Moving five-branes and membrane instantons in low energy heterotic M-theory

We study cosmological solutions in the context of four-dimensional low energy heterotic M theory with moving bulk branes. First we present nontrivial, analytic axion solutions generated by new symmetries of the full potential-free action, and we discuss their relation to "triple axion" solutions found in Pre-Big-Bang cosmologies. Next we consider the presence of a nonperturbative superpotential with and without a background perfect fluid. In the absence of a fluid the dilaton and the T-modulus go to the potential-free solutions at late time, while the moving brane tries to avoid colliding with the boundary and stabilize within the bulk. When the fluid is included the dynamics of the fields change, and we study their behavior both numerically and analytically. In particular we examine the possibility of this setup being a realization of the quintessential scenario and the impact of the fluid on the cosmological stabilization of the moduli.