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Abstract

Within two specific string cosmology scenarios --differing in the way the pre- and post-big bang phases are joined-- we compute the size and spectral slope of various types of cosmologically amplified quantum fluctuations that arise in generic compactifications of heterotic string theory. By further imposing that these perturbations become the dominant source of energy at the onset of the radiation era, we obtain physical bounds on the background's moduli, and discuss the conditions under which both a (quasi-) scale-invariant spectrum of axionic perturbations and sufficiently large seeds for the galactic magnetic fields are generated. We also point out a potential problem with achieving the exit to the radiation era when the string coupling is near its present value.