphi }^2`$ $`=`$ $`e^\varphi \rho _c,`$ (2)
$`4\dot{\varphi }H4\dot{H}6H^2\dot{\varphi }^2+2\ddot{\varphi }`$ $`=`$ $`e^\varphi p_c,`$ (3)
$`6\dot{H}+12H^2+\dot{\varphi }^22\ddot{\varphi }6\dot{\varphi }H`$ $`=`$ $`e^\varphi \mathrm{\Delta }_\varphi ,`$ (4)
$`\dot{\rho _c}+3H(\rho _c+p_c)`$ $`=`$ $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\varphi \dot{\varphi }.`$ (5)
A dot represents the differentiation with respect to proper time $`t`$ and $`H=\dot{a}/a`$ is the Hubble parameter. $`\mathrm{\Delta }_\varphi `$ arises from the variation of the additional lagrangian with respect to $`\varphi `$. Finally, Eq. (5) is the conservation equation, a direct consequence of Eq. (2)–Eq. (4).

To lowest order, the homogeneous and isotropic version of the pre-Big Bang scenario, without non-local dilaton potential, inevitably faces a curvature and dilaton singularity at the end of the DDI phase. However, a singular behaviour is often a late manifestation of the breakdown of the description, extended beyond its domain of validity. Hence, the low-energy dynamics should be supplemented by corrections, in order to give a reliable description of the high curvature regime, expected to be crossed before reaching the FRW universe. Such corrections are generally of two types: tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections, referring to the finite size of the string, and quantum corrections, resulting from a more conventional loop expansion in the string coupling parameter.

It has been shown in  that the higher curvature $`\alpha ^{}`$ terms, arising from the expansion around the point-particle limit, may eventually stabilise the evolution of the Universe into a de-Sitter like regime of constant curvature $`H𝒪(\lambda _S^1)`$ and linearly growing (in cosmic time) dilaton. In this paper we will consider the most general tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections to the gravi-dilaton string action up to fourth-order in derivatives (see  for a detailed analysis), which can be written in the form :

$$_\alpha ^{}=\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^\varphi \left\{c_1R_{GB}^2+c_2G^{\mu \nu }_\mu \varphi _\nu \varphi +c_3\mathrm{}\varphi (_\mu \varphi )^2+c_4(_\mu \varphi )^4\right\},$$
(6)
$$c_1=1,c_2+2(c_3+c_4)=2c_1.$$
(7)
The constraint Eq. (7) on the coefficients is required so that the action reproduces the usual string scattering amplitudes . The parameter $`\lambda _0`$ allows us to move between different string models, and we will later use $`\lambda _0=1/4`$ to agree with previous studies of the heterotic string . Finally, $`R_{GB}^2=R_{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }R^{\mu \nu \lambda \rho }4R_{\mu \nu }R^{\mu \nu }+R^2`$ is the Gauss-Bonnet combination, guaranteeing the absence of derivatives higher than two in the equations of motion.

Another conventional expansion of the string effective action is controlled by the string coupling parameter, $`g_{string}^2=e^\varphi `$. Initially, $`g_{string}^21`$. However, the growth of the dilaton during the DDI era implies that the late evolution of the background could be dominated by quantum loop corrections, which will eventually force the universe to escape from the fixed point determined by the $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections , for a smooth connection to the post-Big Bang regime. Unfortunately, there is as yet no definitive calculation of the full loop expansion in string theory, so we are left to speculate on plausible terms that will eventually make up the loop contribution. Multiplying each term of the tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ correction by a suitable power of the string coupling is the approach which has already met with some success , and which we shall adopt also in this paper. Since the quantum corrections are not formally derived from an explicit computation, we shall allow for different coefficients $`d_i`$ ($`e_i`$) at one-loop (two-loop) in the string coupling, replacing the coefficients $`c_i`$ of the tree-level action, where $`d_i`$ and $`e_i`$ are not necessarily subject to the constraint Eq. (7). With such assumptions, the effective lagrangian density $`_c`$ of Eq. (1), which is in general the sum of the tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ and loop corrections, $`_c=_\alpha ^{}+_g`$, in the present case will take the form

$$_c=_\alpha ^{}(c_i)+Ae^\varphi _\alpha ^{}(d_i)+Be^{2\varphi }_\alpha ^{}(e_i),$$
(8)
where $`_\alpha ^{}(c_i)`$ is given by Eq. (6), with the constant parameters $`A`$ and $`B`$ actually controlling the onset of the loop corrections.

The very similarity between the first order $`\alpha ^{}`$ and loop corrections enables a simple form for their contributions to the background equations of motion. From now on, we introduce an additional parameter $`n`$ in the exponential of the correction $`_c`$, such that $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections correspond to $`n=0`$, whereas one- or two-loop corrections correspond to $`n=1`$ and $`n=2`$ respectively. For instance, using the notation $`\{\mathrm{}\}_1`$ to represent the one-loop contribution ($`n=1`$ inside the brackets), we easily get the source terms for the system Eq. (2)–Eq. (4):

$`\rho _c`$ $`=`$ $`\{\rho _c\}_0+A\{\rho _c\}_1+B\{\rho _c\}_2,`$ (9)
$`p_c`$ $`=`$ $`\{p_c\}_0+A\{p_c\}_1+B\{p_c\}_2,`$ (10)
$`\mathrm{\Delta }_\varphi `$ $`=`$ $`\{\mathrm{\Delta }_\varphi \}_0+A\{\mathrm{\Delta }_\varphi \}_1+B\{\mathrm{\Delta }_\varphi \}_2,`$ (11)
and the terms in brackets are given respectively by:

