Warped string phenomenology: Topics in cosmology and particle physics

Abstract

Warped backgrounds in string theory are useful tools for building phenomenological models of early universe cosmology and particle physics. In particular, warped backgrounds play an important role in constructing viable models of brane inflation and can help explain the presence of hierarchies in particle physics. One interesting feature of warped models is that subtle differences in the warped geometry can lead to significant differences in observational signatures in the CMB and at the LHC that can be used to distingiush different models. In this thesis, I will discuss recent work in distinguishing different warped geometries through CMB and LHC observations.