214 research outputs found
Billiard Representation for Multidimensional Quantum Cosmology near the Singularity
The degenerate Lagrangian system describing a lot of cosmological models is
considered. When certain restrictions on the parameters of the model are
imposed, the dynamics of the model near the "singularity" is reduced to a
billiard on the Lobachevsky space. The Wheeler-DeWitt equation in the
asymptotical regime is solved and a third-quantized model is suggested.Comment: 6 pages, LaTe
Gravity-Driven Acceleration of the Cosmic Expansion
It is shown here that a dynamical Planck mass can drive the scale factor of
the universe to accelerate. The negative pressure which drives the cosmic
acceleration is identified with the unusual kinetic energy density of the
Planck field. No potential nor cosmological constant is required. This suggests
a purely gravity driven, kinetic inflation. Although the possibility is not
ruled out, the burst of acceleration is often too weak to address the initial
condition problems of cosmology. To illustrate the kinetic acceleration, three
different cosmologies are presented. One such example, that of a bouncing
universe, demonstrates the additional feature of being nonsingular. The
acceleration is also considered in the conformally related Einstein frame in
which the Planck mass is constant.Comment: 23 pages, LaTex, figures available upon request, (revisions include
added references and comment on inflation) CITA-94-1
Cosmological particle production, causal thermodynamics, and inflationary expansion
Combining the equivalence between cosmological particle creation and an
effective viscous fluid pressure with the fact that the latter represents a
dynamical degree of freedom within the second-order Israel-Stewart theory for
imperfect fluids, we reconsider the possibility of accelerated expansion in
fluid cosmology. We find an inherent self-limitation for the magnitude of an
effective bulk pressure which is due to adiabatic (isentropic) particle
production. For a production rate which depends quadratically on the Hubble
rate we confirm the existence of solutions which describe a smooth transition
from inflationary to noninflationary behavior and discuss their interpretation
within the model of a decaying vacuum energy density. An alternative
formulation of the effective imperfect fluid dynamics in terms of a minimally
coupled scalar field is given. The corresponding potential is discussed and an
entropy equivalent for the scalar field is found.Comment: 16 pages, revtex file, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Planck-scale quintessence and the physics of structure formation
In a recent paper we considered the possibility of a scalar field providing
an explanation for the cosmic acceleration. Our model had the interesting
properties of attractor-like behavior and having its parameters of O(1) in
Planck units. Here we discuss the effect of the field on large scale structure
and CMB anisotropies. We show how some versions of our model inspired by
"brane" physics have novel features due to the fact that the scalar field has a
significant role over a wider range of redshifts than for typical "dark energy"
models. One of these features is the additional suppression of the formation of
large scale structure, as compared with cosmological constant models. In light
of the new pressures being placed on cosmological parameters (in particular
H_0) by CMB data, this added suppression allows our "brane" models to give
excellent fits to both CMB and large scale structure data.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, submitted to PR
Constraints on the Variations of the Fundamental Couplings
We reconsider several current bounds on the variation of the fine-structure
constant in models where all gauge and Yukawa couplings vary in an
interdependent manner, as would be expected in unified theories. In particular,
we re-examine the bounds established by the Oklo reactor from the resonant
neutron capture cross-section of 149Sm. By imposing variations in \Lambda_{QCD}
and the quark masses, as dictated by unified theories, the corresponding bound
on the variation of the fine-structure constant can be improved by about 2
orders of magnitude in such theories. In addition, we consider possible bounds
on variations due to their effect on long lived \alpha- and \beta-decay
isotopes, particularly 147Sm and 187Re. We obtain a strong constraint on \Delta
\alpha / \alpha, comparable to that of Oklo but extending to a higher redshift
corresponding to the age of the solar system, from the radioactive life-time of
187Re derived from meteoritic studies. We also analyze the astrophysical
consequences of perturbing the decay Q values on bound state \beta-decays
operating in the s-process.Comment: 25 pages, latex, 5 eps figure
Magnetogenesis and the dynamics of internal dimensions
The dynamical evolution of internal space-like dimensions breaks the
invariance of the Maxwell's equations under Weyl rescaling of the (conformally
flat) four-dimensional metric. Depending upon the number and upon the dynamics
of internal dimensions large scale magnetic fields can be created. The
requirements coming from magnetogenesis together with the other cosmological
constraints are examined under the assumption that the internal dimensions
either grow or shrink (in conformal time) prior to a radiation dominated epoch.