$`\{\rho _c\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0\dot{\varphi }e^{(n1)\varphi }\left\{24c_1(n1)H^3+9c_2\dot{\varphi }H^2+6c_3\dot{\varphi }^2H\left[c_3(n1)3c_4\right]\dot{\varphi }^3\right\},`$
$`\{p_c\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{(n1)\varphi }\{[8c_1(n1)^23c_2]\dot{\varphi }^2H^22c_2(n1)\dot{\varphi }^3H2c_3\dot{\varphi }^2\ddot{\varphi }`$
$`+8c_1(n1)\ddot{\varphi }H^2+16c_1(n1)\dot{\varphi }H\left[\dot{H}+H^2\right]`$
$`4c_2\dot{\varphi }\ddot{\varphi }H2c_2\dot{\varphi }^2\dot{H}+[c_4c_3(n1)]\dot{\varphi }^4\},`$
$`\{\mathrm{\Delta }_\varphi \}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{(n1)\varphi }\{24c_1(n1)H^2[\dot{H}+H^2]3c_4\dot{\varphi }^2[4\ddot{\varphi }+4\dot{\varphi }H+(n1)\dot{\varphi }^2]`$
$`+c_3\dot{\varphi }[(n1)^2\dot{\varphi }^3+4(n1)\dot{\varphi }\ddot{\varphi }6\dot{\varphi }(\dot{H}+3H^2)12\ddot{\varphi }H]\}`$
$`3c_2[2\ddot{\varphi }H^2+6\dot{\varphi }H^3+4\dot{\varphi }H\dot{H}+(n1)\dot{\varphi }^2H^2]\}.`$
Here, of course, for $`n=1`$ the coefficients $`c_i`$ are replaced by $`d_i`$, while for $`n=2`$ the $`c_i`$ are replaced by $`e_i`$. Note that for $`n=0`$, $`\lambda _0=1/4`$, $`c_4=c_1=1`$, one easily recovers the $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections used in .

In general, the combination of tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ and quantum loop corrections does not lead to a fixed value for the dilaton in a finite amount of time. Although a non-perturbative (supersymmetry breaking) potential  is expected to stabilise the dilaton, here we shall follow  by assuming the dilaton is frozen out by radiation, after the transition to the post-Big Bang regime. To this aim we will introduce “by hand” the presence of radiation, coupled to the dilaton and satisfying the conservation equation

$$\dot{\rho }+4H\rho \frac{1}{2}\mathrm{\Gamma }_\varphi \dot{\varphi }^2=0,$$
(12)
where $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\varphi `$ represents the decay width of the dilaton.

The solutions of the system of equations Eq. (2) – Eq. (4), including the radiation and the quantum corrections, provide the cosmological gravi-dilaton background in which we will study the propagation of tensor perturbations. We will consider a spatially flat FRW manifold, and we will perturb the above equations keeping the dilaton and all sources fixed, $`\delta \varphi =0`$, $`\delta T_\mu ^\nu =0`$. To lowest order, the tensor fluctuations will obey the usual string frame perturbation equation , including the non-minimal coupling to a time-dependent dilaton. On the other hand, the inclusion of higher-order corrections, needed to regularise the background, will inevitably lead to a modification of such a perturbation equation (see  for initial studies taking into account higher curvature contributions to the evolution of perturbations).

## 3 Tensor perturbations

It is well known that gravitational waves, arising from linearised tensor perturbations, do not couple to pressure and energy density, and hence do not contribute to classical gravitational instabilities. Nevertheless, they are of interest as a specific signature of pre-Big Bang cosmologies since, as stressed in a number of papers , the production of high-frequency gravitons is strongly enhanced, in string cosmology, with respect to the standard inflationary scenario. In this study we will restrict our attention to tensor metric perturbations around a $`d=3`$ spatially flat background, parameterised by the transverse, trace-free variable $`h_{\mu \nu }`$,

$$g_{\mu \nu }g_{\mu \nu }+h_{\mu \nu }\text{with}_\nu h_\mu ^\nu =0=h_\mu ^\mu ,$$
(13)
where $`_\nu `$ denotes covariant differentiation with respect to the background metric. Note also that the indices of $`h_{\mu \nu }`$ are raised or lowered with the unperturbed metric, $`h_\mu ^\nu =g^{\nu \rho }h_{\mu \rho }`$.

### 3.1 Linearised equations

The linear evolution equation for the metric fluctuations can be obtained by perturbing the action Eq. (1) up to terms quadratic in the tensor variable $`h_{\mu \nu }`$:

$`\delta ^{(2)}\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\alpha ^{}}}{\displaystyle d^4xe^\varphi \left[\delta ^{(2)}(\sqrt{g}R)+\delta ^{(2)}(\sqrt{g}_\mu \varphi ^\mu \varphi )\right]}`$ (14)
$`+\lambda _0{\displaystyle d^4x\left[\{\delta ^{(2)}\}_0+A\{\delta ^{(2)}\}_1+B\{\delta ^{(2)}\}_2\right]},`$
where the integrand of the $`n`$-correction is given by:

$`\{\delta ^{(2)}\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`e^{(n1)\varphi }\{\delta ^{(2)}(c_1\sqrt{g}R_{GB}^2)+\delta ^{(2)}\left(c_2\sqrt{g}[R^{\mu \nu }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}g^{\mu \nu }R]_\mu \varphi _\nu \varphi \right)`$ (15)
$`+\delta ^{(2)}\left(c_3\sqrt{g}\mathrm{}\varphi (_\mu \varphi )^2\right)+\delta ^{(2)}\left(c_4\sqrt{g}(_\mu \varphi )^4\right)\}.`$
Following , it is convenient to use the synchronous gauge where

$`g_{00}=1,`$ $`g_{0i}=0,`$ $`g_{ij}=a^2\delta _{ij},`$
$`h_{00}=0,`$ $`h_{0i}=0,`$ $`g^{ij}h_{ij}=0\text{and}_jh_i^j=0.`$ (16)
This enables us to write the perturbed action as a quadratic form depending on the first and second derivatives of the symmetric, trace-free matrix $`h=h_j^i`$, with time-dependent coefficients fixed by the background fields $`a(t)`$, $`\varphi (t)`$. Introducing the matrix notation $`\text{Tr}h^2h_i^jh_j^i`$, and using $`^2=\delta ^{ij}_i_j`$ for the Laplace operator in a flat space, we have

$`\delta ^{(2)}\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\alpha ^{}}}{\displaystyle }d^4xa^3e^\varphi \text{Tr}\{[{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\dot{\varphi }^2{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}\dot{H}3H^2]h^2`$ (17)
$`h\ddot{h}4Hh\dot{h}{\displaystyle \frac{3}{4}}\dot{h}^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}h{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}h\}`$
$`+\lambda _0{\displaystyle d^4x\text{Tr}\left[\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2\right]},`$
where the integrand of the $`n`$-correction is given by:

