Supergravity Brane Cosmologies

Solitonic brane cosmologies are found where the world-volume is curved due to the evolution of the dilaton field on the brane. In many cases, these may be related to the solitonic Dp- and M5-branes of string and M-theory. An eleven-dimensional interpretation of the D8-brane cosmology of the massive type IIA theory is discussed in terms of compactification on a torus bundle. Braneworlds are also found in Horava-Witten theory compactified on a Calabi-Yau three-fold. The possibility of dilaton-driven inflation on the brane is discussed.