Search arXiv⌕ Search

arXiv · hep-th/0207168

Isotropization in Brane Gas Cosmology

Abstract

Brane Gas Cosmology (BGC) is an approach to unifying string theory and cosmology in which matter is described by a gas of strings and branes in a dilaton gravity background. The Universe is assumed to start out with all spatial dimensions compact and small. It has previously been shown that in this context, in the approximation of neglecting inhomogeneities and anisotropies, there is a dynamical mechanism which allows only three spatial dimensions to become large. However, previous studies do not lead to any conclusions concerning the isotropy or anisotropy of these three large spatial dimensions. Here, we generalize the equations of BGC to the anisotropic case, and find that isotropization is a natural consequence of the dynamics.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Scott Watson, Robert H. Brandenberger. 2002-12-09. Isotropization in Brane Gas Cosmology. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.67.043510

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Physical Predictions in Closed Quantum Gravity

Recent developments in gravitational path integrals indicate that the nonperturbative physical Hilbert space of a closed universe is one-dimensional within each superselection sector. This raises a basic puzzle: how can a unique quantum-gravity state give rise to semiclassical physics, measurement outcomes, and classical probabilities? In this paper, we develop a framework in which nontrivial and statistically stable predictions emerge despite the one-dimensionality of the fully constrained Hilbert space. The key idea is to extract physical predictions in an enlarged, unconstrained Hilbert space by conditioning on observational data. We show that partial observability -- reflecting the limited access of observers to the degrees of freedom of the universe -- suppresses ensemble fluctuations associated with microscopic structure in the gravitational path integral, thereby restoring semiclassical predictability with exponential accuracy. We formulate the construction explicitly including contributions from the Hartle--Hawking no-boundary state, define a gauge-invariant Hilbert space for observations via a density operator, and generalize the formalism to conditioning on histories, clarifying the emergence of classical probabilities and an effective arrow of time. Finally, we explore whether this framework can support a realistic cosmology and identify assumptions that the underlying theory of quantum gravity must satisfy.

hep-th↗

de Sitter extremal surfaces, time contours, complexifications and pseudo-entropies

We study no-boundary de Sitter extremal surfaces and their pseudo-entropy areas for generic subregions at the future boundary, building on previous work. For large subregions, timelike+Euclidean extremal surfaces exist with transparent geometric interpretations, as do complex ones. The situation for small subregions is analogous to Poincare $dS$ and only complex extremal surfaces exist. In general, the extremal surface area integrals are defined via time contours in the complex time plane. We find multiple extremal surfaces with indistinguishable areas whose time contours can be deformed into each other in the complex time plane without obstruction, which are equivalent for these purposes. This also suggests equivalences between complex $dS$ replica geometries. We discuss $dS_3$ as a simple example at length. This suggests a picture for multiple subregions and entropy inequalities in de Sitter, as encoding $AdS$ ones via analytic continuation. We also discuss mapping future boundary subregions and those on constant time slices in the static patch via lightrays.

hep-th↗

Wall-crossing of Instantons on the Blow-up

We study the instanton counting in four dimensional $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetric gauge theories on the blow-up of $\mathbb{C}^2$: we start by formulating the instanton moduli space as a quiver variety, which we regularise by introducing two stability parameters, thus endowing it with a structure of infinitely many chambers separated by walls. Within a given chamber, we formulate the instanton partition function as a contour integral, which can be evaluated using the Jeffrey-Kirwan residue prescription. We characterise the physically relevant contributions in terms of bipartite oriented graphs and show that they can more efficiently be classified in terms of combinatorial objects called super-partitions. Within a given chamber, only certain types of super-partitions contribute and we show that the corresponding selection criteria are equivalent to stability conditions that have previously been proposed in the literature. We use this formalism to compare how the instanton counting changes when moving across walls between neighbouring chambers and provide explicit expressions for the corresponding partition functions. In a limiting chamber and using our approach, we show how to reproduce the Nakajima-Yoshioka blow-up formula.

hep-th↗