$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`a^3e^{(n1)\varphi }\{[6c_1H^2(\dot{H}+H^2){\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\dot{\varphi }^2(3c_2H^2+c_3\ddot{\varphi }+3c_3\dot{\varphi }H+c_4\dot{\varphi }^2)]h^2`$
$`\left[c_1\dot{H}+7c_1H^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}c_2\dot{\varphi }^2\right]\dot{h}^24c_1H^2h\ddot{h}2c_1H\dot{h}\ddot{h}`$
$`\left[8c_1H(\dot{H}+2H^2)+c_2\dot{\varphi }^2H+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}c_3\dot{\varphi }^3\right]h\dot{h}+2c_1\dot{h}{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}\dot{h}`$
$`+[c_1H^2+c_1\dot{H}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}c_2\dot{\varphi }^2]h{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}h+4c_1H\dot{h}{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}h+2c_1\ddot{h}{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}h\}.`$
Here, and in what follows, the coefficients $`c_i`$ are to be replaced by $`d_i`$ and $`e_i`$ for $`n=1`$ and $`n=2`$, respectively. Again, for $`n=0`$, $`\lambda _0=1/4`$, $`c_4=c_1=1`$, one recovers the first order $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections discussed in .

We can now integrate by parts all the terms with more than two partial derivatives acting on $`h`$, as well as the terms in $`h\dot{h}`$ and $`h\ddot{h}`$. This will drop all terms with more than two derivatives thanks to the Gauss-Bonnet combination, leading to

$`\delta ^{(2)}\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\alpha ^{}}}{\displaystyle }d^4xa^3e^\varphi \text{Tr}\{({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}\ddot{\varphi }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\dot{\varphi }^2\dot{H}{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}H^2+\dot{\varphi }H)h^2`$ (18)
$`+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}\dot{h}^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}h{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}h\}`$
$`+\lambda _0{\displaystyle d^4x\text{Tr}\left[\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2\right]},`$
where we have

$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`a^3e^{(n1)\varphi }\{{\displaystyle \frac{1}{4}}h^2([8c_1(n1)^23c_2]\dot{\varphi }^2H^22c_2(n1)\dot{\varphi }^3H`$
$`+\left[c_4c_3(n1)\right]\dot{\varphi }^42c_3\dot{\varphi }^2\ddot{\varphi }+8c_1(n1)\ddot{\varphi }H^2`$
$`+16c_1(n1)\dot{\varphi }H[\dot{H}+H^2]4c_2\dot{\varphi }\ddot{\varphi }H2c_2\dot{\varphi }^2\dot{H})`$
$`+h{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}h\left(\left[c_1(n1)^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}c_2\right]\dot{\varphi }^2+c_1(n1)\ddot{\varphi }\right)`$
$`+\dot{h}^2(c_1(n1)\dot{\varphi }H{\displaystyle \frac{1}{8}}c_2\dot{\varphi }^2)\}.`$
We stress that all tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ and quantum loop corrections disappear in the limit of a constant dilaton field, since in that case the contribution of the Gauss-Bonnet term corresponds a topological invariant. This ensures that the resulting perturbation equation reduces to the Klein-Gordon form, typical of a minimally coupled scalar, as we enter the frozen dilaton, post-Big Bang regime.

The rather complicated form of Eq. (18) can be simplified as the coefficient of the $`h^2`$ term vanishes identically, thanks to the background equation Eq. (3). By decomposing the matrix $`h_j^i`$ into the two physical polarisation modes of tensor perturbations, $`h_+`$ and $`h_\times `$,

$$\text{Tr}h^2h_j^ih_i^j=2(h_+^2+h_\times ^2),$$
(19)
we can finally write the action, for each polarisation mode $`h(x,t)`$, as

$`\delta ^{(2)}\mathrm{\Gamma }_h`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\alpha ^{}}}{\displaystyle }d^4xa^3e^\varphi \{\dot{h}^2(1+\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2)`$ (20)
$`+h{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}h(1+\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2)\},`$
with

$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{n\varphi }\left[4c_1(n1)\dot{\varphi }H{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}c_2\dot{\varphi }^2\right],`$
$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{n\varphi }\left[4c_1(n1)^2\dot{\varphi }^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}c_2\dot{\varphi }^2+4c_1(n1)\ddot{\varphi }\right],`$
where $`h`$ is now a scalar variable standing for either one of the two polarisation amplitudes $`h_+`$, $`h_\times `$. The variation of the action with respect to $`h`$ gives then the modified perturbation equation:

$`0`$ $`=`$ $`\left[1+\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2\right]\ddot{h}`$ (21)
$`+\left[3H\dot{\varphi }+\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2\right]\dot{h}`$
$`\left[1+\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2\right]{\displaystyle \frac{^2}{a^2}}h,`$
with

$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{n\varphi }\left\{4c_1(n1)\dot{\varphi }H{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}c_2\dot{\varphi }^2\right\},`$
$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{n\varphi }\{4c_1(n1)(\ddot{\varphi }H+\dot{\varphi }\dot{H})c_2\dot{\varphi }\ddot{\varphi }{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}c_2(n1)\dot{\varphi }^3`$
$`+12c_1(n1)\dot{\varphi }H^2+(4c_1(n1)^2{\displaystyle \frac{3}{2}}c_2)\dot{\varphi }^2H\},`$
$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{n\varphi }\left\{4c_1(n1)^2\dot{\varphi }^2+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}c_2\dot{\varphi }^2+4c_1(n1)\ddot{\varphi }\right\}.`$
Eq. (21) controls the time evolution of the Fourier components $`h_k`$ of the two polarisation modes, and is valid even during the high curvature regime connecting the pre-Big Bang branch to our present FRW universe, since it incorporates the contributions of the higher-order corrections needed to regularise the background evolution.

