Computing CMB Anisotropy in Compact Hyperbolic Spaces

The measurements of CMB anisotropy have opened up a window for probing the global topology of the universe on length scales comparable to and beyond the Hubble radius. For compact topologies, the two main effects on the CMB are: (1) the breaking of statistical isotropy in characteristic patterns determined by the photon geodesic structure of the manifold and (2) an infrared cutoff in the power spectrum of perturbations imposed by the finite spatial extent. We present a completely general scheme using the regularized method of images for calculating CMB anisotropy in models with nontrivial topology, and apply it to the computationally challenging compact hyperbolic topologies. This new technique eliminates the need for the difficult task of spatial eigenmode decomposition on these spaces. We estimate a Bayesian probability for a selection of models by confronting the theoretical pixel-pixel temperature correlation function with the COBE-DMR data. Our results demonstrate that strong constraints on compactness arise: if the universe is small compared to the `horizon' size, correlations appear in the maps that are irreconcilable with the observations. If the universe is of comparable size, the likelihood function is very dependent upon orientation of the manifold wrt the sky. While most orientations may be strongly ruled out, it sometimes happens that for a specific orientation the predicted correlation patterns are preferred over the conventional infinite models.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX (IOP style included), 3 color figures (GIF) in separate files. Minor revision to match the version accepted in Class. Quantum Grav.: Proc. of Topology and Cosmology, Cleveland, 1997. The paper can be also downloaded from http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~pogosyan/cwru_proc.ps.g

The Coupling of Topology and Inflation in Noncommutative Cosmology

We show that, in a model of modified gravity based on the spectral action functional, there is a nontrivial coupling between cosmic topology and inflation, in the sense that the shape of the possible slow-roll inflation potentials obtained in the model from the nonperturbative form of the spectral action is sensitive not only to the geometry (flat or positively curved) of the universe, but also to the different possible non-simply connected topologies. We show this by explicitly computing the nonperturbative spectral action for some candidate flat cosmic topologies given by Bieberbach manifolds and showing that the resulting inflation potential differs from that of the flat torus by a multiplicative factor, similarly to what happens in the case of the spectral action of the spherical forms in relation to the case of the 3-sphere. We then show that, while the slow-roll parameters differ between the spherical and flat manifolds but do not distinguish different topologies within each class, the power spectra detect the different scalings of the slow-roll potential and therefore distinguish between the various topologies, both in the spherical and in the flat case

Black Hole Final State Conspiracies

The principle that unitarity must be preserved in all processes, no matter how exotic, has led to deep insights into boundary conditions in cosmology and black hole theory. In the case of black hole evaporation, Horowitz and Maldacena were led to propose that unitarity preservation can be understood in terms of a restriction imposed on the wave function at the singularity. Gottesman and Preskill showed that this natural idea only works if one postulates the presence of "conspiracies" between systems just inside the event horizon and states at much later times, near the singularity. We argue that some AdS black holes have unusual internal thermodynamics, and that this may permit the required "conspiracies" if real black holes are described by some kind of sum over all AdS black holes having the same entropy.Comment: Various minor improvements, references added, 25 page

A note on the 3D Ising model as a string theory

It has long been argued that the continuum limit of the 3D Ising model is equivalent to a string theory. Unfortunately, in the usual starting point for this equivalence -- a certain lattice theory of surfaces -- it is not at all obvious how to take the continuum limit. In this note, I reformulate the lattice theory of surfaces in a fashion such that the continuum limit is straightforward. I go on to discuss how this new formulation may overcome some fundamental objections to the notion that the Ising model is equivalent to a string theory. In an appendix, I also discuss some aspects of fermion doubling, and the lattice fermion formulation of the 2D Ising model.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures. This revised manuscript is identical to the final published version (Nuclear Physics B, to appear). Aside from correcting some scattered typos, the final version corrects and expands some of the comments in the original preprint on the unoriented NSR strin

The Implementation, Interpretation, and Justification of Likelihoods in Cosmology

I discuss the formal implementation, interpretation, and justification of likelihood attributions in cosmology. I show that likelihood arguments in cosmology suffer from significant conceptual and formal problems that undermine their applicability in this context

Topology and the Cosmic Microwave Background

Nature abhors an infinity. The limits of general relativity are often signaled by infinities: infinite curvature as in the center of a black hole, the infinite energy of the singular big bang. We might be inclined to add an infinite universe to the list of intolerable infinities. Theories that move beyond general relativity naturally treat space as finite. In this review we discuss the mathematics of finite spaces and our aspirations to observe the finite extent of the universe in the cosmic background radiation.Comment: Hilarioulsy forgot to remove comments to myself in previous version. Reference added. Submitted to Physics Report

Black Strings, Black Rings and State-space Manifold

State-space geometry is considered, for diverse three and four parameter non-spherical horizon rotating black brane configurations, in string theory and $M$-theory. We have explicitly examined the case of unit Kaluza-Klein momentum $D_1D_5P$ black strings, circular strings, small black rings and black supertubes. An investigation of the state-space pair correlation functions shows that there exist two classes of brane statistical configurations, {\it viz.}, the first category divulges a degenerate intrinsic equilibrium basis, while the second yields a non-degenerate, curved, intrinsic Riemannian geometry. Specifically, the solutions with finitely many branes expose that the two charged rotating $D_1D_5$ black strings and three charged rotating small black rings consort real degenerate state-space manifolds. Interestingly, arbitrary valued $M_5$-dipole charged rotating circular strings and Maldacena Strominger Witten black rings exhibit non-degenerate, positively curved, comprehensively regular state-space configurations. Furthermore, the state-space geometry of single bubbled rings admits a well-defined, positive definite, everywhere regular and curved intrinsic Riemannian manifold; except for the two finite values of conserved electric charge. We also discuss the implication and potential significance of this work for the physics of black holes in string theory.Comment: 41 pages, Keywords: Rotating Black Branes; Microscopic Configurations; State-space Geometry, PACS numbers: 04.70.-s Physics of black holes; 04.70.Bw Classical black holes; 04.70.Dy Quantum aspects of black holes, evaporation, thermodynamic

Collective Relaxation Dynamics of Small-World Networks

Complex networks exhibit a wide range of collective dynamic phenomena, including synchronization, diffusion, relaxation, and coordination processes. Their asymptotic dynamics is generically characterized by the local Jacobian, graph Laplacian or a similar linear operator. The structure of networks with regular, small-world and random connectivities are reasonably well understood, but their collective dynamical properties remain largely unknown. Here we present a two-stage mean-field theory to derive analytic expressions for network spectra. A single formula covers the spectrum from regular via small-world to strongly randomized topologies in Watts-Strogatz networks, explaining the simultaneous dependencies on network size N, average degree k and topological randomness q. We present simplified analytic predictions for the second largest and smallest eigenvalue, and numerical checks confirm our theoretical predictions for zero, small and moderate topological randomness q, including the entire small-world regime. For large q of the order of one, we apply standard random matrix theory thereby overarching the full range from regular to randomized network topologies. These results may contribute to our analytic and mechanistic understanding of collective relaxation phenomena of network dynamical systems.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, published in PR