Tachyon - dilaton driven inflation as an α' - non-perturbative solution in first quantized string cosmology

Applying a novel non-perturbative functional method framework to a two-dimensional bosonic sigma model with tachyon, dilaton and graviton backgrounds we construct exact (non perturbative in the Regge slope α') inflationary solutions, consistent with world-sheet Weyl Invariance. The mechanism for inflation entails a (partial) 'alignment' between tachyon and dilaton backgrounds in the solution space. Some cosmological solutions which contain inflationary eras for a short period and interpolate between flat universes in the far past and far future are also discussed. These solutions are characterized by the absence of cosmological horizons, and therefore have well-defined scattering amplitudes. This makes them compatible with a perturbative string framework, and therefore it is these solutions that we consider as self-consistent in our approach. Within the context of the interpolating solutions, string production at the end of inflation (preheating) may also be studied. The advantage of our method is that the solutions are valid directly in four target-space-time dimensions, as a result of the non trivial dilaton configurations. Whether the model is phenomenologically realistic, with respect to its particle physics aspects, remains an open issue. This talk was based on work recently done with J. Alexandre and N. E. Mavromatos.