### 3.2 Quantisation in conformal time

We shall now focus on the generation of gravitational waves in the context of the pre-Big Bang scenario. To normalise the graviton spectrum to the quantum fluctuations of the vacuum we need the canonical variable that diagonalises the perturbed action, and that represents in this case the normal modes of tensor oscillations of our gravi-dilaton background. To this purpose we note that introducing the conformal time coordinate $`\eta `$, defined by $`a=dt/d\eta `$, the action Eq. (20) can be re-written

$$\delta ^{(2)}\mathrm{\Gamma }_h=\frac{1}{2\alpha ^{}}d^3x𝑑\eta \left\{z^2h_{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}+y^2h^2h\right\},$$
(22)
where a prime denotes differentiation with respect to the conformal time, and

$`y^2(\eta )`$ $`=`$ $`e^\varphi \left[a^2+\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2\right],`$ (23)
$`z^2(\eta )`$ $`=`$ $`e^\varphi \left[a^2+\{\}_0+A\{\}_1+B\{\}_2\right],`$ (24)
with

$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{n\varphi }\left\{4c_1(n1)^2\varphi _{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}+{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}c_2\varphi _{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}+4c_1(n1)\left(\varphi ^{\prime \prime }{\displaystyle \frac{a^{}\varphi ^{}}{a}}\right)\right\},`$
$`\{\}_n`$ $`=`$ $`\alpha ^{}\lambda _0e^{n\varphi }\left\{4c_1(n1){\displaystyle \frac{a^{}\varphi ^{}}{a}}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}c_2\varphi _{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}\right\}.`$
Introducing the canonical variable $`\psi =zh`$ enables us to diagonalise the kinetic part of the action:

$$\delta ^{(2)}\mathrm{\Gamma }_h=\frac{1}{2\alpha ^{}}d^3x𝑑\eta \left\{\psi _{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}+\frac{z^{\prime \prime }}{z}\psi ^2+\frac{y^2}{z^2}\psi ^2\psi \right\}.$$
(25)
For each Fourier mode, $`\psi _k=zh_k`$, we can now obtain from the perturbed action a linearised wave equation in terms of the eigenstates of the Laplace operator, $`^2\psi _k=k^2\psi _k`$ which takes the explicit form:

$$\psi _k^{\prime \prime }+\left\{k^2\frac{y^2}{z^2}V(\eta )\right\}\psi _k=0,V(\eta )=\frac{z^{\prime \prime }}{z}.$$
(26)
This linear perturbation equation is the major result of the first part of this paper, since it encodes (through Eq. (23) – Eq. (24)) the full contribution of those higher-order corrections which can be used to regularise the background evolution. We note that the above equation defines an effective time-dependent mode, $`ky/z`$, whereas the effective potential is determined by the evolution of the generalised pump field $`z(\eta )`$. These new features of our generalised perturbation equation will be discussed in detail in the next section.

The graviton spectrum of pre-Big Bang models generated in the context of the lowest-order perturbation equation, with and without the contribution of a high curvature string phase, has been discussed extensively in the literature (see for example ). In the remaining part of this section we shall briefly recall some general results of these studies, so as to highlight the modifications induced by the higher-order corrections in the perturbation equation, and in the spectrum of the relic pre-Big Bang gravitons.

In the extremely weak coupling and low curvature regime, the tree-level solutions of the pre-Big Bang scenario are fully adequate to describe, asymptotically, the initial evolution of the quantum fluctuations of the gravi-dilaton background. In normalising the fluctuations in the asymptotic past $`(\eta \mathrm{})`$, we shall thus neglect any correction to the low-energy action, considering the standard perturbation equation for the Fourier mode $`\psi _k(\eta )`$:

$$\psi _k^{\prime \prime }+k^2\left[1\frac{\tau (\tau 1)}{(k\eta )^2}\right]\psi _k=0.$$
(27)
Such an equation describes the evolution of a classical harmonic oscillator undergoing a parametric amplification driven by the effective potential $`V=\xi ^{\prime \prime }/\xi `$, with $`\xi (\eta )^\tau `$. By recalling the (conformal time) expression of the tree-level solutions ,

$`a(\eta )=(\eta )^\alpha ,`$ $`\alpha =(1\sqrt{3})/2,`$ (28)
$`\varphi (\eta )=\gamma \mathrm{ln}(\eta ),`$ $`\gamma =\sqrt{3},`$ (29)
we obtain the external pump field $`\xi =ae^{\varphi /2}=(\eta )^\tau ,\tau =1/2`$. Hence, the power-law type of the effective potential leads to two distinct regimes for the evolution equation Eq. (27).

Sub-horizon modes $`(|k\eta |1)`$ are freely oscillating, and no quantum particle production occurs. However, the non-adiabatic behaviour of modes having left the Hubble radius $`(|k\eta |1)`$ in the dilaton-driven phase, are described asymptotically by the general solution

$$h_k(\eta )=A_k+B_k_{\eta _{exit}}^\eta \frac{d\eta ^{}}{\xi ^2(\eta ^{})},$$
(30)
where $`\eta _{exit}=k^1`$, and $`h_k=\psi _k\xi ^1`$ is the comoving amplitude of tensor perturbation for the given mode ($`A_k`$ and $`B_k`$ indicate the coefficients of the growing and decaying solutions, respectively). The amplitude of super-horizon modes is thus frozen, modulo logarithmic corrections. The overlapping of these two extreme behaviours is given by the exact solution to the Bessel-type equation Eq. (27), which can be expressed in a linear combination of the first- and second-kind Hankel functions:

$$\psi _k(\eta )=(k\eta )^{1/2}\left\{\kappa _1H_\nu ^{(1)}(k\eta )+\kappa _2H_\nu ^{(2)}(k\eta )\right\},$$
(31)
where $`\nu =|12\tau |/2=0`$ encompasses the background dynamics.

In the asymptotic past ($`\eta \mathrm{}`$) any given mode $`k`$ is well inside the Hubble radius (as $`H^1`$ blows up as we go back in time in pre-Big Bang models), and the two types of Hankel functions $`H_\nu ^{(1,2)}(k|\eta |)`$ are oscillating, corresponding to negative and positive frequency modes respectively. It is therefore possible to normalise tensor perturbations to a spectrum of quantum fluctuations of the initial background. Indeed, the annihilation and creation operators resulting from the expansion of the $`h_{\mu \nu }`$ field, with $`\psi (k,\eta )=a_k\mathrm{\Psi }+a_k^{}\mathrm{\Psi }^{}`$, obey canonical commutation relations $`[a_k,a_k^{}]=[a_k^{},a_k^{}^{}]=0`$ and $`[a_k,a_k^{}^{}]=\delta _{kk^{}}`$. For the normalisation to an initial vacuum state, we choose to restrict to positive energy states, $`\psi _k\frac{1}{\sqrt{2k}}e^{ik\eta }`$, hence $`\kappa _1=0`$ and $`\kappa _2=\sqrt{\frac{\pi }{2}}e^{i\frac{\pi }{4}(1+2\nu )}`$.

