Hagedorn Inflation: Open Strings on Branes Can Drive Inflation

We demonstrate an inflationary solution to the cosmological horizon problem during the Hagedorn regime in the early universe. Here the observable universe is confined to three spatial dimensions (a three-brane) embedded in higher dimensions. The only ingredients required are open strings on D-branes at temperatures close to the string scale. No potential is required. Winding modes of the strings provide a negative pressure that can drive inflation of our observable universe. Hence the mere existence of open strings on branes in the early hot phase of the universe drives Hagedorn inflation, which can be either power law or exponential. We note the amusing fact that, in the case of stationary extra dimensions, inflationary expansion takes place only for branes of three or less dimensions.Comment: Talk given by Katherine Frees

The Rhetoric of Chin P'ing Mei

Chin p'ing mei, the late Ming dynasty novel, combines rich sensuous detail with an interweaving of reality and fantasy to create a telling portrait of the dynasty's decline. In addition to the explicit sexual detail, the novel also contains a stern Confucian message about the retribution to be expected from decline. Professor Garlitz analyzes the author's varied techniques, the dominant concerns of late Ming China (such as the relationship between family and state, the individual's need for self-knowledge and self-cultivation), and the verbal and narrative structure. Where Chin p'ing mei draws on late Ming popular religion, or quotes drama and song, or incorporates portions of earlier novels and tales, the effect is always the same: hypocrisy and complacency are exposed, facile solutions to difficult moral problems are rejected, and traditional Confucian judgments are affirmed