If the internal dimensions are growing the magnitude of the generated magnetic
fields can seed the galactic dynamo mechanism.Comment: 27 in RevTex style, four figure
Statistics of the gravitational force in various dimensions of space: from Gaussian to Levy laws
We discuss the distribution of the gravitational force created by a
Poissonian distribution of field sources (stars, galaxies,...) in different
dimensions of space d. In d=3, it is given by a Levy law called the Holtsmark
distribution. It presents an algebraic tail for large fluctuations due to the
contribution of the nearest neighbor. In d=2, it is given by a marginal
Gaussian distribution intermediate between Gaussian and Levy laws. In d=1, it
is exactly given by the Bernouilli distribution (for any particle number N)
which becomes Gaussian for N>>1. Therefore, the dimension d=2 is critical
regarding the statistics of the gravitational force. We generalize these
results for inhomogeneous systems with arbitrary power-law density profile and
arbitrary power-law force in a d-dimensional universe
Categorizing Different Approaches to the Cosmological Constant Problem
We have found that proposals addressing the old cosmological constant problem
come in various categories. The aim of this paper is to identify as many
different, credible mechanisms as possible and to provide them with a code for
future reference. We find that they all can be classified into five different
schemes of which we indicate the advantages and drawbacks.
Besides, we add a new approach based on a symmetry principle mapping real to
imaginary spacetime.Comment: updated version, accepted for publicatio
Exact Hypersurface-Homogeneous Solutions in Cosmology and Astrophysics
A framework is introduced which explains the existence and similarities of
most exact solutions of the Einstein equations with a wide range of sources for
the class of hypersurface-homogeneous spacetimes which admit a Hamiltonian
formulation. This class includes the spatially homogeneous cosmological models
and the astrophysically interesting static spherically symmetric models as well
as the stationary cylindrically symmetric models. The framework involves
methods for finding and exploiting hidden symmetries and invariant submanifolds
of the Hamiltonian formulation of the field equations. It unifies, simplifies
and extends most known work on hypersurface-homogeneous exact solutions. It is
shown that the same framework is also relevant to gravitational theories with a
similar structure, like Brans-Dicke or higher-dimensional theories.Comment: 41 pages, REVTEX/LaTeX 2.09 file (don't use LaTeX2e !!!) Accepted for
publication in Phys. Rev.
From the Big Bang Theory to the Theory of a Stationary Universe
We consider chaotic inflation in the theories with the effective potentials
phi^n and e^{\alpha\phi}. In such theories inflationary domains containing
sufficiently large and homogeneous scalar field \phi permanently produce new
inflationary domains of a similar type. We show that under certain conditions
this process of the self-reproduction of the Universe can be described by a
stationary distribution of probability, which means that the fraction of the
physical volume of the Universe in a state with given properties (with given
values of fields, with a given density of matter, etc.) does not depend on
time, both at the stage of inflation and after it. This represents a strong
deviation of inflationary cosmology from the standard Big Bang paradigm. We
compare our approach with other approaches to quantum cosmology, and illustrate
some of the general conclusions mentioned above with the results of a computer
simulation of stochastic processes in the inflationary Universe.Comment: No changes to the file, but original figures are included. They
substantially help to understand this paper, as well as eternal inflation in
general, and what is now called the "multiverse" and the "string theory
landscape." High quality figures can be found at
http://www.stanford.edu/~alinde/LLMbigfigs
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