The effective potential of the perturbation equation is expected to grow monotonically during the initial dilaton-driven regime, up to a maximal value reached during the string phase, while it is expected to decrease rapidly to zero at the onset of the standard, radiation dominated phase. Emerging from the asymptotic past, a typical mode $`k`$ will thus first oscillate inside the horizon and then progressively feel the potential barrier. The process of quantum particle production will take place and carry on until the background enters the standard FRW-regime. After that, the effective potential identically vanishes, and Eq. (27) yields the free oscillating solution:

$$\psi _k=\frac{1}{\sqrt{2k}}\left\{c_+(k)e^{ik\eta }+c_{}(k)e^{ik\eta }\right\}\eta +\mathrm{},$$
(32)
with incoming and outgoing waves. The mean number of produced gravitons is obtained from the square modulus of the Bogoliubov coefficient, $`|c_{}(k)|^2`$, using the matching of the tensor perturbation variable $`h`$ and $`h^{}`$ at the onset of the FRW phase.

The low-energy perturbation equation may allow for estimating a lower bound on the spectrum of the produced gravitons . For the tree-level solution with $`\tau =1/2`$, by defining the spectral energy density per logarithmic interval of frequency, $`\rho _{gw}(k)`$, one obtains in particular :

$$\rho _{gw}(k)\frac{d\rho _{gw}}{d\mathrm{ln}k}=\frac{k^4}{\pi ^2}|c_{}(k)|^2\frac{k_1^4}{\pi ^2}\left(\frac{k}{k_1}\right)^3,$$
(33)
where $`k_1|\eta _1|^1`$ refers to the maximal height of the effective potential barrier, $`|V(\eta _1)|^{1/2}|\eta _1|^1`$. We recall that the cubic slope of the spectrum is a direct consequence of the evolution of the background during the DDI branch. In , the authors argued that the contribution of a high curvature string phase would lead in general to a reduction of the slope of the spectrum of relic gravitational waves. This was explicitly confirmed for a model based only on the tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections . However, we stress that the investigation of the evolution of high frequency modes, hitting the potential barrier during the high curvature regime, needs to be performed using the full perturbation equation Eq. (26), including also the loop corrections.

## 4 Results

In this section we highlight the modifications to the tensor perturbation equations induced by the corrections adopted to regularise the background evolution. To this purpose, we shall first restrict the discussion to the tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections; the reason for this choice is twofold.

First, $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections are derived unambiguously since we require them to reproduce the string scattering amplitude, as opposed to our lack of precise knowledge for quantum loop corrections, which forces us to speculate on plausible terms. Second, if any clear imprint of a “string phase” – like the one introduced in  – is to be found in the spectrum of relic gravitons, it should be a direct consequence of a long enough string phase<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1By long string phase, we mean $`N1`$, where $`N=\mathrm{ln}(a)`$ is the number of e-folds. characterised by a constant Hubble parameter. As suggested in , this can be achieved by assuming that the evolution of the universe is driven by $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections into a fixed point in the $`(\dot{\varphi },H)`$ space.

In the final part of this section we will comment on the impact of the quantum loop corrections, and confront our predictions with the results obtained through exact numerical integrations of the perturbation equation.

### 4.1 Tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections

The lowest-order effective action of string theory provides an adequate description of the dilaton-driven branch of the pre-Big Bang scenario. In this weakly coupled and low curvature regime, no correction is required either to the effective potential nor to the wavelength of a given perturbation, and the evolution equation of each Fourier mode reduces to its usual form Eq. (27). However, it is well known that the kinetic energy of the dilaton necessarily drives an isotropic and homogeneous background towards a curvature singularity, imposing the need to supplement the tree-level action with corrections in order to establish a reliable description of the high curvature regime. The very presence of the tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections Eq. (6), subject to the constraint Eq. (7), may lead in general to a regime of constant Hubble parameter and a linearly growing dilaton, $`H=`$ const, $`\dot{\varphi }>0`$, which seems to represent an exact conformal solution of string theory also to all orders in $`\alpha ^{}`$ .

However, at any given finite order, we recall that not all sets of coefficients of the truncated action lead to such a good fixed point in the $`(\dot{\varphi },H)`$ plane (see  for a detailed analysis). We shall thus restrict the analysis to the region of parameters which in principle may allow for a graceful exit, when loop corrections are included. In the $`(c_2,c_4)`$ parameter space, such a region is delimited on the one hand by $`c_238/9`$, referring to a change of sign of the time derivative of the shifted dilaton, $`\dot{\overline{\varphi }}=\dot{\varphi }3H`$ . On the other hand, tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections, truncated to first order, are not expected to violate the null energy condition, and thus cannot lead in principle to fixed points located after the Einstein bounce  (i.e, the bounce of the scale factor in the Einstein frame). This implies $`c_4c_2/2`$ for $`\mathrm{}<c_2<4`$, to a first approximation. The location of such fixed points, satisfying the above constraints, can be seen in Fig. 1.

### 4.2 Effective frequency shift

To describe the evolution of the high frequency modes, which are expected to leave the Hubble radius during the high curvature regime, we must use the perturbation equation Eq. (26), including those corrections required to regularise the background evolution. As mentioned in Section $`3.2`$, the incorporation of the higher-order corrections in the perturbation equation implies a time-dependence of the effective wavenumber $`k`$. Indeed, Eq. (26) can be conveniently rewritten

$$\psi _k^{\prime \prime }+\left\{k^2[1+c(\eta )]V(\eta )\right\}\psi _k=0,$$
(34)
where we have introduced the effective shift in the comoving frequency $`c(y^2z^2)/z^2`$ which, at next-to-leading order in the string tension expansion, reads

$$c=\frac{2\alpha ^{}\left\{(4c_2)\varphi _{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}4(\varphi ^{\prime \prime }2\frac{a^{}\varphi ^{}}{a})\right\}}{8a^2\alpha ^{}\varphi ^{}\left\{8\frac{a^{}}{a}c_2\varphi ^{}\right\}}.$$
(35)
In the weak coupling regime, and for small curvature $`(\alpha ^{}0)`$, the shift in the frequency is zero, hence no modification to the DDI cubic branch of the relic gravitational spectrum is expected. However, this frequency shift will be no longer negligible when $`H𝒪(\alpha ^{})`$. In general, we find that $`c(\eta )`$ tends to grow, although a short decrease (which still satisfies $`c(\eta )>1`$) may happen at the onset of the string phase. We also observe that the modification arising in the asymptotic regime, where the curvature is saturated by a linearly growing dilaton, corresponds to a constant shift of the comoving frequency, as first suggested in . In that case, by setting $`\dot{\varphi }=\varphi ^{}/a\stackrel{~}{\varphi }`$ and $`H=a^{}/a^2\stackrel{~}{H}`$, we can rewrite the asymptotic version of Eq. (35) as

