Starobinsky-Like Inflation in Dilaton-Brane Cosmology
  We discuss how Starobinsky-like inflation may emerge from dilaton dynamics in
brane cosmology scenarios based on string theory, in which our universe is
represented as a three-brane. The effective potential may acquire a constant
term from a density of effectively point-like non-pertubative defects on the
brane. Higher-genus corrections generate corrections to the effective potential
that are exponentially damped at large field values, as in the Starobinsky
model, but at a faster rate, leading to a smaller prediction for the tensor-to
scalar perturbation ratio r. This may be compensated partially by logarithmic
deformations on the world-sheet due to recoil of the defects due to scattering
by string matter on the brane, which tend to enhance the tensor-to-scalar
ratio.