$$c=\frac{2\alpha ^{}\stackrel{~}{\varphi }\left\{(4c_2)\stackrel{~}{\varphi }+4\stackrel{~}{H}\right\}}{8+\alpha ^{}\stackrel{~}{\varphi }\left\{c_2\stackrel{~}{\varphi }8\stackrel{~}{H}\right\}}.$$
(36)
During such an intermediate string phase the external potential reduces to its tree-level version, namely $`V(\eta )=\xi ^{\prime \prime }/\xi ,\xi =ae^{\varphi /2}`$, and the enhancement in frequency associated to Eq. (35) is the same for all modes, since the shift $`c`$ does not depend on the wavenumber $`k`$.

In Fig. 1 we have represented the effective shift as a function of the parameter $`c_2`$, highlighting the $`c_2`$-dependence by drawing the curve for $`c_4=1`$. Although the asymptotic shift cannot be expressed as a function of an unique variable, it is however possible to extract its minimal value for the type of $`\alpha ^{}`$ correction we are considering. The numerical simulations suggest that the lowest shifts correspond to fixed points located near the branch change line, $`\dot{\overline{\varphi }}\dot{\varphi }3H=0`$. The bound $`c_2=38/9`$ attached to the sign change of $`\dot{\overline{\varphi }}`$ implies that, in the limit of large values of $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }`$, the effective asymptotic shift is always positive, and is given by $`c10/7`$.

Does the frequency shift have any implication on the spectral distribution? In principle the answer is yes, since higher frequency modes tend to leave the Hubble radius at larger values of $`H`$ in the pre-Big Bang scenario. As a consequence, a given comoving mode will spend less time under the potential barrier, resulting in a smaller amplification of the frequency attached to this mode. Although it is difficult to quantify such an effect, we believe the higher-curvature corrections amount to an overall rescaling, by a numerical factor of order unity, of the total energy density of the background, as already discussed in .

Finally, the form of the effective shift Eq. (35) suggests that a background undergoing a non-singular evolution in the vicinity of $`88\dot{\varphi }H+c_2\dot{\varphi }^2=0`$ will automatically imply a rapid growth (if not a divergence) of the amplitude of the tensor fluctuations. Hence, we can understood the denominator of Eq. (35) as a source of quantum gravitational instability, of the type already discussed in .

### 4.3 Full corrections and non-singular evolution

In recent studies of the graceful exit problem, in the context of the pre-Big Bang scenario, the regularisation of the background curvature and the transition to the post-Big Bang regime, are obtained by including quantum loop corrections, according to Eq. (8).

In this context, we may note that the tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ shift Eq. (35) provides an interesting constraint on the choice of parameters we can use in order to implement such a graceful exit, since in general the divergence curve for the high curvature shift is very close to the condition for the fixed point in the $`(\dot{\overline{\varphi }},H)`$ plane. In , it has been shown that for a constant $`c_4`$ the fixed point value of the Hubble parameter tends to be reduced when $`c_2`$ is decreasing. Simultaneously the location of the singularity curve also decreases in the $`(\dot{\overline{\varphi }},H)`$ plane, so that the range of coefficients leading to a non-singular evolution of the background, and avoiding the instability of quantum fluctuations, is strongly restricted to values very close to the simplest case of $`\alpha ^{}`$ correction, $`_\alpha ^{}\{R_{GB}^2(\varphi )^4\}`$ (as also discussed in ). This is an unexpected, although fortunate constraint on the loop corrections, which allows restricting the range of values for the parameters $`d_i`$ and $`e_i`$.

In our attempt to characterise the power spectrum of metric perturbations generated in such a class of non-singular models, we will thus consider the perturbation equation Eq. (34) with a full shift determined by

$$c=\frac{2\alpha ^{}\left\{\varphi _{}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}\left[4c_2Ad_2e^\varphi (4e_1+e_2)Be^{2\varphi }\right]4\left(\varphi ^{\prime \prime }2\frac{a^{}\varphi ^{}}{a}\right)\left[1+4Be_1e^{2\varphi }\right]\right\}}{8a^2\alpha ^{}\varphi ^{}\left\{8\frac{a^{}}{a}\left[1+Be_1e^{2\varphi }\right]\varphi ^{}\left[c_2+Ad_2e^\varphi +Be_2e^{2\varphi }\right]\right\}}.$$
(37)
Here the coefficients of the high curvature, one- and two loop corrections are respectively $`c_i,d_i`$ and $`e_i`$, with $`c_1=1`$ from the constraint Eq. (7).

As already stressed, this frequency shift reduces to a constant in the asymptotic stage of the string phase. The loop corrections re-establish the time-dependence during the graceful exit, but its contribution soon becomes negligible at the end of the phase of accelerated evolution. Indeed, Eq. (23) – Eq. (24) rapidly reduce to their tree-level expressions $`yzae^{\varphi /2}`$, hence we expect $`k_{eff}k`$ before we enter the radiation-dominated epoch, where the frequency shift vanishes identically.

### 4.4 Observable implications

We are interested in the generic features of the primordial gravitational waves, generated by quantum fluctuations of the background metric during the pre-Big Bang phase, which could be detected by both ground-based detectors such as LIGO  and VIRGO , and space-based experiments such as LISA  (see also  for a recent review and references therein). For such a purpose, we use the dimensionless spectral energy density of perturbations, $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{gw}(\omega )`$, to describe the background of gravitational radiation. In critical units, the energy density is defined by

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_{gw}(\omega ,t)\frac{1}{\rho _c}\frac{d\rho _{gw}}{d\mathrm{ln}\omega },$$
(38)
where $`d\rho _{gw}`$ is the present energy density in the stochastic gravitational waves per logarithmic interval of frequency, $`\omega (t)=k/a(t)`$ is the physical (angular) frequency of the wave, and $`\rho _c(t)=3M_p^2H^2(t)/8\pi `$ is the critical energy density required to close the universe.

Following the standard procedure for the computation of the energy spectrum , we must determine the expectation number of gravitons per cell of the phase space, $`n(\stackrel{}{x},\stackrel{}{k})=n_f`$, which only depends on the frequency for an isotropic and stochastic background. Neglecting $`\alpha ^{}`$ and loop corrections, both in the background and perturbation equations, the lowest order result Eq. (33) leads to

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_{gw}(\omega ,t)\frac{8}{3\pi }\frac{\omega _1^4}{M_p^2H^2}\left(\frac{\omega }{\omega _1}\right)^3,\omega <\omega _1$$
(39)
where $`\omega _1=k_1/a=H_1a_1/a`$ is the maximal amplified proper frequency, associated with the value $`H_1`$ of the Hubble expansion parameter at the end of the string phase.

Including higher-order corrections, the relation between the ultraviolet cutoff of the spectrum and the time of horizon crossing is in general more complicated, and a precise definition of the maximal amplified frequency is out of reach without a complete analytic solution for the background dynamics. However, a reliable estimate of the slope of the intermediate string branch of the spectrum can be obtained by using the leading features of the string phase.

First, we shall neglect (during the string phase) the effective frequency shift in the perturbation equation, whose role is simply expected to induce an overall rescaling of the amplitude , as already pointed out in Section 4.2. Second, we will assume that the duration of the “exit phase” is small compared to the intermediate string phase, and that no dramatic physics take place during the transition to the standard radiation-dominated epoch (indeed, in some cases where the exit is catalysed by the loop corrections, the process is almost instantaneous). This is a big assumption, of course, which could possibly underestimate “pre-heating” and “re-heating” effects. However, the accuracy of these assumptions can be confirmed with numerical simulations.

In summary, we suppose that the evolution of the background consists mainly of three phases: an initial, low energy dilaton-driven branch, the intermediate string phase with a constant Hubble parameter ($`\stackrel{~}{H}`$) and a linearly growing dilaton ($`\dot{\varphi }=\stackrel{~}{\varphi }=`$ const), and the final radiation phase with decreasing Hubble parameter and frozen dilaton. It follows from our assumptions that the spectral graviton distribution can be correctly estimated through the low-energy perturbation equation, even for the high frequency branch of the spectrum.

In that case, it is already well known  that the slope of the high-frequency modes, crossing the horizon in the high curvature, stringy regime, and re-entering in the radiation era, is fully determined by the fixed point values $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi },\stackrel{~}{H}`$. Indeed, during such a string phase, the scale factor undergoes the usual de Sitter exponential expansion, while the logarithmic evolution of the dilaton, in conformal time, is weighted by the ratio $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi }/\stackrel{~}{H}`$, i.e. $`\varphi (\eta )(\stackrel{~}{\varphi }/\stackrel{~}{H})\mathrm{log}(\eta )+`$ const . By introducing the convenient shifted variable $`\stackrel{~}{\overline{\varphi }}\stackrel{~}{\varphi }3\stackrel{~}{H}`$, and referring the spectrum to a fixed point allowing a subsequent (loop catalysed) exit, i.e. $`\stackrel{~}{\overline{\varphi }}<0`$, one easily finds

$$\mathrm{\Omega }_{gw}\left(\frac{\omega }{\omega _1}\right)^{3\left|\stackrel{~}{\overline{\varphi }}/\stackrel{~}{H}\right|},\omega _s\omega \omega _1$$
(40)
where $`\omega _s`$ is the limit frequency marking the transition to the high curvature regime.

In our model of the background evolution, on the other hand, the allowed fixed points $`\stackrel{~}{\varphi },\stackrel{~}{H}`$ are located in the ($`\dot{\overline{\varphi }},H`$) plane between the “Branch change line”, $`\dot{\overline{\varphi }}<0`$, and the “Einstein Bounce”, $`\dot{\overline{\varphi }}<H`$, see Fig. 1 and . It follows that, in the context of our approximations, the spectrum of tensor fluctuations, at high frequency, has a slope constrained by

$$\text{(Einstein Bounce)}2<3\left|\stackrel{~}{\overline{\varphi }}/\stackrel{~}{H}\right|<3\text{(Branch change)}.$$
(41)
In order to check this important analytical result, we analysed numerical solutions for different choices of coefficients of the tree-level $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections.

### 4.5 Numerical results

The spectral distribution of relic gravitational waves can be obtained by numerical integration of the perturbation equation Eq. (26), in the background Eq. (25). The initial conditions are chosen in the low curvature and weakly coupled regime and are thus based on the tree-level solutions, which provide an adequate description of this phase. We then evolve the system until a given mode re-enters the Hubble radius, in the late time FRW radiation-dominated epoch, where we extract the Bogoliubov coefficients by comparing the result of the simulation and the free-oscillating solution Eq. (32).

To highlight the impact of the time-dependence of the frequency shift, we first present the spectral distribution in a case where we do not consider the $`\alpha ^{}`$ and loop corrections in the perturbation equation Eq. (26). Fig. 2 illustrates the results of such a simulation,for the particular model of background corresponding to $`c_1=d_1=e_1=1`$, $`c_4=d_4=e_4=1`$ (all the other $`c_i,d_i,e_i=0`$), $`A=1`$, $`B=2\times 10^3`$ and $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_\varphi =5.63\times 10^4`$. We show, in particular, the non-singular evolution of $`H`$ and $`\dot{\varphi }`$, and the evolution of the quantity $`aH`$, which enables us to determine if a given mode leaves the Hubble radius during the DDI phase or during the intermediate string phase. Finally, we present the graviton distribution for such a background, computed from Eq. (26), in units $`k/k_{max}`$, where $`k_{max}=\mathrm{Max}(aH)`$ is a maximal amplified frequency.

The effects of the higher-order corrections are expected to arise when the curvature scale becomes large in string units. As a consequence, the low frequency branch of the spectrum is unaffected by such corrections, and remains characterised by a cubic slope. However, modes leaving the Hubble radius during the intermediate string phase are strongly affected by the background dynamics. The resulting slope of the spectrum is found to be reduced, but remains confined between $`2`$ and $`3`$, as expected from Eq. (41).

Does the inclusion of the time-dependence of the comoving wavenumber lead to any modification? We stress that when such a shift in the frequency is considered, we have $`k\sqrt{1+c}=aH`$ at horizon crossing. As a consequence, the shortest scale to leave the Hubble radius is given by $`k_{max}=\mathrm{Max}\left(aH/\sqrt{1+c}\right)`$, instead of $`\mathrm{Max}(aH)`$. This is illustrated in Fig. 3, where we compare the results of the numerical integration with and without corrections in the perturbation equation, for identical non-singular background evolutions (the same model of Fig. 2). No modification appears during the low energy epoch, where the frequency shift is negligible. However, higher-order corrections in the perturbation equation, which result in the time-dependent shift, lead to a reduction of the maximal amplified frequency and of the time spent on super-horizon scales.

The impact of the time-dependence of the comoving wavenumber $`k`$ is non-trivial for very high-frequency modes, leaving the Hubble radius during the graceful exit to the FRW-radiation dominated epoch. In that case, the result Eq.(40) no longer applies, and the slope can be smaller than two, as shown in Fig. 3. However, the impact remains negligible for modes well inside the string branch of the spectrum i.e. for modes crossing the horizon during the asymptotic, fixed point regime. In that case, our analytical approximations for the slope of the spectrum are confirmed by the numerical simulations. In Table 1, we present the predicted and measured slopes well inside the string phase, for the three different choices of coefficients illustrated in Fig. 1. The agreement is striking.

It is well known  that the spectrum of relic gravitons, in the context of the pre-Big Bang scenario, easily evades constraints arising from both the CMB anisotropy at COBE scale  and pulsar timing data , because of its rapid growth at low frequency. Hence, the peak amplitude of the spectrum is only constrained by the primordial nucleosynthesis bound , as well as by primordial black hole production .

The relic graviton background is in general compatible with these constraints if it is normalised so as to match the string scale at the high-frequency end point of the spectrum. In that case one finds  that the high frequency peak is typically of order $`\mathrm{\Omega }_{gw}(\omega )10^6`$, for a maximal amplified frequency $`\omega 10^{11}[\mathrm{Hz}]`$. Saturating this high-frequency end point, and using the prediction Eq. (41) for the slope of the string branch of the spectrum, the energy density of relic gravitons from a pre-Big Bang phase could be at most of $`𝒪(10^{15})`$ at $`\omega 10^2[\mathrm{Hz}]`$, regardless of the duration of the string phase with constant Hubble parameter, i.e. far below the sensitivity of the second (planned) generation of interferometric gravity wave detectors . It seems thus difficult to detect the relic gravitons from a high curvature string phase, associated to a fixed point of the truncated effective action – at least within the model of background considered in this paper – unless the exit phase is able to affect a sufficiently wide band of the high frequency spectrum.

Finally, the numerical integration of Eq. (26) enables us to follow carefully the time evolution of modes, from the DDI epoch up to the FRW-radiation dominated era. We have explicitly checked that the amplitude of tensor perturbations is rapidly frozen in on super-horizon scale, regardless of the particular higher-order dynamics of the background during the string phase and the exit epoch.

## 5 Conclusion

In this paper we have discussed the evolution of tensor perturbations in a class of non-singular cosmological models based on the gravi-dilaton string effective action, expanded up to first order in $`\alpha ^{}`$, and including one-loop and two-loop corrections in the string coupling parameter.

The coefficients of the loop expansion have been chosen in such a way as to avoid the curvature singularities in the background, and the quantum instability of metric fluctuations. In addition, we have included an appropriate radiation backreaction to stabilise the dilaton in the final, post-Big Bang regime. We have been able to obtain, in this way, a class of regular cosmological solutions in which the initial Universe, emerging from the string perturbative vacuum, is first trapped in a fixed point of high, constant curvature, and then spontaneously undergoes a smooth transition to the standard FRW regime. The fixed point is determined by the $`\alpha ^{}`$ corrections, while the unstability and the decay of the high curvature regime is triggered by the quantum loop corrections.

We have determined, in this class of backgrounds, the linearised equation governing the evolution of tensor metric fluctuations, taking into account all the $`\alpha ^{}`$ and loop corrections contributing to the background regularisation. We have discussed, on this ground, the amplification of tensor perturbations normalised to the quantum fluctuations of the vacuum, and we have estimated their final spectral energy distribution through analytical and numerical methods.

Our results confirm previous expectations, that the low frequency modes, crossing the horizon in the low-curvature regime, are unaffected by higher-order corrections. Also, we have explicitly checked (through numerical simulations) that the so-called “string branch” of the spectrum, associated with the asymptotic, fixed point regime, can be reliably estimated by means of the low-energy perturbation equation, that its slope is determined by the asymptotic constant values of $`H`$ and $`\dot{\varphi }`$, and that it is flatter than at low frequency.

However, when the background regularisation crosses a fixed point, and when the fixed point is determined by the $`\alpha ^{}`$ expansion truncated to first order (like in the class of models of this paper), it turns out that the slope of the string branch is at least quadratic, and thus probably too steep to be compatible with future observations by planned advanced detectors. In the transition regime dominated by the quantum loops, on the other hand, the influence of the higher-order corrections on tensor perturbations is more dramatic, and the corresponding slope may be much flatter than the one of the preceding string phase.

In summary, the results of this paper agree with the general expectation that the shape of the spectrum of the relic graviton background, obtained in the context of the pre-Big Bang scenario, is strongly model-dependent. However, it turns out that the formulation of a complete and consistent regular scenario, associated to a “visible” graviton spectrum, may be more difficult than previously expected – at least within a truncated perturbative approach, like the one adopted in this paper.

## Acknowledgements

CC is supported by the Swiss NSF, grant No. 83EU-054774 and ORS/1999041014. EJC was partially supported by PPARC. We thank R. Durrer, M. Giovannini, S. Leach, L. Mendes, C. Ungarelli, G. Veneziano, F. Vernizzi and D. Wands for helpful and stimulating discussions.


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# BOUNDARY INTEGRABLE QUANTUM FIELD THEORIES

## Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Zalán Horváth and Laci Palla for the invitation to discuss this subject at the Eötvos school, Ed Corrigan, Roberto Tateo and Gérard Watts for helpful comments, and the UK EPSRC for an Advanced Fellowship. I was supported in part by a TMR grant of the European Commission, reference ERBFMRXCT960012.

## References